Cancel Hate

In the NebraskaLand Days Parade in North Platte this year came a contingency of rainbow floats, walkers, and banners.  One sign read, “Homophobic is Gay.”  Another called on people to cancel hate and embrace love.  Such boldness got me thinking.  How do we respond?  What is our message in a nut shell?

Over the days, three thoughts have come to mind – God, sin, and punishment.  So, I thought that if I were to walk in the parade, here is a sign I might carry:

God: sinless and judging

God – there is an Absolute, a Being outside of us and over us, a Supreme Being

Sinless – there are sins, violations, evils, and wrongs so declared by this God who does not sin.

Judging – this God is not indifferent.  God is aware of, cares about, deals with, and judges all sin.

Whoa!  “Too harsh,” say some.  Maybe, but not wrong.

Is there not a God?  Nature, death, science, history, and conscience all scream, “Yes”!

Does not the consistency, wisdom, and accuracy of the Bible say so?

Does not the life, death, buria, and resurrection of Jesus say so?

God is Sinless – meaning that there are sins.  So just what are sins?

Sins are violations of a standard.  Nearly everyone deemed the murders at the Pulse Nightclub in Florida a few years back as evil – as sin.  Even the most unrestrained among us recognize the idea of sin.

Indeed, all have a line that marks the entrance into their idea of sin.

What about Chauvin kneeling on George Floyd’s neck until life expired?

What about a drunk running a stop sign and killing another driver?

What about not declaring all things on one’s taxes or gossip or a breach of contract?  Everyone has things they think are sin – especially those wrongs that directly affect them.

The issue is that the line of demarcation varies widely among people.  So, as a culture, who decides what is sin and what is not?  Congress?  SCOTUS?  Money?  Polls?  What many people claim is that God has declared what are sins and said so in the once famous Ten Commandments.  If there is a God, then it is He who declares what are sins.

And might God judge?  It was once a commonly held thought that there is a Hell for those who sin – that is, have stepped over God’s line.  While that idea is not so popular today, the teaching of that idea is still strong from the pages of the Bible.  In reality, Hell cannot be disproven, but is rather more likely true simply because of the innate belief in men everywhere that there needs to be justice.

So, what does one say in the face of the rainbow onslaught?  First, I believe that homosexuality is a sin as it is in contrast to God’s creation order found in Genesis 2, it stands in opposition to the teachings about Jesus and a bride discussed in Ephesians 5, and the Bible shows God judging homosexual societies (Genesis 18:20, 19:5; Romans 1:26-27).

We who embrace the idea of “God” as sinless and judging, are to love sinners, yet detest their sin.  May we not hate but love – love Jesus, the truth, and them.  We need to show and talk Jesus who alone can prepare any sinner for the judgment that is coming.

May our responses to sinners be both loving and truthful.  May we not fear, nor attack, but care, cry and clearly point to the only hope and help for any sinner – homosexual, coveter, liar, or murderer.  May we loudly/boldly and lovingly be about JESUS!