Can Homosexuals Be Christians?

By C. Michael Patton

As a minister and teacher of theology, I am often asked: Is there such a thing as a "homosexual Christian"? Many believe that a person who engages in a homosexual lifestyle is necessarily excluded from the Kingdom of God until they repent. Repentance here would mean a change of thinking about the homosexual lifestyle and taking action to change it. In other words, some will say, while homosexuals can be saved, their salvation must guarantee their change of lifestyle within a short period of time.

While I agree with those who say that homosexuality is a sin ( Lev. 18:22, 20:13 ; Rom. 1:27; 1 Cor. 6:6; 1 Tim. 1:10 ), I do not believe that it is outside the realm of a believer's carnality. Neither do I believe that the individual who practices homosexuality through an entire lifetime is necessarily excluded from the Kingdom of God. While I do not endorse homosexual behavior or relativize its standing before the Lord, I believe that we who are not tempted by same-sex desires often fail to see the seriousness of the struggle experienced by those who are.

Sexual sin and temptation is part of everyone's life. We are born with a drive toward fulfillment of this God-given part of our humanity. Some will deny this drive because of God's calling upon their lives (e.g., singleness). Yet sin has corrupted this drive and we are all born infected with sin. Because of upbringing, genetics, cultural influences, and other factors, people will experience this corruption in different ways and to greater and lesser degrees.

I personally have never felt any inclination toward expressing my sexual corruption in a way that was focused on the same sex. Why? Not necessarily because of good choices I have made, but because the genetics, upbringing, and influences were not there. This does not make me more innately righteous than the homosexual. Sin has certainly infected my sexual desires, but they have never been desires for the same sex.

I thank God that this is the case because I know that whatever sinful bent I have, it will sometimes get the better of me. I also know that I will not be alleviated of my sinful inclinations until the restoration of my body at the resurrection. I just have to do whatever I can to master it until then. I can identify with sinners because I am one. I can identify with those who have a bent, because I have one. Actually, I have many. Therefore, when I see someone giving in to the bent of homosexuality, I am saddened. My heart goes out to them because their problem is essentially the same as mine.

Now, back to the question of the hour. Can homosexuals be Christians? This is really a theological question that evidences a lack of understanding about sin and redemption. It reveals a major misconception about the nature of sin, placing homosexuality in its own category because of its depraved nature. While I do believe that homosexuality is a worse sin than many others ( not all sins are equal , in spite of what some would have us believe), I don't believe that those who have that bent should be seen differently than others.

We might ask the question this way: Can people who have sinful bents be Christians? Of course they can. Are there any Christians, apart from Christ himself, who do not have sinful bents? Then the question might be reframed: Can people who have really bad sinful bents be Christians? Again, the only biblical answer is yes.

The question boils down to this: Can sinners be Christians? And the answer boils down to: Is there any other kind of Christian?

Some could respond that homosexuals, in order to be Christians, must be in the process of overcoming this sinful behavior. In other words, they must have consistent and perpetual victory over this bent. While I agree that homosexuals can and often do have victory over this bent, to the point where they redeem themselves completely from this lifestyle, I don't necessarily think this will always happen. Let us consider ourselves. In my lifetime, there are some bents that I feel I have had victory over, but in some cases I am still caught in sin's web of deception and destruction. Listen to the writer of the book of Hebrews:

Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

The writer of Hebrews says that it is "easy" to get entangled in this web. The passage warns of the ten euperistaton hamartian -- literally, "the easy ensnaring sin." I believe the primary referent for "the easily ensnaring sin" is the sin of unbelief (the subject of the book), but this sin of unbelief expresses itself in particular sins. In other words, the sin of unbelief leads forth to our practicing of our particular bent. Most importantly, it is "easy" to fall into this.

Again, while I agree that homosexuals can and should be overcoming this sin, it could be the case that they have become entangled in it. They may be entangled in the acts of homosexuality, or in the struggle with their desires until redemption. It is no different for those of us who are not bent toward a homosexual lifestyle. Some of our most serious bents may plague us, literally, until Kingdom come.

Many refer to Paul admonishing the Corinthians to look back to their victory over sin, implying that they did not practice such things any longer or were completely delivered from them. One of these sins is homosexuality:

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-11)

While this seems straightforward on a cursory reading, there are two reasons why it does not support the case that homosexuals cannot be Christians. First, the people to whom Paul was writing were sinners and were in the process of being rebuked by Paul. Notice here just three chapters back:

And I, brethren, could not speak to you as to spiritual men, but as to men of flesh, as to infants in Christ. I gave you milk to drink, not solid food; for you were not yet able to receive it. Indeed, even now you are not yet able, for you are still fleshly. For since there is jealousy and strife among you, are you not fleshly, and are you not walking like mere men? (1 Corinthians 3:1-3)

They were fleshly. The sins described in 6:9-10 are fleshly sins. This means that the Corinthians were not necessarily doing well. Yet Paul says they were washed and sanctified. Either Paul has a mild case of amnesia, or we have to understand 6:9-11 differently.

This brings me to the second reason that this passage cannot be used in support of the view that homosexuals cannot be Christians. Paul identifies Christians with Christ, not with their sinful dispositions. In Pauline thought, people who are clothed in Christ's righteousness are no longer named according to their sinful natures, even if their desires continue to entangle them. The Corinthians were entangled in their desires to be sure, but Paul sees them within the righteousness of Christ. This is why Paul could say, "such were some of you." This does not make their sinfulness any less severe, but it does say that Christ's redemption, in Pauline theology, has redeemed the sinner, while still in a sinning state. Those without the covering of Christ's righteousness are still identified with their sin in the eyes of God. Therefore, in this context, it is true: fornicators, thieves, covetous, homosexuals, and all unrighteous people will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Yet thankfully, we have been covered by His righteousness and set apart, even though we are still sinners.

Homosexuality is a sin, and a terribly destructive one. But we need to be careful and gracious with those who struggle with this sin, understanding that the struggle against sin is the plight of us all. The solution is to be uncompromising to the politically correct agenda of our culture, which seeks to turn all sin into a perfectly acceptable lifestyle choice, at the same time as we are utterly gracious, knowing that the only hope that anyone has is to be covered in Christ's righteousness.

Can a homosexual be Christian? Yes. All sinners can be Christians. Indeed, all Christians are sinners. Let us all view this important issue in light of a deep understanding of the plight of sinfulness, and may God help us all as we strive to overcome the sinful desires within us.

"Sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it" (Genesis 4:7).

C. Michael Patton is founder and President of Reclaiming the Mind Ministries . Patton earned his Th.M. from Dallas Theological Seminary and served as a pastor at Stonebriar Community Church in Frisco, Texas. His blog, Parchment and Pen , is among the most popular in the Christian blogosphere, and his Credo House of Theology and its Theology Program have trained thousands of pastors and laypeople in the fundamentals of Christian theology and biblical exegesis. See a preview of the Theology Program here.