The above statement does not reflect the teachings of Jesus imo. Yes, Matthew 18:21-22 shows that Jesus taught that if repentant sinners ask for forgiveness then forgive them. This is evidenced by 1 Corinthians 6:11 which shows that certain members of that church had evidently repented and accepted God’s grace to turn their lives around.
On the other hand, not only does Matthew 18:15-17 show us that Jesus taught that a congregation is to have zero tolerance for unrepentant sinners, but 1 Corinthians 5 shows us that Paul reprimanded that church for wrongly tolerating fellowship with a sexual offender, verse 11 of that passage showing that Paul said not to even eat with such people.
I think Jesus would name people of the secular culture of America, pagans, which includes Christians who think and live as pagans. The sinners He hung out with repented or left Him. The part liberals hate to remember after he protected the slut from being stoned, was his order to “go and sin no more.”
Modern gays have all their identity and pride wrapped up into homo activity (attention whores) everywhere they go (especially in church) and that would disqualify them from hanging out with Jesus. They surely would not change Him and He would surely not have them prancing around in His Father’s house like they own it. He’d know that homosexuality is the underpinnings of child sexual abuse in the church and He’d fix that pronto.
Wasn’t Paul an unrepentant sinner? And didn’t Jesus Himself come to Paul?
Didn’t Jesus Himself reach out to prostitutes and tax collectors, who were persisting in sin?
So, how did Jesus treat pagans and tax collectors?
I am sure each one of us has a persistent sin we struggle with. It may be pride, jealousy, or any other sin. However, God calls us to recognize our sin, confess it, and to re-order our life to Him.
Don’t you think there are at least a few homosexuals who struggle with purity, but seek God honestly? Don’t you think there are at least some homosexuals who are heroically virtuous, living out the Beatitudes in spirit and action? Don’t they deserve to be recognized by the Church as a person possessed of human dignity, and in need of repentance?
Are we to completely ignore homosexuals? We can’t ignore homosexual sin, nor can we normalize it. Further we can’t normalize homosexual relationships, as they are intrinsically disordered. However, we can certainly value our fellow sinners.
This is nothing new. It’s love the sinner but hate sin. How about this.
“Men and women of adultry tendencies must be welcomed with respect and sensitivity.
“Men and women with tendencies to steal must be welcomed with respect and sensitivity”.
I could go on. Nothing is a sin until you act on it.
But what does aggravate me is the part about “must be welcomed”. Why say this. Like any other sinner, homosexuals have always been welcomed in the Church, but not practicing the sin of homosexuality.
Yep.
It is still slightly moving in the wrong direction.