Posted on 01/30/2011 10:35:39 AM PST by SeekAndFind
Popular preacher Joel Osteen's recent affirmation that homosexuality is a sin has garnered reaction from both gay rights advocates and evangelicals alike.
LGBT group the Human Rights Campaign called for an immediate apology, arguing that his statement "adds a burden to those already struggling to accept their sexual orientation or gender identity."
"One would hope Mr. Osteen would use his pulpit, with an audience of over 7 million people, to tell all human beings that they are loved just the way they are," said HRC President Joe Solmonese. "Instead he chose to send a dangerous and irresponsible message."
Evangelical leader R. Albert Mohler, Jr., who does not agree with Osteen's "updated version of prosperity theology," was glad to hear the renowned pastor who reaches 10 million television viewers nationwide affirm the Bible's teaching. But Mohler stopped short of praising Osteen.
"Thankfully, he did not deny that homosexuality is a sin. We can only have hoped that he would have given a more bold answer, followed by an equal boldness in the power of the Gospel of Jesus Christ," Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Ky., said in a commentary Thursday.
On Wednesday, Osteen and his wife, Victoria, appeared on CNN where they were interviewed by its newest anchor, Piers Morgan.
Though he had indicated his stance against homosexuality years before, Osteen was pressed during the show to spell it out more clearly.
"Is homosexuality a sin?" Morgan asked.
"Yes, Ive always believed it," stated the pastor of America's largest church, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas. "The Scripture shows that its a sin."
"I say its wrong because thats what the Scripture says," Osteen added, explaining that he can't pick one part of the Bible (that says God wants to bless you) and reject another part of it (that states homosexuality is a sin). He also added that he's not "one of those to bash homosexuals and tell them theyre terrible people."
The Rev. Dr. Miguel de la Torre, a Baptist minister and member of the HRC Religion Council, disagreed.
"As a Southern Baptist and an ethicist I believe that we cant follow Jesus commandment to love God and our neighbor as our self if we start with the premise that homosexuality is sinful," Torre argued. "Starting with the belief that people are sinful doesnt allow us to get to know them, let alone love them."
A group of pastors from the Houston area, meanwhile, rejected arguments that Osteen's comments were hateful.
"No reasonable person can accuse Joel of being bigoted or hateful, but was very gracious in how he answered the question," asserted Pastor Willie Davis on behalf of the Houston Area Pastor Council.
"No pastor should take a poll about the popularity of his convictions if he is faithful to preaching from the Holy Scriptures, nor can Joel or any pastor be criticized or condemned for simply repeating what God Himself has said," he continued. "In fact, Joel nailed the essence of Gods love by also clarifying that the homosexual lifestyle is harmful to those who practice it or other extra-marital sexual behavior.
"If we care about people we must teach the truth that points us toward Gods best."
And that moment of teaching the truth will come for all Christians, according to Mohler, a Southern Baptist.
Though Osteen has tried to avoid talking about or focusing on sin since taking the pulpit in 1999, Mohler predicted the time would come for him to face the question of sin.
"To his credit, Osteen did answer his question, and by staking his position on the Bibles teaching that homosexual acts are sinful, he took the only road available to anyone with any substantial commitment to the truthfulness of the Bible," said Mohler.
Fornication is intercourse between two people who are not married to each other.
HRC = Human Rights Council, a leading gay rights organization.
Man's natural state is sin; all persons, everywhere, at all times. Homosexuality is merely a specific subcategory.
The good Rev. de la Torre should know that, as a Christian, one is charged to hate the sin but love the sinner. He appears to have chosen to love both.
We really need a wailing baby logo for posts like this.
If sin is burdening them the way to get rid of that burden is clear. Jesus.
Stay classy Southern Baptist....
I hope the wording is clear. It is not a sin to be tempted. Jesus was tempted. I am tempted to adultery. The sin is in yielding to the temptation. Just as I try to resist adultery, others should try some self-control of their own behavior.
I was raised a Southern Baptist and De La Torre is phony. I have never heard in my life time the false doctrine he is throwing around.
May I tell you there are times I don’t love myself. I can not lie and cheat and love myself. I can’t watch my neighbors lie and cheat and love that.
It is the sin I hate, I love people but I don’t love the sin.
A sin is a sin. How about this so called Baptist learning what the Bible means?
New American Standard Bible (©1995) "And I saw that for all the adulteries of faithless Israel, I had sent her away and given her a writ of divorce, yet her treacherous sister Judah did not fear; but she went and was a harlot also. Jeremiah 3:8
The divorce issue is similar to the homosexuality issue. When scripture is taken out of context it brings trouble to the interpretation. When a church treats divorce as "sin" it has gone down a road of no return. If God gave Israel a writ of divorce then it certainly can not be a sin. Divorce is allowed within the bible. My point being the Homosexuals want scriptures removed from the bible. Those who support divorce as "sin" totally ignore other scriptures that support divorce as a last option if reconciliation does not work.
Homosexuality is a sin. That being said, we are all sinners. The problem with the issue of homosexuality today is that is is glorified......celebrated......and shoved down our throats, and if we don’t accept it as “good” and “normal”, then we are bad people. Christians become judgemental hypocrites which simply isn’t true.....not with myself or Christians I know. We’re simply calling a spade a spade. I acknowledge it for what it is....sin.....but I certainly don’t hate homosexuals.
Osteen is right about this one.
No. Breaking a speed limit is not necessarily a sin, especially if your only going 22 MPH. If you putting others in danger, that would be a sin.
That idiot is about as Baptist as the Westboro freaks
This is how freedom of religion dies. The groups aligned against you will say how out of touch you are, how much fictious pain and grief you cause, how much fraudulant injury you cause all so the basis can be laid down for the law suit that quickly ends the God given right to your faith.
That I believe being gay or acting out gay behavior to be a sin is of NO consequence to you or anyone else just like I believe lying to be a sin and adultry and stealing and more. It does not matter to you or hurt you in any way that I call lying a sin and you happen to be a liar.
These people want nothing more than legitimization of this act of theirs to NOT BE A SIN anymore and they want MAN to stop what they KNOW God calls it..SIN SIN SIN...its what it is. And my God is merciful to me when I lie, when I steal and when I do any other sin. People can be cruel, but I will fight to my death to have my freedom of religion that harms no one at all simply because I believe in it!
I agree with you,
I know God hates to see his children get into hurtful situations like divorce.. He hates for us to suffer. Life is hard and even harder for Gods anointed.
We must never forget that God wants us to be delivered from that, that harms us.
The popular media promotes the bad behaviour stereotypes as if this is what everyone is doing. This deeply offends me, and if I were a liberal I would be burning tires and rioting in the street. We are in desperate need of grown ups taking our country back again or we are gonna lose our nation. I'm praying this doesn't happen. I fear the clock is running quickly, we might be three scores down in the fourth quarter.
OK, someone things homosexuality is a sin?
And we are supposed to ask that person to change his mind because it might offend someone else?
I don’t care what either of them think, and I bet they don’t care what I think either.
And that is what should be great about our country.
Just out of curiosity, I googled this de la Torre person. I’ve been a Southern Baptist all my life and never heard of the dude.
His biography states that he came to the US as a child from Cuba, so he thinks that makes him a illegal alien. He was in the real estate business in Miami and then went to a Southern Baptist theological seminary. While teaching at some institution of “higher learning”, he shot his mouth off against Dr. James Dobson and was given the boot. He now teaches at some place called the “Iliff Theological Seminary” in Colorado. This place claims to be affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Their web page has lots of blather about “diversity”, but not much mention of Jesus Christ.
Phony.
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