The analogy with Ananias and Sapphira is as relevant to the hypocrisy of the way you treat homosexuals, as anything else is. It’s equally a lie in the eyes of God to pretend to respect someone who is gay, and then post hateful things about them on a site like this. Its precisely what Ananias and Sapphira did. They did one thing in public and another in private. They wanted others to think they were giving everything they owned to the church, but they retained money for themselves. The all-knowing God saw through their lies. If you pretend to show support and love to someone who is gay and then come on a site like this and spread hatred, you are lying to them, to yourself and to God - and he knows that.Tha
That is the thinking that has destroyed the protestant church. First though, if anyone is not familiar with this Bible story (Acts 5), Ananias and Sapphira were a married couple who were killed by God for lying to Peter. They sold a field earmarked for donation to the early church but had covered up the fact that they kept some of the sale money for themselves. The plan was, everybody was supposed to donate their possessions to the apostles to distribute to the poor. The entire group of believers were in 100%. Ananias and Sapphira, on the other hand, were not. They gave a portion of the sale money to the apostles saying it was all of the money they received from the sale of the field. First Ananias lied the lie, and then Sapphira did. God struck them dead in their tracks in front of Peter, one by one. This is a sobering story for Christians to remember. We need to fear God.
Just as an aside, BTS wears the Fear God clothing line and they're satanic. This just blows my mind.
Anyway, I'm not sure if this is the best analogy for hypocrisy with respect to treatment of homosexuals but I understand what Hon33 means using this important story.
I'm just going to stand by my previous comment on obedience and the truth of God's Word. He says the gate to eternal life is narrow and few find it. This should keep us zeroed in on how to get through that gate. Sin is sin, and sinners ain't going nowhere but down if they don't repent from their sins. They (we) must stop doing them. I would of course not walk up to a gay person and start preaching in their face about repentance. But if they desired to join the church or become a Christian, I would gently tell them, "hey, these are the sinners who will not inherit the kingdom of God." And I would read them 1 Corinthians 6:9-10. It lists out sins.
Everyone needs to know what they are. That's not being judgmental, it's informational.
1st Corinthians 6:9-10, clearly puts those who revile (slander/libel) other people, in the same context as those who commit adultery, are gay, who are idolaters and those who live immoral lives. It’s right there in scripture which also tells all sins are equal in the eyes of God. If you revile another person - especially if it’s based on speculation - make no mistake you are committing a sin.
You need to be very careful when you’re taking the moral high ground, that you don’t end up with egg on your face.
I don’t mean to be mean or nasty but are you familiar with the phrase “hung by your own petard” from Shakespeare’s Hamlet? It basically means that you have shot yourself in the foot, for those who maybe don’t know it. You posted a verse to point out that God regarded homosexuality as a sin, while failing to recognise that it included reference to the one sin that everyone on this thread is guilty of - including me, I’m sure. Poetic justice, really. I’ll just leave this here:
“If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless.” James 1:26