Dr. Paul J. Dean

Are People Born Homosexual?

Friday, November 11, 2011

With the politicization of the homosexual agenda there is the oft repeated assertion that there is a genetic link to homosexuality. The thought is that if people believe that homosexuality is genetically determined then they will be more favorable to changing not only laws but even religious teaching concerning homosexuality. What is most concerning about that tactic is that some Christians have softened their teaching on the sinfulness of homosexuality. In other words, it’s working. Beyond that, there are “persons in the pews” and even conservative pastors who seem concerned about genetic links, real or imagined, and who further seem confused as to a biblical response. How then should Christians think about this issue?

First, according to leading epidemiologists, when they isolate a breast cancer gene for example, that gene does not guarantee breast cancer. It simply means that an individual is at greater risk for breast cancer statistically. In other words, more people with a particular gene or gene mutation got breast cancer than persons without that particular gene or gene mutation. But there are other factors that play into whether or not one will get breast cancer including environment, lifestyle choices, and more.

When it comes to homosexuality, these same epidemiologists put that issue in the category of behavior; and there are many factors involved in determining one's behavior including environment, moral values, and perhaps genetics. But one cannot isolate a gay gene in the same way one can isolate a breast cancer gene. Again, the experts tell us that while genetic factors, among others, may be involved in homosexuality, there is no such thing as a gay gene.

Second, Christians should not be alarmed that there may be genetic factors connected to homosexual desire. On the contrary, based upon the teaching of Scripture, we should expect that to be the case. Don’t misunderstand: homosexuality is sin. But think for a moment; human beings are totally depraved. Total Depravity does not mean that human beings are as sinful as they could be. Rather, it means that human beings have been affected by sin in every aspect of their being, including their genetic makeup. The Psalmist affirms, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin my mother conceived me” (51:5). And again, “The wicked are estranged from the womb: they go astray as soon as they are born, speaking lies” (58:3). Paul says that we are born dead in trespasses and sin (Eph. 2:1-3) and that we inherit a sinful nature from our parents (Rom. 5:12-21; 1 Cor. 15:21-22). If we inherit a sinful nature from our parents, then genetics are involved.

Think further: some people are inclined more than others to lie; some to steal; some to anger; some to drunkenness; and so forth. Some have an inclination to heterosexual promiscuity while some will struggle with homosexual desire. If the epidemiologists ultimately conclude that some may be predisposed to homosexuality, remember that genetics is not the only factor involved in what is a behavioral choice. Biology does not determine destiny. But also realize that we Christians should in no way be surprised or alarmed if genetics is a factor.

Third, the real issue has to do with what God says is right or wrong. Just because someone likes the taste of beer more than someone else doesn’t mean he gets a pass on being a drunkard. That’s sin. Just because someone may be more of a risk taker than someone who would play it safe every time doesn’t mean he gets a pass on gambling his family’s provision away. That’s sin. And just because someone may have a homosexual desire doesn’t mean he gets a pass on acting out on that desire. That’s sin.

The Bible is very clear on two things when it comes to homosexuality. The first thing is that it is sin and must be forsaken. Paul himself is incredulous that “persons in the pews” and conservative pastors would be confused. He asks, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Cor. 6:9-10). The second thing is that God gives grace and power to overcome homosexuality just like He gives grace and power to overcome other sins. After telling the Corinthians that the unrighteous, including homosexuals, will not inherit the kingdom of God, Paul told them, “And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:11). We have the responsibility to turn from our sinfulness and the million different ways that sinfulness manifests itself in our lives; and through the power of the gospel and the new birth we have the ability to do so.

We need not be concerned or confused; we have the answers to these things in the Scriptures. Let the Scriptures be our authority for faith and practice and we’ll never go wrong.

For a more extensive treatment of genetics and a biblical worldview, see my article here. For an analysis of genetics and ethical issues see my article here.

Dr. Paul Dean invites you to discover more about the role of Government, the role of the church, and the role of the market . . . and develop a Christian worldview. Dr. Dean is a pastor, cultural commentator, and author. Please visit http://www.governmentcurrentevents.com

Does the Bible Work for You?

Friday, November 11, 2011

I was talking with a friend about God using the circumstances in our lives to show us what’s in our hearts. For example, if the teenage boy’s drum playing next door angers you, it’s not that he’s making you angry. You actually have anger in your heart that God wants you to deal with and the drum playing simply exposes your problem. The Bible is clear that what we do flows from the heart (Lk. 6:45); it’s God Word that shows us our sin (Heb. 4:12); and it’s God’s Word that shows us how to deal with sin at the heart level. But my friend disagreed. He told me that those biblical principles just don’t work for him.

That’s a real issue: does the Bible work for you? My friend is not alone in his conclusion; there are many who have simply said the Bible doesn’t work for them. How then can we make it work?

First, take it for what it is: absolute truth revealed from God. The Bible is no mere religious book or simple collection of wisdom, good advice, or high ethical standards. It has those things but it’s much more than that; it’s God’s Word, so much so, when you read the Bible it’s as if Jesus Himself were in the room with you telling you what to think or do. The Bible trumps pop theology, man’s philosophy, political correctness, home-spun wisdom, the majority opinion of the culture, and everything else. It is God’s truth without any mixture of error.

Second, don’t judge the Bible by your experience. You may have studied economics, public policy, science, or any number of things. That’s good. But what you can’t do is read the Bible through the lens of what you’ve studied. On the contrary, you must study those things through the lens of Scripture. It’s the Bible that helps us to have the right view on economics for example, not the other way around. Too many people have twisted the Scriptures by getting this one principle backwards. Paul warns against being kidnapped by human wisdom (Col. 2:8).

Third, learn to interpret it properly. Often people conclude the Bible doesn’t work for them because they don’t understand it at a particular point. You can almost make the Bible say anything you want. But you must lay aside your preconceived notions as best you can when you come to Scripture. You then have to understand a text in its historical context. What did it mean to the original readers who lived in a very different time and culture than you? What is the background, tradition, and understanding they would have had in hearing this text? Remember, a text can never mean today what it never meant when it was written; it has only one meaning (though we may apply it in different ways). Beyond that you have to understand the type of literature you’re dealing with as the Bible contains different literary forms; you have to deal with the grammar; and you have to deal with the overall flow of the Biblical writer’s argument or point. Proper interpretation is not impossible, but it does take a little work.

Fourth, make sure you apply it to your heart. Paul says knowledge makes us prideful (1 Cor. 8:1). Even knowing the Bible can make us prideful if we don’t then take what we know and apply it. In other words, we have sin in our hearts. It’s the Word that shows us what that sin is and its opposite. If I have an anger problem, it’s not enough for me to know the Bible says the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God (Jas. 1:20). I have to deal with the anger in my heart by putting it off and replacing it with peace, joy, forgiveness, humility, and so forth. I do that by renewing my mind with the Bible (Rom. 12:1-2).

Fifth, see the importance and relevance of all of it to your life. The liberal pastor Harry Emerson Fosdick once said, “Only the preacher proceeds still upon the idea that folks come to church desperately anxious to discover what happened to the Jebusites.” His point was that people are not concerned about what happened to the Jebusites and preachers therefore should not be so concerned with Bible events but should rather focus on the felt needs of people. Well, that logic is flawed: felt needs are often not the same as true need. It is God who tells us what our true need is through His revelation (Bible events). We should be very concerned about what happened to the Jebusites and what God would say to us through them. Yes the Jebusites are ancient, but God’s revelation in connection to them is relevant today.

Sixth, submit to its authority even if you don’t understand. Sometimes when a person says the Bible doesn’t work, he means he doesn’t understand the Bible, how it applies to his situation, or the situation itself. He may mean the Bible confronts his sin and he doesn’t like that confrontation. Whatever the case, we must have a source of authority apart from ourselves. There are as many opinions or feelings about a thing as there are people on earth. How do we decide which opinion or feeling is right? We need God to tell us. He’s the Creator and it is His character from which flows that which is right and wrong. Therefore, even if we don’t understand what God is doing, or why something is right or wrong according to the Scriptures, we must accept it or find ourselves fighting against God. He knows best and has our best interest at heart.

Seventh find peace in God and what He says, not what’s happening in your life. You’ll never find peace if you don’t understand this one thing: God is not out to eliminate or remove the difficult circumstances in your life. Most people get mad at God or their circumstances because their focus is on the removal of the bad circumstances when that is not God’s focus at all. His focus is on you becoming more like Christ; on you putting His power on display by reacting well in the circumstances; on you finding peace in Him and not in happy circumstances. Life’s a mixed bag; good things and bad things happen. You have to find what’s constant and the only thing constant is God. Trust Him by trusting His Word no matter how you feel and you will have peace.

That’s how to make the Bible work for you. When you focus on God by focusing on His Word, then the world, your life, and your circumstances will begin to make more sense and they’ll make even more sense over time. The Bible will work for you because God will be at work in your heart. And you can thank Him for using the teenage drummer next door.

Should the Government Tell You What You Can’t Eat?

Monday, August 15, 2011

I’m not sure I want my wife telling me what I can’t eat, let alone the government (though I do try to listen to my wife). Stories about government banning certain food items, particularly those with high fat content, are increasing. By way of example, not the latest, but perhaps the most prominent, occurred some time back in San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors declared the McDonald’s “Happy Meal” must have less than 600 calories, fewer than 640 milligrams of sodium, and less than 35% of calories from fat (unless the item that pushes the meal past the limit is deemed healthy -- like nuts). McDonald’s will be banned from giving away a toy if those standards are not met.

Is it right for the government to tell a restaurant what they can and cannot give away? Suppose it was your restaurant; how would you feel? We all know the concern is children who are obese. However, if the government is going to ban toy give aways or high fat content meals, why stop there? Why not ban inactivity in children or video games that promote such? Why not ban children from watching television or at least put time limits on their viewing? After all, we all know the government knows what’s best for our children, not us. Or at least the government thinks so.

Let’s inquire further. Don’t kids like the “Happy Meal” and the toys that come with them? Do they count? What if I or my kids like French Fries? How many people would rather eat nuts with their Big-Mac, or double cheese burger, or even their regular hamburger? Do we really want the government telling us we can’t eat more than 600 calories at lunch? If I eat two chocolate-chip cookies, I’m at the limit! Isn’t this really an encroachment on personal liberty? We really don’t want government intruding into our lives at this kind of micro-management level do we? Don’t we Americans have the right to pursue life, liberty, and happiness, even if what makes us happy is the Happy Meal? Who should determine what you should or should not eat or whether or not you should run a few miles after you eat? When we put things in these terms the answers to these queries seem pretty obvious.

But let’s think biblically; let’s come to the issue of worldview. Are we simply talking about opinion or can we answer the above questions in a way that has universal application? The truth of the matter is that God has an answer for us. He has created us and has determined how we should interact in civil society with one another; He has determined how we should be civil.

Government plays a role in protecting us from harming each other; people are prone to hurt other people by virtue of their sinful nature. We may defend ourselves from others or enlist help to do so. Government’s role of protecting us from one another, in one sense, is an extension of the principle of self-defense. In other words, Government is simply an agent of ours for self-defense. Government therefore establishes and executes laws that protect us from harming one another.

But, individuals have consciences when it comes to personal choices. We may choose to eat something healthy or unhealthy. It is not the role of government to violate our consciences and make those choices for us. I am the one who determines whether or not I should eat a cheese burger, not the government.

We Christians need to understand the government is force; it is power. We don’t want to give it more power than it should rightfully have. At the same time, the influence we Christians have on others is not by force but by winsome persuasion. God would not have us force Christ or Christianity on others nor would He have non-Christians forcing their views and standards on us. That’s why government is limited to a protective role; a role of protecting rights, not forcing others to conform to someone’s standard of what’s right, healthy, or wise, vs. what’s wrong, unhealthy, or unwise. God is interested in whether or not the government bans Happy Meals; He says it should not. His standard of what government should and should not do in contemporary civil society is universal.

Yet, the point for us is not merely to complain about what government is doing. The reality is that we who call ourselves Christians must understand the biblical role of government and propagate that truth as others are promoting their own views about government. In so doing, we not only want people to see government’s role clearly and therefore society benefited, but we also want people to see their ultimate need is Christ. We can’t talk about good government apart from Christ. At the same time, government will never be perfect or save us. Christ is and will. And, when more and more people get Christ, society and government can’t help but be transformed. More than that, we’ll also be able to freely serve and eat Happy Meals as well as know when to eat something a little more healthy (if we like). Should the government tell you what not to eat? No, God does that.

How to Get Joy When Your Spouse is Dying (An Answer to Pat Robertson)

Friday, September 23, 2011

Perhaps no recent statement has better captured so glaringly the bent of our culture than Pat Robertson’s advice to a man whose wife has Alzheimer’s: “he should divorce her and start all over again.” This counsel has generated great outrage and much scrutinyto be sure. But it’s that same cruel sentiment of self-centeredness that underlies most of the decisions we make and attitudes we take in this culture as a whole and in our everyday lives as individuals. All Robertson has done is to reveal just how much we’ve bought into the spirit of the age without realizing it. If you stand in the rain long enough, you’ll get soaked. And what’s worse, not only have we bought into the self-centered spirit of the age, even if we’re appalled by Robertson’s statement as we should be, it’s our captivity to that spirit that robs us of real joy when we’re going through a tragic time in our lives.

It was a man seeing another woman because his wife has Alzheimer’s that prompted the question Robertson was answering. Such self-centeredness is not unusual when dealing with an ailing or dying spouse. In twenty years of pastoral ministry, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly, and there’s a lot of ugly in these kinds of circumstances. This man has abandoned his wife through adultery and Robertson has advised him to abandon her through divorce. But I’ve seen others abandon their spouses by sticking them in nursing homes and forgetting about them, by ignoring them in their greatest moments of need, by getting on with their lives and leaving the care of their life-partners to others, by refusing to spend time with them or visit them if they have to be in a health-care facility of some kind, by expressing anger and frustration at them for things beyond their control, by not seeking to understand what’s going on with their ailing loved ones or how to deal with it in a caring way, and so much more.

I had a woman tell me some time back she couldn’t give her husband his much needed medication during the night because she needed her sleep. How much sleep does a new mother get? A man told me he didn’t want his wife coming home from the hospital for some recuperation before an upcoming surgery because he didn’t want to have to physically help her out of bed two or three times a day. Inability is one thing but unwillingness is something else. And these sentiments are not that uncommon; that’s the cultural air we breathe.

We’re told in the Scriptures that “in the last days perilous times will come: for men will be lovers of themselves” (2 Tim. 3:1-2). When a Christian minister tells a man to forsake his vows before God and abandon his wife in her greatest hour of need, we do indeed live in perilous times; we do indeed love ourselves more than God and others. And that is exactly the wrong way to find peace and joy: to focus on self and abandon God and others.

Such focus is the complete opposite of the gospel. Robertson said this man’s wife with Alzheimer’s was dead to him. The gospel tells us that God loved us when we were unlovable. He demonstrated His great love for us by dying for us while we were dead to Him (Rom. 5:8). And marriage is a picture of the gospel and Christ’s love for His bride, the church; He will never leave us or forsake us. To forsake your spouse is to deny the very thing marriage is to display: God’s unfailing love for His people. It is to deny the reality of God Himself.

Think about this: what puts God’s character and power on display more: abandoning one’s wife because he’s not happy (for obviously God wants us to be happy); or giving all you have to care for your wife because she can’t care for herself? But here’s an equally significant question: from where does real joy come? Doesn’t it come from glorifying God; from putting His character on display and finding your satisfaction in Him? Jesus is the true water that satisfies (Jn. 4:10); the true bread that alleviates your hunger (Jn. 6:51); and the true treasure in the field (Matt. 13:44). In Him is pleasure forever (Ps. 16:11).

Does joy come in chasing personal pleasures at the expense of others? Is there ultimate peace in that? Does one lay up treasure in heaven by chasing after a new woman because he’s tired of the old one? Ponder carefully these words: “By faith Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, esteeming the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt; for he looked to the reward” (Heb. 11:24-26). That’s how you find joy when your spouse is dying: you trust the promises and God and live them out; you know and believe that chasing personal pleasure at the expense of God and others brings only a momentary happiness; you know and believe that even suffering under the providential care of Christ is better than the temporary pleasure of sin; and you keep your eyes on the reward which is Christ Himself and life (joy) in Him long after your momentary suffering is over.

Our culture has sold us a lie. Is it really all about me? Isn’t this self-focus rooted in evolutionary thought; in survival of the fittest (me)? Isn’t abandoning your spouse with Alzheimer’s because, as Robertson says, “she’s gone” the same logic as the promoters of abortion use? They argue an unborn, and depending upon whose making the argument, even a live-born baby isn’t able to operate at the same mental level as you or me and is therefore not a fully-functioning person and is therefore able to be discarded without any moral consequences. If inconvenient babies can be aborted, why can’t inconvenient spouses be abandoned? Such is the lie Satan is selling in clever disguise in the thousand ways we are selfish every day. God says the way to find joy is to do nothing “through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind, consider others better than yourself. Look out not only for your own interests, but also for the interests of others. Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 2:3-5).

My wife told me the other day if I was stricken by something catastrophic that she would not abandon me. If she had to help me out of bed she would do her best. She said we might hit the floor together but she would be there for me. I would do the same for her. Not caring for her would never enter my mind. None of us want to have to go through these things, but if my wife and I have to for one reason or another, and we end up hitting the floor together, what a day of joy that will be – because we’ll be living out the gospel – together.

Dr. Paul Dean invites you to discover more about yourself, God, and others . . . and develop a Christian worldview. Dr. Dean is a pastor, cultural commentator, and author. Receive a FREE commentary and learn more at http://www.trueworldview.com

About Paul Dean

Dr. Paul Dean is a pastor, cultural commentator, and author. He serves as a Regional Mentor with the International Association of Biblical Counselors, speaks at several conferences throughout the year, and provides training for ministers and churches on a regular basis. Paul resides in the Upstate of South Carolina with his wife and three children. Please visit www.trueworldview.com for current resources and offerings.

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