A few weeks ago, I wrote about the controversial tweets made
by Miss Universe beauty queen Miriam Quiambao regarding homosexual behavior on Definitely Filipino. Now, legendary Pinoy boxer Manny Pacquiao is on the hot seat because
of similar remarks he made that offended the LGBT community and its supporters. Both Quiambao and
Pacquiao are open and not shy about their Christian faith. Both already apologized for unintentionally offending people but the damage has already been done.
When
Christians speak about these issues, it’s often received as judgmental and
condemning. That’s understandable, Christians doesn't have a good track record
in speaking truth to people regarding sexual sin.
Christians sometime demonize our opponents instead of loving
them. We often forget that, apart from the grace of God, we might well be on
the other side of the issue.
This is especially true when it comes to the issue of human
sexuality. To understand why, we must first remember that, for the Christian,
truth is a person: Jesus Christ. We see the world and our place in it in light
of the person and work of Jesus.
So we should never forget that just as Jesus was the
incarnation of God’s love, mercy, and compassion for us, we are called to model
these for our neighbor.
Now this doesn’t mean that we should shy from calling sin by
its name — on the contrary, sometimes this is exactly what loving our neighbor
requires. But we should do this in sorrow rather than in anger and never out of
a sense of condemnation — because we know that since none of us is without sin,
none of us gets to cast the first stone.
So, when we address a hot-button issue like same-sex
attraction or same-sex marriage, we should always keep in mind our own
struggles and brokenness when it comes to sexuality.
If you are blessed not to have struggled in this area, then
recall your struggles in other areas. If you can’t think of any, well, you
might want to think about the sin of pride. I’m just saying.
We also need to avoid the mistake that some of our opponents
make: treating sex as merely physical. As Christians know, sex is intended to
serve a unitive purpose — it’s supposed to be the physical expression of the
spiritual union between husband and wife. As the Bible puts it, “the two become
one flesh.”
It may come as a surprise to many of us, but many people in
same-sex relationships are seeking the same thing. The problem is that they
can’t achieve what they are seeking, because they are seeking it in what
Catholic moral theology calls a “disordered” manner. Likewise, many advocates
of same-sex marriage aren’t out to subvert marriage, at least not consciously.
They’re pursuing the goods of marriage, albeit, in a disordered fashion.
Thus when we rightly say that the Christian response to
same-sex attraction is chastity, we must remember that chastity is difficult
enough for heterosexual Christians — who at least have the hope of expressing
their sexuality in marriage.
The same is true with same-sex marriage. As God said in
Genesis 2, “it is not good for man to be alone.” We were designed for the deep
kind of physical and spiritual connection that comes through marriage. So even
while we insist that that kind of connection is only available between a man
and a woman, we must empathize with and grieve for those who cannot achieve it.
If we can’t, then we should consider keeping our mouths
shut. Because if we forget to offer love and support along with the truth, we
aren’t much better than the scribes and Pharisees, whom Jesus rebuked for
placing heavy loads on people’s shoulders while not lifting a finger to move
them.
The world doesn’t need more Pharisees, it needs people who
speak the truth in love — love that never forgets Who is the Truth.
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