Pimping Jesus – Twisting The Gospel For Gain

Pimping Jesus Headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

“A beginning is a very delicate time…” _Princess Irulan (Dune)

Pimping Jesus - Black NativitySome two thousand years ago, we are told that a child was born to a carpenter and his second wife. He was born into poverty and as things go, no one should have even known about or remembered anything about him.

However, the story takes a turn when we are told that Angelic beings announced his birth. Men of learning and prestige travelled from the Orient to witness his birth and the king in the area he was born, murdered every male child under two years of age in an effort to kill him. There is another twist to this tale. His mother was said to have conceived him without ever having “known” a man. Thus, she was a virgin while she carried him.

Pimping Jesus - Jesus In The Temple

Young Jesus In The Temple

We don’t really know much about his life until he turns 12 and resurfaces in a Jewish temple. We are told that his knowledge amazed the teachers of Jewish law and then he vanishes again. The next time he makes an appearance, he is a grown man on a mission.

At this point, the story is taken up by four different narrators. We learn of omens, signs, portents and of course miracles. He heals the sick, gives sight to the blind, causes the lame to walk again and even raises the dead. Small wonder, of the oppressed people he is ministering to, various political factions also began to take an interest.

Power Is More Addictive Than Crack Cocaine

This person we call Jesus – according to the Gospels – was building a following. Not of the wealthy and elite, but of the common, poor simple people. Rules, laws, traditions in society ultimately serve only two purposes.

  1. To keep a certain segment of society in power.
  2. To keep everybody else under their control.

Pimping Jesus - Women Harvesting A FieldHis message of giving to the poor, caring for the sick, no longer seeking or valuing material things was creating a problem. If people begin sharing what they have with others… for free, the people they’re sharing with, are not buying goods and services. If you’re a farmer and have a field that needs harvesting, and your friends whom are also followers of Jesus come and volunteer to help you bring in your crops, the people whom you would normally have hired, are out of work. If you then turn around and give away food to those who helped bring in your harvest, those people are not buying their produce at the local market. Thus, as you might expect, the merchants had a problem with the teachings of Jesus.

What about the political structures? The worst thing you can do to those who perceive that they have power is to make them irrelevant. Jesus’ message was not to overthrow the Romans, though there were factions who clearly wanted him to lead such a revolution. When asked about paying taxes – a trap laid by the Pharisees – Jesus said, “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s and to God the things that are God’s.” I know this may prove traumatic for my Republican readers, but Jesus said to pay your taxes! Jesus also said to obey the laws of the land. This hardly qualified him to be the firebrand revolutionary that would overthrow Roman rule.

Pimping Jesus - Bust of Constantine the Great. Emperor of Rome.

Constantine was the pagan – Sun worshipper – emperor of Rome who created Christianity and created your Bible.

The religious institutions also had a problem with Jesus. He pointed out the blatant hypocrisy of the Church. By “Church” I mean the Jewish religious institutions. The Christian Church as we know it today, had yet to be invented by the Roman Emperor Constantine. That would come some 300 years later.

For example, Jesus healed someone on the Sabbath. The Pharisees had a problem with this. There is a prohibition against doing any “work” on the Sabbath under Jewish Law. Of course, in my mind, this begs for a definition of what constitutes “work?” From the accounts in the Bible of Jesus healing someone, he usually simply spoke to them… but I digress. Jesus, using the Socratic method, posed the question, “which one of you if your Ass or Ox fell into a pit on the Sabbath, wouldn’t immediately pull them out?” Of course, every last one of them would, Sabbath or no Sabbath.

Pimping Jesus - Sabbath Elevator

Can’t push a button on the Sabbath? Not to worry, this elevator stops on each floor.

Ironically, even today, there are industries creating “Kosher” gadgetry to assist practicing Jews in circumventing restrictions presented by the Sabbath. Obey the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law be damned! As the saying goes, “rules were made to be broken…” or at least, worked around. If one believes in God, what does one suppose God’s opinion is? Do you think that God looks at these workarounds and gives out points for cleverness?

Pimping Jesus - Baby Sister

My baby sister from around this time frame.

Being the oldest, my parents would leave me in charge of my younger siblings whenever they left home. On several occasions, I was admonished to make sure my baby sister was in bed by 9 pm. On one such occasion, we were all watching a television program which wasn’t over until 11 pm. What to do? At 9 pm I instructed my baby sister – she was 9 years younger than I – to go and get in bed. 5 minutes later, I told her she could get back up and we finished the show, then I put her in bed. When my parents asked me the next day if my sister was in bed by 9 pm, I truthfully answered “yes.” They didn’t say anything about her getting back up. My sister loved me for my cleverness. However, if my parents had known… well, they would have had a different perspective on things. The trouble is, if one believes in God, then you have to believe that God knows that you’re employing human cleverness to circumvent the spirit and intention of his laws.

Pimping Jesus - Black Jesus Wearing A Hoodie

Jesus was always around the poor and common people.

The Bible says that Jesus made of himself no reputation. What this means is that Jesus did not promote himself, did not build himself up, lived his life as a common man. People think that Jesus was poor. He was anything but poor. He was born in a stable, because of timing and accident of birth. His father was a carpenter. This means he owned his own business. His uncle was Joseph of Arimathea who was not only a wealthy merchant, but was a member of the Sanhedrin and politically well connected. If Jesus had been born a pauper, the “Three Wise Men” brought him gifts of gold at his birth. This would have immediately made his family wealthy.

Jesus could have afforded a very fine horse. Yet, he walked everywhere he went. Jesus could have afforded a very fine house. Being a carpenter by trade, he could have built himself one. He could have built churches all around Palestine. Yet, he did none of these things. He chose a life of poverty and self-denial. This is far different from the so called preachers today who measure their success by the size of their churches, their homes and the expense of their cars.

Pimping Jesus

Jesus has been turned into a commodity. His message has been repackaged, turned over to advertising agencies and is being marketed at a profit. Churches take in 100s of billions of dollars a year pimping Jesus. Tours to the “Holy Land” sponsored by various church groups dump billions into the economy of Israel.

Pimping Jesus - Creflo Dollar's Private Jet

Pastor Creflo Dollar’s Private Jet

Preachers are buying mansions, corporate jets, Bentleys and Rolls Royce cars. They’re taking vacations on the French Riviera and buying expensive yachts. They’ve got personal chefs, personal trainers, tailors and stylists. Pimping Jesus has become a wildly successful business. Jesus has become the perfect product. It is an intangible product from which you can never get a refund. You don’t know whether or not it works until after you’re dead. Of course by then, it’s too late to ask for a refund.

Pimping Jesus - Paula White's Rolls Royce

Televangelist Paula White’s Rolls Royce in front of her Italian home

I often wonder, if Jesus came back today, would he even recognize today’s Church? 100s of billions taken in, mostly from poor people who can barely afford to give, yet they give because they’ve been manipulated into believing in a message that is the very antithesis of what Jesus actually taught.

How is it that with all the money churches are taking in, homeless shelters are having to turn people away? How is it with all the money churches are taking in, families with children are going to bed hungry right here in this country? Whenever those heart wrenching commercials come on my television showing children in some foreign land living in abject poverty, I think to myself, there are children living right her in these United States that are every bit as impoverished.

Pimping Jesus - Kirk Franklin Grammys

Kirk Franklin at the 54th Annual Grammys.

In Luke 18:8 Jesus asks an interesting question. He asks, whether or not he will find “faith” upon the Earth when he returns? This seems like a strange question to ask. Especially given that we have a church on almost every other corner in some communities. We have gospel recording artist who have songs that are doing well on the R&B charts. How could there not be faith when he returns? Isn’t faith everywhere? Perhaps not?

Matthew 25:31-46
King James Version (KJV)

31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:

32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:

33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.

34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:

35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:

36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.

37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?

38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?

39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?

40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.

41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:

42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:

43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.

44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?

45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.

46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.

You may want to read that twice. That is the true message of Jesus. Notice at no point is anyone asked about their religious affiliation, how much money they gave to their church, whether or not they paid tithes or even whether or not they believed in Jesus at all.

Now read the following and ask yourself if this is talking directly to and about all these preachers that have been pimping Jesus for gain?

Matthew 7:21-23
King James Version (KJV)

21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

22 Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

23 And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

Pimping Jesus - Jesus Montage

You either believe or you don’t.

So, what do you believe? No really? You don’t get any credit for donating money to a church. Caring for the poor, feeding the hungry, tending to the sick, sheltering the homeless and clothing the naked is a personal responsibility. Only you can discharge this obligation. Remember, it was the act of turning over the tables of the money changers and driving them out that triggered the events that led to Jesus being crucified. Today, the money changers are no longer out in the courtyards. Today, they’re running the Church. Are you following Jesus, or just pimping him?

Hiding In Plain Sight – Homosexuality In The Church

homosexuality in the church headerby Benjamin T. Moore, Jr.

Homoseuxality In The Church - Teething Biscuits

Remember these?

If you are reading this and consider yourself to be “straight,” I would like for you to do a little experiment with me. I want you to find a quiet place, calm your mind and think back. Think back as far as you are able. Try to recall your very earliest memories as a young child. What is the earliest birthday party you can remember? Perhaps your earliest memory is of a Christmas or a Holiday or some special event involving your parents. Were you given Pabulum as a young child? Perhaps you remember the slightly sweet taste of a teething biscuit?

While you’re time travelling through the memories in your mind, try and remember the day you decided to be “straight.” Can you do it? Was there some point in time where, if you’re male, you decided you were attracted to females? If you’re a female, was there some point in time you decided to be attracted to males? I have thought long and hard. I have plumbed my memories and I can remember events that happened before I was two years old. Try as I might, I cannot recall ever deciding to like females. Thus has it ever been. I have never been attracted to other men. I have always been attracted to females. It was never a choice. It was simply who I am.

When a person who is homosexual says to me, “I have always been attracted to the same sex,” I find it difficult to dispute them. My own personal experience doesn’t provide a foundation permitting me to make such an argument. No amount of fasting, prayer or restorative therapy will ever make me attracted to another man. Can’t be done. If your experiences are different, please leave a comment. I would like to hear from you.

Homosexuality In Nature

One of the main “non-Biblical” arguments against homosexuality is that it is unnatural. After all, in order to produce offspring, unless a species is capable of asexual reproduction, requires the mating of a male and female of the species. No argument there. Yet, homosexuality has been observed amongst a host of species. Mammals, Birds, Fish, Reptiles and Amphibians. If it occurs in nature, it must be natural. To wit: If you believe that God created all things, you have unimpeachable evidence that God created homosexual creatures. If not, who did?

Misunderstanding The Sodom and Gomorrah Story

homosexuality in the church - Truth About Sodom

Wonder Why You Never Hear This In Church???

Homosexuality In The Church - Sodom and GomorrahAsk almost any “fundamentalist” Christian worth his salt, “why were Sodom and Gomorrah destroyed,” and you’ll get the answer, “because of their homosexuality.”  It is a Bible story usually introduced in Sunday School. We have Abraham bargaining with God to save the city because of his nephew Lot. You have God sending his “Angels” to get Lot out of the city. You have the men of the city spotting the Angels and wanting to “know” them. Took me some years to fully understand exactly what that meant. You’ve got Lot his wife and daughters being rushed out of the city in the very nick of time. Lot’s wife looks back and gets turned into a “pillar of salt” and so on.

Homosexuality In The Church - Westboro Baptist Church

Child abuse?

All in all a very interesting story. The bottom line is, homosexuality is so bad, Almighty God came down to wipe not one, but two entire cities off the face of the earth. Even the act of looking back to see the devastation cost Lot’s wife her life. The term we use today for homosexual sex is “Sodomy” and comes directly from that story. Seems like case closed. God hates homosexuals and the Westboro Baptist Church is right! But what if our takeaway from that story is wrong? What if we’ve had it completely wrong for several 1,000 years?

[KJV] Ezekiel 16:49 
Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fullness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.”

What’s this? According to Ezekiel – he lived a lot closer in time than we do – says that homosexuality had nothing to do with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. Were there homosexuals in Sodom? No doubt there were. There have always been homosexuals. There were homosexuals before the “Great Flood of Noah,” and there are homosexuals after the Flood right up to today. Homosexuality, at one time was a part of Greek culture. If God hated homosexuality, why didn’t he wipe out the Greeks?

Based on what Ezekiel says, God hates people who don’t show kindness and take responsibility for those less fortunate than them. In the Book of Matthew, Jesus gives his Disciples the “Cliffs Notes” for the final Judgement. He goes into quite a bit of detail on what all the nations will be judged on. You can read it in Matthew 25:31-46. Not once does a person’s religion or even whether or not they believe in God come up. In fact, none of the creeds or beliefs so important in distinguishing between the various Christian denominations seem to matter at all! What does matter is how you treated the poor, the hungry, the naked, the homeless, those in prison and the sick. Thus, according to Jesus, salvation is not based on saying “the sinner’s prayer.” It’s not based on joining a church or winning converts. It is certainly not based on how much money you give to a church!

Where Does The Hatred Of Homosexuality Come From?

[KJV] Leviticus 18:22 
Thou shalt not lie with mankind, as with womankind: it is abomination.”

Homosexuality In The Church - Red Lobster

Gathering place for Saints after Sunday service

Seems pretty cut and dried doesn’t it? Thus sayeth the Lord God! Case closed! Those who believe the Bible always follow whatever God decrees right? Well, it seems there’s some wiggle room. For example, every Sunday around 3 pm, you can go to any Red Lobster Restaurant and you’ll see families dressed in their Sunday finest enjoying a meal together after having attended Sunday morning service. There’s nothing like a hot succulent lobster tail and a side of crab legs with some drawn butter. The only problem is, according to your Bible, eating shell fish is also an “abomination.”

[KJV] Leviticus 11:10 
And all that have not fins and scales in the seas, and in the rivers, of all that move in the waters, and of any living thing which is in the waters, they shall be an abomination unto you:

If we work on the theory that an abomination is an abomination, is one abomination worse than the other? Unless your preacher suffers from an allergy to shell fish, I can pretty much guarantee that he or she has enjoyed lobster and crab. Matter of fact, you may have actually been present with him or her and partaken of these abominations right along with them.

There are a lot of things the Bible forbids that you do everyday and think nothing of it. Do you wear clothes that are made from blended fabrics? Cotton and Wool? Do you have a home garden? Did you plant more than one vegetable in it? These things are forbidden by God.

[KJV] Leviticus 19:19 
¶Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed: neither shall a garment mingled of linen and woollen come upon thee.”

Homosexuality In The Church - Wool Blend Fabric

Nothing like a nice suit.

The same book in the Bible that calls homosexuality an abomination, also calls eating shell fish and abomination, forbids wearing garments made from blended fabrics and prohibits planting more than one type of vegetable in your garden. Go to your closet and check the tags on your clothes. More like than not, you’ve been sitting in church wearing fabrics that God forbids. You probably never gave it a second thought. However, when the subject of homosexuality is raised, you probably become righteously indignant! “Those people are going to Hell if they don’t stop what they’re doing and get right with God!” Question: “Are they going to the same Hell you’re going to for eating shell fish or wearing blended fabrics?”

Homosexuality In The Church

Where would the Church be without the contribution of Homosexuals? I spent the first 30 years of my life deeply ensconced in a fundamentalist, Pentecostal church. Let me add a bit of flavor to what that meant.

  • If you weren’t baptized – you were going to Hell.
  • If they didn’t say the right words when they baptized you – yep, Hell.
  • If you didn’t have the charismatic experience (speaking in tongues) – Hell.
  • If you went to a movie theater – you were going to Hell.
  • Women who wore make-up, jewellery, pants – going to Hell. (Seems women had quite a few prohibitions.)
  • If you didn’t pay your tithes (on your gross) – going to Hell.
  • If you went to dances (like you school prom) – yep, Hell.
  • If you listened to secular music (rock, jazz R&B) – ticket to Hell.
  • If you didn’t confess all your sins (masturbation included) – Hell.

I could go on, but I’m sure you get the picture. So needless to say, for the first 30 years of my life, I didn’t like homosexuals… at all! As far as I was concerned, they were demon possessed deviants whom you should keep your children away from at all costs. Of course, this created more than a little conflict because most of those whom I suspected were homosexual and many whom were confirmed as being homosexual later, were in the Church.

Homosexuality In The Church - Rev. James Cleveland

Rev. James Cleveland could bring a congregation to its feet

They were in the music department. They played the church organ or piano like nobody’s business and could bring the congregation to their feet or move them to tears. They sung in the choir and could lead a song that would almost cause you to see the sky roll back and offer a glimpse of heaven. They served on the “Usher Board” and in later years I discovered that some were in the pulpit preaching.

Because these people were “in the church,” I was duty bound to accept them. After all, clearly God had forgiven them and their past lives were “Under The Blood.” All their sins had been washed away – not their effeminate ways… clearly – but the behaviours were gone. At least that is the way things were supposed to work. However, if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck!

I knew of one gentleman whom if I called his name, some of my readers would know him. He got in church, married, raised a family, sung in the choir, was active on the usher board and then one year, he wrote his wife a 7 page letter and was gone. After years of being in the church, he had to acknowledge whom he truly was. The tragedy was, in his efforts to conform and become someone he was not, he took a wife and fathered children. They were devastated when he left.

Homosexuality In The Church - Jason Collins

Jason Collins

That is the other thing we don’t seem to talk about. NBA player Jason Collins came out as being Gay. That doesn’t bother me. However, imagine the surprise of his ex-fiancée! She dodged a bullet there! This is what happens when society – the Church included – demand that people conform to what we consider to be normal. People do try to fit in.  In their effort to fit in, many times they will get married thinking that this will change them. It does not. At this point, they’ve now brought someone else into their lives under misapprehension.

Homosexuality In The Church - Ted Haggard

“Pastor Ted” they called him.

Another example is Ted Haggard. Married with a family. Pastoring a thriving church and elected to lead the National Association of Evangelicals. Presumably he led many a person to Jesus Christ. Yet, he was living a lie. He was “bearing false witness” to whom he really is. It all fell apart and he lost everything when it came out that he had been having a three year sexual relationship with his masseuse who also had been supplying him with Crystal Methamphetamine. No doubt the psychological pain of trying to be someone he was not, caused the need to self-medicate.

Homosexuality In The Church - Bishop Eddie Long

Bishop Eddie Long

Bishop Eddie Long is another example of a prominent preacher’s fall from Grace. Bishop Long could fire up his congregation and have people falling out, knocking over seats and running to the altar ready for salvation. The man is gifted. He built New Birth Missionary Baptist Church from 300 members into what at one time was a 25,000 member “Mega-Church.” Married with children yet, hiding his homosexuality. It all came crashing down when 4 young men came forward charging that Bishop Long had been having sex with them. He had plied them with expensive gifts, cash money and trips. Forget about his church and congregation for a moment, imagine how his wife and children must have been shattered. Again, another example of someone “bearing false witness” to whom they truly are.

Bishop Carlton Pearson is another example of how homosexuality can affect a ministry. I have heard nothing that indicates to me that Bishop Pearson is Gay or even has those tendencies. His problem is that after reading and studying his Bible, he concluded that the Church has had it wrong for 2,000 years. He was branded a heretic because he began teaching that nobody is going to Hell. He calls this “The Gospel of Inclusion.” What? No Hell??? How will the Church make any money?

Homosexuality In The Church - Bishop Carlton Pearson

Bishop Carlton Pearson. Ostracised because he wouldn’t put Gay people in Hell?

After being kicked out of the church he had been affiliated with and losing everything, a church that ministered to homosexuals asked him to come. This church wasn’t ministering to homosexuals from the standpoint of telling them they were going to Hell or living in sin. They were ministering to them from the standpoint of validating their humanity and reinforcing to them that God loved them equally. Bishop Pearson’s ministering to them was equivalent to burning his bridges with the Pentecostal fundamentalist organizations he was a member of. Heretic for life! 

[KJV] Luke 5:31 
And Jesus answering said unto them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick.

The peculiar thing is, if one believes that homosexuality is an anathema to God, shouldn’t the Church be reaching out to them in a loving and effective way? Clearly the Church hasn’t been real successful in curing homosexuality. Possibly because it isn’t a disease? Of course, they haven’t made much progress in getting Preachers to stop eating lobster and crab either.

Homosexuality In The Church - Lobster and Crab Legs

A Succulent Feast?

[KJV] Jude 1:24 
Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,”

Homosexuality In The Church - Pastor Donnie McClurkin

Pastor and Recording Artist Donnie McClurkin

The case of Pastor Donnie McClurkin is interesting. Pastor McClurkin has shared his testimony of being healed by the power of God from being homosexual. In his youth he was the victim of homosexual sexual molestation. Evidently this caused him to become a homosexual for a period of time. Then, praise God, he met Jesus and Jesus cured him of his homosexuality. Pastor McClurkin is one of those people who can sing you into heaven. He even moves me and that’s saying something! One of his biggest hits as a Gospel Recording Artist is a song called, “We Fall Down But We Get Up.” He sings that song with the power and the feeling that in my opinion only comes from experience. When he sings about falling down, I have no idea what is in his mind as he sings it, all I know is he’s not singing from theory. He’s singing from the depths of his experience.

Pastor McClurkin at the time of this writing is not married. Perhaps being married is not his calling…

It’s Time For The Church To Come Out Of Its Closet

Homosexuality In The Church - Lost Man

Before you can get someone “saved” you must first get them lost!

Homosexuality in the Church is almost guaranteed by the way the “Plan Of Salvation” is presented. I’m speaking from the perspective of a man. “Before you can get someone saved, you must first get them lost.” Not only lost, but you have to convince males of their own inadequacy to cope with life’s problems. Whether true or false, it is the nature of men to embrace at their core, the belief in their own self-sufficiency. A man in order to survive must believe in his own self-reliance. His ability to protect himself and those he loves.

Homosexuality In The Church - House HusbandIn order to convince a man of the need for salvation, the Church must tear this down. It must convince a man that he is not self-sufficient, that he is lost and does not know the way to where he wants to go. In essence to get a man “saved” the Church must first emasculate him. The men most susceptible to this are those men who already possess a fragile sense of their own masculinity. The message of the Church resonates with this type of man more powerfully than it resonates with men who are comfortable in their own masculinity. Thus it should be no surprise that so many men in the Church – those who were not brought up in the Church – are often struggling with their sexuality.

Homosexuality In The Church - Catholic Church Scandal

Jesus loves the little children doesn’t mean what the Catholic Church thinks it means.

When we attempt to suppress our nature, the pressure continues to build until we finally explode. Often this explosion causes much more damage and devastation than had we simply embraced whom we are in the first place. The Catholic Church is dealing with a veritable plague of paedophile priest. They’ve added to their problem by taking the position that their priest must remain celibate.  Thus they’re attracting men to their priesthood who are comfortable not being married. What could possibly go wrong?

[KJV] Proverbs 19:9 
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he that speaketh lies shall perish.”

Homosexuality In The Church - Lab Coat and Stethoscope

If my wearing these made you think I was a doctor, you’d be deceived.

When people attempt to portray themselves as other than what they truly are – no matter how well intended – they are bearing a false witness to those around them. They are lying in word and or in deed regarding whom they truly are. I have never even darkened the hallway of a medical school. If I went out and purchased a white lab coat and bought a stethoscope, I might look the part of a medical doctor. However, if you came to me for advice to cure an ailment, even though the advice I gave might be sound, you would still be taking your life into your hands. Eventually, my charade would catch up with me… most probably at the expense of some poor soul who put their trust in the fact that I looked like a doctor.

So, what can be done about homosexuality in the Church? First, let us admit that it is present. Denial is not a river in Africa. The Church only has two choices that I can see. It either must purge itself of all homosexuals – in essence launch a modern inquisition – or it must embrace them and allow them to be whom they are openly. The first option will undoubtedly result in the destruction of the Church. The second option leaves open the possibility that if God changes people, then God will change them in his own time and his own way. I can imagine little worse than a person who is homosexual joining a church and believing themselves to be “cured,” getting married and starting a family only to realize that they are actually still a homosexual.