Recently in our Bible class the issue came up of how to deal with homosexuals in the workplace and how we are to ‘judge’ them (if we have the right to). This is an important question and one that is gaining momentum in society and in the evangelical Church.

Let us consider it in three main areas:

Homosexuality:

1. Homosexuality is sin. This is clear from Scripture. One of the clearest presentations of God’s hatred of any sin in all the Bible was in the physical and permanent destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 19:24). Paul also condemns it in Romans 1:24-25.
2. The homosexual agenda is a monstrous sin against society. The homosexual agenda is not only against God and against those individuals who practice the sin, but it is against the health of society. It is the obligation of the government to protect its citizens (Romans 13). In pushing a homosexual agenda nations put the health (both physical and mental) of their citizens at risk.
3. The homosexual individual ought to be treated as a human being. There are those who struggle with the lust of homosexuality just as there are individuals who struggle with the sin of adultery. We differentiate therefore between the individual who struggles with the sin and the homosexual agenda foisted on society.

Judging the Homosexual

1. The word judge is not a bad word. It has become popular in some Christian circles to think of judging as a pejorative activity. Judging sin is not the same as being judgmental (a tendency or an attitude of judging others). Furthermore, when we commend the right action of an individual we make a judgment also. To judge something is simply to come to a decision or an opinion on it.
2. It is the Christian obligation to make judgments. The Christian is to be discerning: “Try the spirits whether they are of God” (I John 4:1). The opinion (or judgment) of the Christian must conform to the Word of God.
3. Judgment is based on the actions of an individual. The Bible says in Matthew 7:20, “Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” Being judgmental generally indicates judging the motives and intents of an other. This is wrong, since we cannot read the heart (Matthew 7:1).
4. Judgment against sin is based on the Law of God. When I judge sin in the life of another I am simply applying the judgment of God. In other words, it is God making the judgment, not me, I concur with his judgment. If God states clearly that something is wrong then it is the Christian’s obligation to make that same statement in agreement with God. If offence is taken it is not a personal insult, it is the offence of the Word of God (I Peter 2:8 Christ is “a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient”).
5. Love for homosexuals demands making a judgment. I cannot love someone and let them go on undeterred in their sin and destruction. Love demands that I warn them of the destructive nature of sin in life and the judgment of God in eternity.

A homosexual in the workplace

1. There are of course issues with regard to the risk of contracting disease from those who are carriers of the AIDS virus. According to the BC Centre for Disease Control, and the Ministry of Health the AIDS virus “is not spread by routine, non-sexual, everyday contact.” The same piece of literature advises wearing gloves when there is a potential contact with “blood or other body secretions.” (Questions about AIDS in the Workplace: Ministry of Health).
2. With regard to normal and routine conversational contact, we are to live with a conscience that is void of offence toward God and men (Acts 24:16).

  • Warn the sinner of his sin. The Christian has a responsibility to state the truth of Scripture. He must do this in love for the soul of the hearer seeking to win the heart not the argument.
  • Be wise in your presentation of the truth. There is a proverb the Lord Jesus used that teaches us to be wise in how we share the truth (Matthew 7:6 “neither cast ye your pearls before swine”). Once you discover that an individual is closed to the truth of the Gospel be wise in how you seek to present it again to him. There are more ways to present truth than speaking it. Living the truth is often harder, but more persuasive.
  • Conclusion. Work with the Homosexual in the workplace. Be careful of related diseases but care for the disease of the soul. Treat him as a human being with a soul to be saved. If he struggles with sin deal with him in compassion and with wisdom. If he pushes an agenda avoid his insidious course of life.