Judge not, that you be not judged

On April 26, an article was published by Northwestern College’s student newspaper, The Beacon, arguing that Christians should not be tolerant of homosexuals. 

The article titled i‘Tolerance can be hateful’ written by Craig Sterk, argues that allowing people to live happily as members of the LGBTQ+ community is the same as allowing someone to walk down “a dark path headed for a deadly cliff.”

I believe that Sterk had good intentions when he chose to write his article, but good intentions don’t make a good deed. Sterk talks about 1 Corinthians 13, which speaks on what love should look like and cites ‘ “[Love] does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth” (vs. 6)’. 

He uses this passage to back up his opinion that “the most unloving thing we can do is express approval and affirmation of someone living in unrighteousness”. 

Personally, I’d like him to show me where he is finding the abundance of actively practicing Christians that “express approval” for the LGBTQ+ community. 

A very small majority of 54% of Christians in the US say that it should be okay to be homosexual, while the percent of people in other religions are 76% and the percent in non-religiously affiliated people is 83%, according to a study done by the Pew Research Center. 

These percents aren’t even necessarily people that give complete support for homosexuality either, it’s just people that think that it shouldn’t be discouraged.

While I do appreciate that Sterk warns to not be extreme in condemnation, and stoop to “yelling, threatening, cruelly censuring those with same sex attraction”. The issue is that he says that Christians should condemn LGBTQ+ members at all. In Matthew 7:1-2 it is written “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” Christians are not meant to judge, that is a right reserved for God.

It seems to be suggested by Sterk that we should condemn our homosexual peers because the Bible says to, but I wonder what else he would like to cherry pick from the Bible. 

According to the very same chapter that Sterk quotes “Love is patient, love is kind” from it is also written that “If I give all I posses to the poor and surrender by body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.” 1 Corinthians 13:3. 

In his misguided attempt to keep others from sin, Sterk has sinned himself and suggests that we should keep love, the thing which makes everyone more godly, from those who are not heterosexual. 

While it is a part of the Christian faith to spread the faith, before we begin to condemn and judge others we should remember Matthew 7:3-5 “Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.” 

And  if that is too long to remember there is also 1 John 3:15 “Everyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”

All sins are equal and I suggest that we take a look at our own and stop pretending that homosexuality is the worst thing a person can do. Especially when according to multiple researchers the word that was translated from the original text that now says homosexual, actually meant ‘boy molester’, and was changed to mean homosexuals in the 1980s. 

It’s time to start thinking and doing our own research before adopting hate into our hearts.