How Can We Love Our LGBT Neighbors and Be Faithful to the Bible?

Can Christians maintain friendships with gay and lesbian persons? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer, along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, and you can email us with your question at questionsatcorechristianity.com. And today we want to pick up with a question that we received at the end of the broadcast yesterday from John.

John, I hope that you're listening today. He has an excellent question, really, about the age of accountability. Does the Bible teach that there is an age of accountability for our children? I think sometimes people have this sort of idea that children are just innocent, that they're born without sin, that kind of a thing, and as they get older, that's when they really become accountable. Now, of course, when you have children, you know your children are not sinless.

It's very obvious, right? The doctrine of original sin, I think, is proven every single day by young children. But one thing that we have to understand is that our children are, as I just mentioned there with the idea of original sin, born in Adam, guilty.

I mean, David said in Psalm 51 verse 5, Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. And so I think it's really important to understand that. But I also think it's important that we recognize that there's this principle that we see throughout the scriptures that the severity of judgment, the level of accountability, for example, that we experience is dependent upon our knowledge, how much we know.

Jesus said in John chapter 15 verse 22, If I had not come and spoken to them, they would not have been guilty of sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. Another thing with that question is I think sometimes we downplay the level of understanding that our kids have, especially when it comes to the things of the Lord. Our children really understand a lot more than I often think we give them credit for.

I remember years ago talking to my daughter, and we were looking at these pictures on my computer of outer space, these beautiful stars and nebulas. And as my four-year-old daughter was looking at these images on my computer screen, she had this very concerned look on her face. And I said, Honey, what's wrong?

What's the deal? And she said, How come I don't see Jesus in any of the pictures? And it struck me that we would tell her Jesus ascended at the right hand of the Father in heaven. And so here we are looking at these pictures of the heavens, and she really believed that Jesus had ascended. I mean, she was expecting to see Jesus floating by Mars or something like that. It was childlike faith.

And I just thought that was so beautiful. Our children, as we train them up, as we teach them about the Lord, it's really amazing to see how faith by the grace of the Holy Spirit begins to and can begin to blossom in their hearts. And so let's do the hard work of discipling our kids. And I'm also thinking of the time in the Gospels when the children came to Jesus. And of course, the disciples wanted to keep them away. Like, Well, they're too little. They're bugging you.

You know, they don't understand. And he basically chastised the disciples and said, No, let them come to me. That's right.

Yeah. In Luke's Gospel, even little babies were being brought to Jesus, and the disciples said, You know, the Lord doesn't have time for that. But he said, Nope, you know, bring them here for to such as these belongs the kingdom of God.

He laid his hands on them. It really is such a beautiful picture. You're listening to Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the phone number to call if you have a question about the Bible or the Christian life. It's 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to Stacy calling in from Austin, Texas. Stacy, what's your question for Pastor Adriel?

Hi. My question is, why is it that traditional Christians so oppose feminists and feminism? Both of my parents are college educated, but for a number of years during my childhood, my father had health issues, and my mother's was the only paycheck in the family. But traditional Christians would have denied her the ability to support us. What do you think? Yes, Stacy.

Well, I don't know. I mean, I guess I'd be curious to hear more about, you know, what traditional Christians you're talking about. My mother was a single mom as I was raised by a single mom, and she worked really hard to pay the bills for our family, putting food on the table for me and for my younger brother and my younger sister. And I think in everything that she did, you know, she was honoring the Lord and she was seeking to love her family well. You know, not getting into everything that's entailed with feminism and other different kinds of feminism, but the Bible speaks very highly of the family and the importance of the family and training our children up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

I was just talking about that right there during the introduction. The Bible oftentimes talks about this and women helping to raise and catechize and train their children up. You see this in places like 1 Timothy 2, Titus 2 talks about women, you know, training their training their children to love God, to love his word. And I think, you know, in our society right now there's this attack on the family and on this idea of the traditional family. Now times have changed in many ways. I mean, we live in a different context than what you get in certainly the ancient Near East, and even in the time of the New Testament, there are new jobs and new opportunities for women. And it sounds to me, Stacy, like in your family, like your mom did everything that she could to support the family and to care for you, and I think that that's actually something that should be commended. But there are ideas out there, and I think you see them in some of, you know, what we see in feminism today that really actually goes against so many of the principles that we find in scripture and especially that high view of the family.

Now, again, there are different streams and strands of this, and so I think we want to be careful, and I want to be careful as I talk about it because, you know, that's just not something that we're going to get into too much here. But I would say, speaking as a pastor and a pastor of a quote-unquote traditional Christian church, that in situations like the one that you're speaking of, we would seek to help to come alongside of the family and to care for the family and certainly not to chastise your mother or anything like that. So thank you for your question, and I appreciate you calling in. Thanks so much, Stacy. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Let's go to Jordan calling in from Cedar Falls, Iowa. Jordan, welcome to Core Christianity.

Hi, how's it going? Pastor, I just want to say thank you for this show. You really encouraged me.

I look forward to watching every day, and I'm extremely blessed by it. Thanks, Jordan. My question is, getting into the truths of the Bible, I'm a pretty early believer, but yeah, discovering some of these rich truths of the Bible in regards to the sovereignty of God and the will of man, if God created all things, how is He not the author of sin? Sounds like you are getting into some deep, deep truth there in the scripture, and Jordan's stoked that you're encouraged by the broadcast that the Lord is using it to bless you. And you're right, that the Lord did create all things, and also that the Lord ordains all things. We're talking here about God's sovereignty.

That could sort of sound scary, but we have to affirm what the Bible teaches. And when you look at a passage of scripture like Ephesians chapter 1, for example, beginning in verse 4, Paul said, even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love, He predestined us. That is, the Father predestined us for adoption as sons through Jesus Christ. And then down in verse 11, Paul said, In Him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of Him, who works all things according to the counsel of His will. Now, all things there means there means all things.

Paul makes it absolutely clear. God works all things together according to the counsel of His will. We're talking here about His eternal decree. And so the next question is, well, if God has decreed all things, if He's absolutely all-powerful, all-sovereign, well, then how is He not the author of evil? And I think it's a very fair question that you ask.

Well, it's something that we have to be really discerning in. And a passage that I would go to is a text like Acts 4, Jordan, a wonderful prayer given by Peter. And he says in verse 27, For truly in this city there were gathered together against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the people of Israel, to do whatever your hand and plan had predestined to take place. And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant that your servants continue to speak the word of the Lord with boldness.

And so there's something that we have to note here. One, everything happened according to God's plan. We're talking about the crucifixion there in Acts chapter 4. And yet, these people, these individual people are acting freely. Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles, Herod, they're responsible for their actions, for what they do. And so in one sense here, you have both the responsibility of mankind, people making decisions, real decisions, acting freely, and here engaging in sin, and yet the absolute sovereignty of God.

And there's somewhat of a mystery here in terms of how these two work together, Jordan, but we want to embrace both of these truths. One, the fundamental responsibility that we all have before God to turn to Him, to believe, to repent of our sins, and yet at the same time to recognize, like what Paul said there in Ephesians chapter 1, that we have been predestined according to the one who works all things according to the counsel of His will. See, when we sin, that's not God acting, that's us acting, and yet He's allowing us to. He permits us to, and because He's allowing us, permitting us, He's not the author of sin. He's giving us essentially what we've chosen.

And I think there are different ways in which theologians historically have tried to answer these questions, but that's the approach that I take, Jordan. And man, I am just so encouraged that even as a newer believer, you're digging into some of these deep, deep truths of the Word of God. And can I just say, man, keep digging in, keep pursuing the Lord, keep studying the Word. Jordan, that's great. We appreciate so much your call. You know, I was thinking, Adriel, maybe we should send Jordan a copy of C.S. Lewis's Mere Christianity, which will help him as he grows in his faith.

Yeah, that would be an excellent gift, Jordan, something you definitely want to check out, and maybe we could get that in your hands. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and here is the phone number to call if you have a question. It's 833-THE-CORE. That's 1-833-843-2673. Let's go to a voicemail that came in yesterday.

Hi, my name is Maria. I know that the Bible says the first commandment is love God with all our heart, mind, and soul. The second one is love thy neighbor as you love thyself.

My question is this. Because we are to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, I have a couple of good friends that are lesbian and homosexual, but I love them. They know what I believe in. I have talked to them about God, but I still have a relationship with them.

Is that okay? I'm not the judge or the jury. I know that whatever their sin is, they have to answer to God, not to anyone else. I do love them. They're good people, but I just was wondering about it. Thank you for having the show on and giving us the opportunity to ask these questions. God bless. Thank you for that question. My response is yes, it is okay and good on you for being Christ-like in having relationships with people who don't believe just like you do and wanting to share friendship and just the love of Jesus with people in the world, people who think differently than we do.

I think it really is a shame. I've seen some studies recently that show that most Christians, most believers, only spend time with the people that are just like them. I think that that's easy. We want to be with the people who think just like we do and agree with us on everything.

It makes dinner and get-togethers a lot easier. There's no conflict. But the fact of the matter is over and over again, you look at the ministry of Jesus, and it seems like he was intentional at pursuing the people who didn't think just like him, the people who really needed grace. Over and over again, he's this repetition of, look, I came to seek and save the lost. I didn't come for the righteous. No, I came for the sick, for the broken, for those who are needy. Jesus said, I am the good physician. I think we as believers, as followers of Jesus, should look a little bit more like him in this regard.

Now, there are a number of passages of scripture that make it absolutely clear that it is okay. Again, to your question, I think of the parable of the Good Samaritan in Luke chapter 10, verses 25 through 37. Maria, that might be a passage that you want to sit down and read. Essentially, Jesus describes a man who was beat up and left on the side of the road with nothing near dead, and a priest walked by and just got some distance and didn't help him. And a Levite, another religious person walked by, and the same thing, didn't stop to help the guy beat up on the side of the road. And then Jesus said a Samaritan walked by. And in that day, what you need to understand about the Samaritans is they weren't really respected by the Jews.

They were viewed as less than, both because of their culture and also their religious beliefs. And yet this Samaritan walks by the guy who was beat up on the side of the road, and he reached down to him, and he picked him up, and he nursed him back to health, and he paid for his medical bills. And Jesus asked the question to the people gathered there when he told this story, who was the good neighbor? Who was the one who really loved his neighbor? And of course it was the Samaritan. And again, what was so shocking and what would have been so shocking about this story that Jesus told was that again, Samaritans, they were never viewed as the hero of the story, and yet that's what Jesus did. And he said, look, loving our neighbors, loving the people around us, the way in which God calls us to love them is to love even the people who don't look and think just like we do. Paul said it very clearly in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verses 9 and 10. He said, I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people, not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers or idolaters, since you would need to go out of the world. Paul says, look, I'm not saying you can't have friends, you know, that are not Christians, the sexually immoral of this world.

You'd have to leave the world. We're called to be salt and light in the world, Maria, and I just want to commend you and encourage you because it sounds like that's exactly what you're doing. Now as we do that, as we share the love of Jesus with the people around us who don't think just like we do, we want to make sure that we don't compromise our beliefs. That's one of the amazing things about Jesus who, as he was a quote-unquote friend of sinners, he never engaged in or indulged in sin with them, and he didn't just condone their sin.

No, he challenged everyone around him to love better, to be holy, and yet he was also so welcoming to sinners in the sense that he extended grace to them in a way that the religious leaders of his day didn't. And you want to be a friend who extends that kind of grace to the people around you that helps them to see, hey, this Jesus, he's awesome, he's loving, he's merciful, and he calls me to himself. And so, Maria, may the Lord bless you as you continue to cultivate these relationships. And one resource actually that you might want to consider is a book by Rosaria Butterfield called The Gospel Comes with a House Key, and it's really all about having these kinds of relationships, these kinds of friendships, where we really care for the people around us, we invest in their lives, and we seek to share the love of Jesus with them.

Maria, we appreciate so much your friendship for these individuals, your care for them, and your willingness to dialogue with them on some difficult topics. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and you know, a lot of Christians today aren't particularly comfortable defending the Christian faith when talking to unbelievers, and today we are offering an excellent book that will equip you to do just that. Yes, we are continuing to offer More Than a Carpenter, really a short book that packs a powerful punch, because there's a lot of really good information in here that will help you better know how to share the truths of the Christian faith with people who are skeptical, and a lot of people today are skeptical. You know, did Jesus really rise from the dead?

How can we know that the Bible is true? I mean, all of these questions that people are asking around us, this is a book that's going to help you have solid answers. It was written by Josh McDowell. I mentioned before, over 15 million copies in print, and so this is a book that has really been influential for many believers, and we want to get it in your hands. You can get your copy of More Than a Carpenter for a donation of any amount by going to corechristianity.com forward slash offers.

That's corechristianity.com forward slash offers, or you can call us at 833-843-2673 for help getting any of our offers. By the way, one of the ways that you can take part in Core Christianity is through our YouTube channel. We actually broadcast the program every day, live at 11 30 a.m pacific time, 12 30 mountain, 1 30 central, and 2 30 eastern time, and right now we have a couple of YouTube viewers watching in Africa.

How exciting is that? Two different countries on the continent of Africa tuning in to Core Christianity via YouTube. Let's go to another question.

Wallace is on the line from Nashville, Tennessee. Wallace, what's your question for Pastor Adriel? Yes, Pastor. I was wondering, you know, pertaining to the scripture in First Corinthians 14 and 34, which is where a woman keeps telling the church, also emphasizing the scripture, and first tends to 2 and 10 said that a woman should certainly throw that over a man, or I suppose that a woman should teach her to sort of throw that over a man. What a woman should be, a pastor, a church, and herself. Would she also be over every man in the church?

Yeah, that's a great question, Wallace. One actually that we've received on the broadcast before, and I think in both of those passages Paul is speaking primarily, you know, in the context of corporate worship and leading the church. I do take it to be a reference to the authority that the elders of the church have over the body. The elders are charged, you see this especially in places like First and Second Timothy, with guarding the deposit of the faith, the doctrine, the theology. Part of the role of the elders in the church is a sort of oversight of the doctrine of what is being taught, of the gospel that is being proclaimed. And here in First Corinthians 14, and then also in First Timothy 2, it does seem to suggest Paul is saying, look, this is something that's reserved primarily for, specifically for, men who are serving in this capacity as elders.

Again, you see the qualifications outlined for elders in First Timothy chapter 3, and then also in Titus chapter 2, some of the pastoral epistles there. And I know that there's disagreement on this in the church. There are some people who say, yeah, we don't read it that same way, but that's how I understand it. And so it sounds like you were curious, you know, does this mean that women should not serve as a pastor of a local church, that that would be exercising that kind of spiritual oversight and authority?

And in my view, the answer would be yes. It's actually why Paul, you know, emphasized in First Timothy 3 that this is an office that's reserved for men in the church. Now, I think one of the challenges when we're having this kind of discussion, something that I try to be sensitive to, is a lot of people say, well, if that's your view, then what is the role that women in the church have?

I mean, you know, are they engaging in, you know, the study of sound doctrine, those kinds of things? And I think we have to say yes, that every single person in the church plays a vital role and that God has gifted each of us in unique ways for the advancement of the gospel. I mean, Paul makes this very clear elsewhere in First Corinthians chapter 12, where he said every single member in the body plays an important role, a vital role.

I love the book of Philippians because over and over again, Wallace, in the book of Philippians, Paul talked about how the Philippian church co-labored with him in the gospel side by side for the faith, men and women. And I think that's how we have to view it. Now, that doesn't mean that we just sort of collapse everything and say, well, it doesn't matter, you know, what your role is, because I think the Bible gives us some very clear specifications as to who should be serving in what office specifically. But we also need to remember that God calls each and every one of us, that you, whether you're a man or a woman, have a very important role to play in the life of the church, that we're all charged, really, with knowing sound doctrine, with guarding the good deposit of the faith, in the sense that we hold fast to and cling to the truth of the gospel. And so you are, as a member of the church, no matter who you are or whether you're a man or a woman, valued and necessary.

And I think it's very important to stress that, to emphasize that. And thank you for your question, brother. Wallace, thank you so much. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. A lot of great questions today on a variety of topics. And I know right now in your church, Adriel, you've been going through the Book of First John and preaching.

Any highlights from that from this past weekend? Well, we actually, so, you know, I don't always preach every Sunday. We had some of the interns preach for us this last Sunday, which is really, really wonderful.

It's nice. I finished up the Book of First John. But really, I would say one of the big highlights, we were just talking about guarding the deposit of the faith, understanding sound doctrine. It's that over and over again, throughout First John, John talks about the spirit of the Antichrist that's out there and how we need to know the true Jesus. We need to cling to sound doctrine, how Christ has revealed Himself to us through His Word. And brothers and sisters, each and every one of you needs to do that. We all need to know Jesus through His Word so that we might hold fast to what the Bible teaches. And be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's Word together.