Affirm what?

Rob Bell is at it again! The former Pastor of a Mars Hill Bible Church was in hot water last time for writing a book in which he questioned the existence of hell, a very real place according to The Bible.

Now he's in hot water again for saying:

I am for marriage. I am for fidelity. I am for love, whether it’s a man and woman, a woman and a woman, a man and a man. I think the ship has sailed and I think the church needs — I think this is the world we are living in and we need to affirm people wherever they are. -Rob Bell
via Christian Research Network

I've read this kind of statement before so it looked pretty harmless, until I started thinking about the word affirm.

af·firm
[uh-furm]
verb (used with object)
1. to state or assert positively; maintain as true: to affirm one's loyalty to one's country; He affirmed that all was well.
2. to confirm or ratify: The appellate court affirmed the judgment of the lower court.
3. to assert solemnly: He affirmed his innocence.
4. to express agreement with or commitment to; uphold; support: to affirm human rights.

I don't know why, but I think it's odd that these definitions all basically say that "to affirm" something - you are agreeing with the decision of others regarding it's merits. You are agreeing with the opinion someone else has stated. Since Rob Bell was in San Fransisco when this interview took place, he is saying he believes in the views of homosexuality that the citizens of San Fransisco have ... Isn't he supposed to be a Pastor?

In regards to homosexuality, gay marriage, and gay clergy: The Bible could not be more clear! God tells us that this type of behavior is what happens when a society turns away from him. And Pastors, no matter what denomination should be "affirming" Gods truth!

(Romans 1:24-28)
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

And now that the gay lifestyle is considered "normal" now, does that mean that turning away from God is "normal"?

As you can see from the above passage, God wants us to be a hetero-sexual people who worships the creator, not a homosexual people who worship the creation.

While us common folk do our best, we do sin sometimes. And some people engage in the type of sins that would qualify for this topic. But the rules for the clergy are much higher.

The closer you get to God, the more in-line with The Bible you will be, and you'd expect the Pastors of our churches to be pretty close to God, right?

In the following verses you'll see that God wants the shepherds of his flock to be married...but married to a heterosexual partner, and only one!!

(1 Timothy 3:12)
Let the deacons be the husbands of one wife, ruling their children and their own houses well.

(Titus 1:6-7)
6 If any be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly.

7 For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre;

God wants us to be happy and excited about our intimacy with our spouse, just like he wants us to be intimate with him.

Jesus, the bridegroom, did not choose a bride of his own type. Instead he chose the collective body of human believers to be his bride, being similar yet quite different than himself.

He is our example in so many ways and marriage is no exception. Heterosexual marriage is a joining of 2 people, similar to each other being human, yet still quite different.

This special dynamic is not there with unions of the same gender.

The blessings of marriage all come from the fact that spouses are different genders! That is really another subject that will be discussed here at some point, but suffice to say right now that it's the way God clearly says pleases him.

We would be fools to do otherwise.