My Thoughts on Ugandan Anti Gay Bill & Video Response from Rick Warren

If you are not familiar with recent news of the Ugandan bill that is being proposed, it is going to put forth that homosexuals will be given the death penalty and those who know of homosexual activity and don't turn them in will be put in jail for somewhere between 5 and 7 years (link to Time article). This would include not only doctors, but pastors. Some theonomists are as giddy as a child on Christmas morning, but this law is exactly what Rick Warren says it is, completely anti Christian.

We are not living in the state of Israel and if we are going to get excited about killing gays, bring out the stones and get ready to throw them at your unruly children (Deuteronomy 21:18-21). This law is ridiculous and the sad thing is that U.S. pastors are pretty stoked that it is happening (check Time article). We are to be a people of forgiveness and love, not a people who can't wait to slay those who are in sin. Although homosexuality is sin, we should allow God to bring forth the punishment he has promised for those who remain in sin and do not turn to him (Romans 12:17-21). We should be mediators for them, hoping that they would turn from their sin and into the loving arms of their Saviour who paid the price on the cross. Grace, more grace, and when you are done showing grace, show more grace.

We know what Christ would tell anyone who would feel that killing homosexuals is a great idea, because he specifically speaks to one who was having sex outside of marriage and was asked to comment on what should happen to her because of her sexual immorality, as the law required death by stoning:

But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. Early in the morning He came again into the temple, and all the people were coming to Him; and He sat down and began to teach them. The scribes and the Pharisees brought a woman caught in adultery, and having set her in the center of the court, they said to Him, “Teacher, this woman has been caught in adultery, in the very act. “Now in the Law Moses commanded us to stone such women; what then do You say?” They were saying this, testing Him, so that they might have grounds for accusing Him. But Jesus stooped down and with His finger wrote on the ground. But when they persisted in asking Him, He straightened up, and said to them, “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.” Again He stooped down and wrote on the ground. When they heard it, they began to go out one by one, beginning with the older ones, and He was left alone, and the woman, where she was, in the center of the court. Straightening up, Jesus said to her, “Woman, where are they? Did no one condemn you?” She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “I do not condemn you, either. Go. From now on sin no more.”

John 8:1-11

The sad thing is that the self righteous moralist believes that they are better than a homosexual and that the sin of the homosexual is worst than their own. When they realize that are a sinner just as badly as the homosexual, then they will drop their stone and walk away. Until then, they will look for stones to cast from their glass house.

We must not condone their sin, but we must not overreact and ask God to destroy them either. We must be a people who covers their sin with the love of Christ and point them to the Saviour, not point to a cross for them to die on.

Below is a video of Rick Warren responding to this bill. His thoughts are well done and speak as a caring pastor for a country that he spends much time in. May we heed the understanding of Pastor Warren.