Blessed Are the Poor in Spirit...

...Who Know We are "Born This Way"...

(Part One)

There is a lot of debate these days as to whether or not a particular sexual orientation is something that one is "born with". I think we all know that in the most basic sense of the word the sin nature is born into each of us, and most likely includes the orientation with which we will err sexually as well as every other way we may choose to break G-d's heart and His law! However, I must part ways with those who have made this the selling point of accepting the resulting "lifestyles" or "cultures" which tends to accompany these patterns, and disagree firmly with those who would declare any sinful sexual preferences as "normal", "functional" or "healthy" social patterns, simply because they are part of our fallen nature! I must differ with those who want to say that there is "nothing wrong" with it simply because it has become more socially acceptable! I object, because, honestly, it is completely illogical from a Scriptural point of view!

We have all heard the line of reasoning behind this conclusion, "because one is born with a particular tendency we should just accept them as normal, because if it natural (meaning a tendency from birth or early childhood) then it must be okay". So, for the humanist the idea is that it must be "fate" or "destiny" and all the other religions have concluded that it must be "providence" or "what G-d intended" - after all, "they can't help it can they?"! And if one does not add G-d, and His power to deliver from sin into the equation, then they are correct. We can not just decide to "be Holy" and make it so!

However, if we persist in following that line of reasoning, then, the terrorists who grow up being trained to abuse their women and who deliberately and proudly send their children to their deaths in the name of religious glory must be considered normal and socially pardoned as well! Right? Or those with severe mental illness, like my mother who was considered "dangerously disturbed" from childhood - (then as an adult, personally, frequently, sexually abused all of her children, and also sold our "services" to others, who watched as we screamed and cried for help because she so enjoyed seeing the sexual act) - must be "socially pardoned" and received as well, and also embraced as "normal". Right? Because as far as I know she had been that sexually crazed since her childhood.

Well? What would be the difference? And what about that guy that just wasted 12 people, and injured a host of others in Colorado? What if he was "just born with anger issues"? Or as they are trying to say, has just experienced a "hormonal disorder" that caused a "temporary mental maladjustment"! Then should he be let off the hook because he "couldn't help it"? Should he be relieved of the responsibility of his actions, and protected from the social consequences of his actions? Should murder, then, become an acceptable or at least excusable "way of life" as well? Then shouldn't the brother whose sibling was killed, who had been protective of that brother from birth, who had sort of been held responsible for his well-being, which would mean that he was both socially and "naturally" geared toward taking up for him, be allowed to kill this guy? After all, that would be the "natural" response, to this crime wouldn't it? You see my line of reasoning here?

I know, I know! These are extreme examples! I also know that most folk in the "gay" communities, and most who "shack up" or have multiple sexual partners, are mostly "harmless", peace loving folk, and usually even highly sensitive, productive contributors to our society! But you know, most of the people who abused me on a regular basis would have been perceived the same way by most who knew them. And they were mostly, except for this "one little problem", for reasons unknown to them, and which they apparently "could not help", they persisted in having sex with children! How accepted would they have been if they had "come out of the closet" as a pedophile?! To this day child abusers are unsafe in prison! The place where the moral compass is as far from North as it gets!

I remember a time, not so long ago when most people in our nation thought that sexual sin was unacceptable - any sexual sin. And, therefore, those bent on pursuing a sexual lifestyle outside of a monogamous, heterosexual relationship in a legal marriage covenant were shunned, and avoided socially, within reason. Because this was considered to be a way of living which was in rebellion to the social mores of the day, and therefore it was socially unacceptable and not "tolerated". There was a standard of righteous living to which everyone agreed and adhered, and if you wanted to be respected you stayed within those social boundaries. Granted, many times the motivations were skewed, and some of the disciplines became more harmful than good, but overall it discouraged the irresponsibility in relationships that we see today, and it encouraged committed, faithful relationships, and more readily supported and encouraged responsible sexual relations which produced and welcomed offspring in a healthier family environment. And with the exception of those mentally impaired few, as my parents were, most stayed within those boundaries. As a result there was not as much divorce and general social unrest and unhappiness as there is today. But, as a people, we seem to have forgotten - in a most deliberate way - that there is a standard of righteousness to which we are expected - by a righteous G-d - to adhere to! And we seem to ignore the obvious truth that the further we get from that standard the more confusion and destruction there will be!

Actually, I have no problem with humanists and atheists and all other general non-religious people accepting these social delusions, and fleshy default patterns of behavior, because to them it is logical! Face facts folks, Sinners sin! Both by definition and by default! For them, as I say, it IS completely NATURAL, and since that "nature" is all they have to go on, all they are able to access, for them it is logical to come to these misguided conclusions! How could they be expected to understand a Holy, Scriptural perspective of righteous living, much less adhere to it? So as usual, my argument is not with them, the worldly, non-religious factions, but with the obnoxiously loud religious voices that rarely practice what they preach!

I have observed this unhappy phenomena for some time now, and feel compelled to try and help my fellow "believers" sort out what it is they say they believe and why. And then to help them stand on that rock of righteousness that does not shift with the changing tides of culture. In recent years there has been a lot of talk about "relevance" and "tolerance". Good concepts in their most basic origins. However, when they replace reverence for a Holy G-d with a contemptible familiarity of Him, and a healthy fear of the deadly nature of sin for a cheeky denial of His Truth concerning it, then these concepts become deceptively dangerous and insidiously threatening.

I think it is time that the ones calling themselves the Church - the Ecclesia - the "called out ones" - got their head out of the electronic gadgets and decided which boat they are going to row in! I think it is time we "fish or cut bait", "put our money where our mouth is", practice what we preach - etc.! Yeshua said that unless our righteousness exceeded that of the scribes and pharisees of His day that we would not qualify for the Kingdom of Heaven! Wow. That is high standard. It is time we find out what He meant by that, and got hold of His power to produce that kind of righteousness in ourselves. I suspect that if we were about that business, we would have no time to judge anyone else!

It is time we faced the fact that people we are all "Born that way", in sin. Liars, cheaters, sexual abusers of all kinds, pornography addicts, substance abusers, gluttons, greedy, jealous, selfish fleshly sinners! That is the nature of every cute little bundle of joy that is born on planet earth! The question is, do we want to stay "that way" more than we want "His Way" out? The "Good News" is that there is a Way out of whatever sinful orientation we are particularly plagued with, generationally, culturally or personally. It is time we recognized and preached the Truth that He has made His nature available to us if we choose to have it.

Of course we can stay in default mode, and continue to use the cop out that "we were just born that way", but we need to realize that it is a cop out. He has made a way out for us. I know, because I have taken Him up on the offer and He is changing me, but more on that later. We say that want "freedom of choice", the problem I have seen is that no one wants to take responsibility for the consequences of those choices. And the other problem is that there are not as many choices as we think! The same two original choices given by G-d will always be at the root of every choice we make, "Life or Death". Unfortunately the power to choose His Life is only found in His Spirit. Will we accept His terms of Life or continue in death by default? His way, or "born that way"? It is our choice.

Selah.