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Be Open-minded and Accepting Tim Smelser
As the debate continues over same sex marriages a simple statement like, “Homosexuality is sin” can attract a lot of attention. Attention is exactly what our sign out front attracted when a couple simple Bible verses were posted. We have also received mail concerning the “offensive message.” One person asked us to be open-minded and show acceptance. Let me first establish the fact that the gospel message is a message of love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son” (John 3:16). Paul said, “God commendeth His own love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). God loved us and Jesus loved us enough to sacrifice for us, and that is good news! Christians in turn are to display that love to other Christians and non-Christians alike. “Love your enemies, do good to them that hate you” (Luke 6:27). “In love of the brethren, be tenderly affectioned one to another . . . Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Romans 13:8-9). “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness” (Galatians 5:22). This message and attitude of love however, must not be confused with an acceptance of sin. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23). Sin separates us from God (Isaiah 59:1-2). With sin in our lives we are living in unrighteousness and “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9). God has demonstrated His love and compassion for us but this does not excuse that which is displeasing to Him in my life. The letter we received in the mail regarding our sign out front is typical of the mindset many people have today. The “religious right” is constantly being asked to be open-minded and accepting. My response to this plea is “Amen.” I am all for being open-minded and accepting. Instead of applying these attitudes toward sin though, let’s apply them toward God’s word. We need to be like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 who “received the word with readiness of mind.” They were open-minded, but that “open-mindedness” was to God’s message. They were willing to make changes where He called for changes to be made! In the Parable of the Sower in Mark 4, Jesus said that those represented by the good ground heard the word and accepted it (4:20). In 2 Corinthians 11:4, Paul warned of accepting a different gospel other than that which the apostles preached. We cannot accept sin if God does not accept sin. We cannot open our minds to call evil good and good evil (Isaiah 5:20), because Christians are to have the mind of Christ (Philippians 5:2). Yes we must be accepting and open-minded – but about the right things.
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