I would not worship a God who is homophobic and that is how deeply I feel about this … I would refuse to go to a homophobic heaven. No, I would say sorry, I mean I would much rather go to the other place.In expressing his choice, is the Bishop likely to win the praise of God or condemnation to a God-less eternity in hell? Is God homophobic, as many Christians seem to assert?
In attempting to answer this question, we Christians generally fail to distinguish between (or outright confuse) moral laws and civil laws. Rather, as I suspect Bishop Tutu may do, we need to embrace the dictates of established (passed/enacted) civil laws that give certain rights to homosexuals and lesbians, and do so in the same manner that we recognize civil laws as pertaining to any other people who break God’s moral laws (e.g., liars, cheats, thieves, etc.). It is one thing to fight and argue for or against a proposed civil law, and another thing to embrace a civil law, once passed and enacted. Moral laws, on the other hand, are solely in God’s domain to establish, judge and enforce. He has established, and will indeed judge and enforce His moral laws, without our help!
Back to the above question. Homophobia is defined as irrational fear of, aversion to, or discrimination against homosexuality/lesbianism or homosexuals/lesbians. The word, homophobia, has two root words:
- Homo, relating to mankind and also a slang for homosexual
- Phobia, relating to fear or anxiety
As Love itself (Himself), God is “homo-loving”, or loving of mankind. While we are able to hate people (e.g., see Psalm 139:19 – 22 and Psalm 15:4), it is impossible for Love to hate people. God does not hate people whom He created out of Love. Some may challenge this assertion in light of the scripture, “Jacob I have loved and Esau I have hated…” (Malachi 1:2-3). Contextual analysis of this scripture is treated in many on-line references (e.g., Why did God love Jacob and hate Esau?). While we humans have considerable difficulty segregating the person from the person’s motives and actions, God has no such conflict. It is not a conundrum for Him to “love a sinner and hate his/her sin”. He both regards and judges the heart-rooted motives, words and actions of us all because He is just as much a Judge who loves Justice, as He is Love. He perfectly blends Love and Justice, something that is difficult for us to grasp.
Given this, Bishop Tutu’s assertion is spot-on! I, too, would rather not spend an eternity with a people-hating God, or even hateful people, for that matter! I would, and I suspect Bishop Tutu might also welcome spending an eternity with an all-loving God who has both the right and responsibility to judge sin and wickedness, none of which can enter into His Heaven, whether it be the so-called ‘little white lie’, homosexuality, lesbianism or any other sin against God’s moral laws. The only way into God’s Heaven is to have all our sins washed away forever by the Blood of Jesus Christ, which is accomplished by embracing Him as our personal Savior, then growing in His Grace and spiritual strength. Point blank, there is no other way, and that’s His assertion, not something I made up.