gay priests

[Jwalker]

I understand that gay priests are starting to pop up in churches ever so slowly, BUT why is it wrong? I disagree with homosexual acts but it is a sin just as lying and stealing. i do believe the bible says if you have anger torward another person you have murdered in your heart...is that not just as bad?! I fell if the priest understands he needs to fight it and keeps trying to get help for it ,he is just as we are, sinners in a world who needs god!

[Guest man]

What would you say about your pastor if he was constantly getting arrested for shoplifting?

Would you still consider him an authority figure within the church if he stepped out on his wife and openly committed adultry on a daily basis?

What about lying and stealing? What if he took what was given to the church and spent it at a strip club?

If he confessed that he had these urges and wasn't quite over them yet, but he was working on them, would you still consider him an authority figure within your congregation?

[nebula]

The issue isn't what you think, but what God thinks.

If all sins are equal, would you want someone guilty of pedophilia to be an elementary school teacher?

Would you want a kleptomaniac to work in a store?

A pastor is a shepherd of the flock. You can't trust this position to just anybody.

[LeonaS]

Continuing the metaphors:

Would you trust a cop who openly committed crimes?

I think the Bible is pretty clear on this subject. And a church leader would be setting a very bad example (on so many levels) if he or she "came out of the pulpit" (so to speak).

[OneLight]

We all have sin in us. The issue here is if the person is in continual sin and refuses to stop.

1 Corinthians 9:27

But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others, I myself should become disqualified.

2 Corinthians 13:5

Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?

[Guest]

I understand that gay priests are starting to pop up in churches ever so slowly, BUT why is it wrong? I disagree with homosexual acts but it is a sin just as lying and stealing. i do believe the bible says if you have anger torward another person you have murdered in your heart...is that not just as bad?! I fell if the priest understands he needs to fight it and keeps trying to get help for it, he is just as we are, sinners in a world who needs god!

Trust

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts:

And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. Psalms 139:23-24

The World Won't Get It

Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man:

But every man is tempted, when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.

Then when lust hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death. James 1:13-15

God Did Not Make Sinners

Do not err, my beloved brethren.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.

Of his own will begat he us with the word of truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures. James 1:16-18

Yet

Ye have not yet resisted unto blood, striving against sin. Hebrews 12:4

He Saves

And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood, Revelations 1:5

Whatever The Sin

For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. Romans 6:23

The LORD Jesus Is The Answer

For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of his good pleasure. Philippians 2:13

[Jwalker]

What would you say about your pastor if he was constantly getting arrested for shoplifting?

Would you still consider him an authority figure within the church if he stepped out on his wife and openly committed adultry on a daily basis?

What about lying and stealing? What if he took what was given to the church and spent it at a strip club?

If he confessed that he had these urges and wasn't quite over them yet, but he was working on them, would you still consider him an authority figure within your congregation?

of course if a person is to be continuing to sin and persueing that life then it is wrong, like i said, if they are gay and are doing what they need to keep from sinning then he is no different then you and me!

[Jwalker]

Titus 1:6-9 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless-- not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Someone who is involved in willful, habitual sin such as the homosexual lifestyle is not blameless, does not know what is good, is not self-controlled, upright, holy or disciplined. The requirements for leadership are laid out very clearly in 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus as well as other places and none of those requirements would allow an openly practicing gay person to be a leader. Saying that someone has anger in their heart because they oppose a homosexual being in a leadership position within the church is inacurate and it is false. One cannot openly and chronically practice sins such as homosexuality, adultery, theft, lying, etc. and have any effectiveness, credibility or integrity as a leader, not to mention the fact that they are setting an extremely bad example for the rest of the flock. The Bible is extremely clear on this issue, so I always have to ask why some groups are constantly attempting to overlook and override clear biblical directives on the subject.

Colbalt, who is blameless!? and just because you are a homosexual doesnt mean you are practicing! you look at women with lust, but you dont chase after them. people do not understand the leaders of the church are full of sin too, they just are suppost to be able to deal with them correctly! dont be blind to people and sin, please!!

[OneLight]

Titus 1:6-9 6 An elder must be blameless, the husband of but one wife, a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient. 7 Since an overseer is entrusted with God's work, he must be blameless-- not overbearing, not quick-tempered, not given to drunkenness, not violent, not pursuing dishonest gain. 8 Rather he must be hospitable, one who loves what is good, who is self-controlled, upright, holy and disciplined. 9 He must hold firmly to the trustworthy message as it has been taught, so that he can encourage others by sound doctrine and refute those who oppose it.

Someone who is involved in willful, habitual sin such as the homosexual lifestyle is not blameless, does not know what is good, is not self-controlled, upright, holy or disciplined. The requirements for leadership are laid out very clearly in 1 & 2 Timothy and Titus as well as other places and none of those requirements would allow an openly practicing gay person to be a leader. Saying that someone has anger in their heart because they oppose a homosexual being in a leadership position within the church is inacurate and it is false. One cannot openly and chronically practice sins such as homosexuality, adultery, theft, lying, etc. and have any effectiveness, credibility or integrity as a leader, not to mention the fact that they are setting an extremely bad example for the rest of the flock. The Bible is extremely clear on this issue, so I always have to ask why some groups are constantly attempting to overlook and override clear biblical directives on the subject.

Colbalt, who is blameless!? and just because you are a homosexual doesnt mean you are practicing! you look at women with lust, but you dont chase after them. people do not understand the leaders of the church are full of sin too, they just are suppost to be able to deal with them correctly! dont be blind to people and sin, please!!

Allow me to ask you a few questions Jwalker. When I accepted Christ as my savior and HE created a new creation in me, am I still the old man I was or am I a new creation? Am I still the drug addict doing whatever I had to do to survive or am I now a child of God? Have you forgotten what scripture tells us? Psalm 103:12 As far as the east is from the west ,So far has He removed our transgressions from us.

We are no longer who we were. We no longer live in the world as the world lives. Though I can relate to those who are living in the same lifestyle I was in, I am no longer a drug addict. I AM a child of God. Until people can accept this, which is all through scripture, they will continue to see themselves as who they were, not who they are in Him.

[~candice~]

I seem to recall a 30-odd page thread on this topic being tossed around before...

JWalker may I ask why is it that it is that particular sin you want to see more tolerance for in the ministry? I really struggle these days with the concept that the homosexual desire should be accommodated, especially in (and from) the pulpit. And it's not because I'm homophobic.

We know these desires are not of Him, they are of the devil, the father of lies and the ruler of this world. Any christian who is tied up in this sin or harbouring same sex desires should want a renewal of their mind so that their desires line up with His. Having a like mind with Christ means hating sin and not looking for ways in which to have it more tolerated.

We don't want it in our minister, because we don't want it in our church, or in any members at all.

Just my feelings on this topic......