A Friend of Sinners

"The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and you say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’" Luke 7:34 

Is it a sin to befriend a gay person?  This was the question someone was seeking an answer to online recently. To support their question they wrote, "one thing that bothers me is how many Christians attacks [sic] people for being gay. You can say something is a sin but to make someone feel less than loved is not good way [sic]. Trying to make them less than feeling loved by God is wrong. I try to go with the path Jesus takes and befriend others. Not attack ..." I understand what this individual is trying to convey. Christians are to interact with others in love. However, the question must be asked, "What do they mean by Christians attacking people for being gay?" This is a subjective use of language. An attack could be anything from physical harm to simply saying that homosexuality is a sin. Often times it is the so-called victim of the "attack" that is the one who is allowed to define the terms. But, I digress. Is it a sin to befriend a gay person? The short answer is, "No." To befriend someone means to offer help or support. Depending on what you are offering help and support for, this is not a problem. Of course, you want to be careful that you are not encouraging or endorsing their sinful behavior. One way to think about the question is to look at it in context of other sins people commit. Let us rephrase the question. How about if we ask the question like this: "Is it a sin to befriend a jealous person, a murderer, an angry person, a deceitful person, an evil person, a gossiper, a slanderer, an atheist, a rude person, an arrogant person, inventors of evil, people who disobey their parents, the ignorant, the unfaithful, the loveless, and merciless?" This question paraphrases Romans 1:29-31 which reads, "They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy." It is Romans 1 where the Apostle Paul makes firm and absolute statements regarding homosexuality. He goes so far as to say, "God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another (Romans 1:24)." However, Christians oftentimes seem to stop at homosexuality as if it is the only sin a person commits worth separating over. I can understand this given the way the sin is flaunted by those enslaved to it and used by politicians to force acceptance of it on the masses. However, with that said, if we were to ban the befriending of people trapped in sin, you could argue we would all be alone.

Like with anything you have to use discernment with those you keep company with but always keeping in mind that these people are those who Jesus died and rose for like He did for us. There are not too many of us who weren't befriended by someone who knew the Lord when we were trapped in our sins and needed them to share the love of God with us. For example, shortly before I came to Jesus, I was reunited with an old friend. From what I recall, she prayed for me and talked with me on numerous occasions. She, for all tense and purposes, "befriended" a sinner. My problem wasn't homosexuality, but drunkenness, fornication, and a list too long to write are what had a grip on my life. Most of our interaction took place over the phone and it wasn't long before she was again out of my life. I haven't spoken to her since, but will always be thankful for God using her, or putting her in my life, at a time I needed it the most. Anybody we befriend is a ________ person. We are all dealing with sin in our life to one extent or the other. It is just that most of us don't identify ourselves by it like others do. It is our "little secret." However, we all need someone we can confide in and who will listen to us; slowly guiding us to the Lord. Imagine the "tax collectors and sinners" that Jesus Christ was criticized for associating with during His ministry. How would He answer the question, "Is it a sin to befriend a gay person?" Jesus gave the answer to this question Himself. "When the scribes who were Pharisees saw Jesus eating with these people, they asked His disciples, “Why does He eat with tax collectors and sinners?” On hearing this, Jesus told them, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners (Mark 2:16-17).” Sin is sin. Before coming to saving faith in Jesus Christ we are all sick sinners in need of being made well. Those who were alive during the ministry of Jesus Christ had the privilege of having Him personally befriend them and receive His loving kindness.  Until His return Jesus uses Christians to befriend sinners and be His eyes He sees with, hands He touches with, voice He speaks with, and legs He walks with. As the Apostle Paul wrote, "How then can they call on the One in whom they have not believed? And how can they believe in the One of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone to preach? And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news (Romans 10:14-15)!" Christians are the only ones in the world with the beautiful feet that bring the Good News of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those most in need of hearing it. Befriend a sinner. Reap a saint!