How Do We Treat Lost Sheep?

Not long ago, I met an engaging young lady at a conference I was attending. In the course of our conversation, she told me she was the mother of a new baby, which prompted me to ask about her family and then about her husband’s career. She politely corrected me and told me where her partner worked.

This immediately got me to thinking and praying about how a Christ-follower and churches should engage people who embrace a homosexual lifestyle.

Should I treat her any differently than any other person who needs to know the love of Christ and the freedom His sacrifice for us brings? If this couple came to my church hand-in-hand and wanted to check their baby into the preschool, how would they be treated? If they walked into our worship service, would they be welcomed?

Would they belong?

Check out Luke 15, where the religious establishment was complaining about Jesus’ association with sinners. Jesus’ response was to tell four straight parables - The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin, The Lost Son, and The Dishonest Manager - that reveal His GREAT love for everyone who has fallen short of the glory of God, and our responsibility as believers to love them and help them find their way to Him.

We don’t stop people who are obese at the front door of the church and tell them they need to lose weight and control their eating before they are welcome - even though the Bible says gluttony is a sin. If we did, I would be camped in the parking lot every Sunday.

We don’t forbid known liars to enter a worship service, even though Commandment No. 9 clearly teaches bearing false witness is a sin. Again, I would never be welcome inside.

Basically, here is my take on a person who practices homosexuality…

The Bible clearly teaches homosexuality is a sin, just like it teaches that lying, gluttony, having sex outside of marriage, worshipping money and all that it buys are sins. There are plenty of directives in the Bible that make me uncomfortable because it shines a light on behaviors of mine and thoughts that are clearly not holy and godly. So, I am in the same boat with anyone who chooses homosexuality, who doesn’t enjoy reading the Bible passages who define homosexuality as sin.

I am not advocating allowing homosexuals to lead or serve in a church, any more that I would advocate allowing any person to serve as a church leader whose lifestyle did not match a Biblical blueprint for enjoying this privilege.

Here is my point: The homosexual community is a growing group of people in our society. We cannot ignore them or treat them like modern-day lepers.

We need to treat them as lost sheep - just like Jesus treats us.