THE BOY SCOUT DILEMMA #4200 - The World the Word & You! Broadcast

“A heap of controversy has raged since the Supreme Court upheld the right of the Boy Scouts to exclude homosexual leaders. But now, this controversy appears to have dangerously ‘crossed the line!’”

I’m Dennis Finnan, host and speaker on the World the Word & You! Broadcast and in a moment we’ll talk about the role homosexuality is seeking to play in our world around us today, and its biblical consequences…

…Hello listening friends and welcome again to another broadcast edition of the World, the Word & You! ľ and, speaking today is Dennis Finnan, your host and speaker thanking you for joining us on this weekend of broadcasting. Now the World the Word & You! Broadcast comes to you each week on this fine station, supported exclusively by the prayers and financial care of friends like you. Indeed, in this year 2000, this broadcast celebrates twenty years of God's grace in being on the air in select locations around the nation, and… broadcasting on the Internet 24 hours a day, seven days a week, coupled with our International South Pacific broadcast which airs at 11:30 UTC on the 25meter band at 11.565 MHz.

With all this potential of reaching millions people with the Good News message of Jesus Christ, you who pray and share financially to keep us on the air ľ play a major roll in this evangelistic missionary outreach for Christ. God bless you. Well today, as I briefly introduced today's topic, we're going to talk about an American tragedy of sorts. Yes, this past summer the U.S. Supreme Court entered the fracas with its declaration of approval of the Boy Scouts of America’s right to exclude homosexuals from leadership. Following this landmark decision, the reaction America has taken is a turn for the worse, and in a moment we’ll look into this issue of the “BOY SCOUT DILEMMA,” Stay tuned as we pause now for a moment of beautiful music…

…On June 22, 2000 the U.S. Supreme court ruled in a 5 to 4 decision that the Boy Scouts of America have a constitutional right to exclude homosexual men as scout leaders, thus affirming the right of a private organization to determine its own membership and message. This was “good news,” but sadly short lived in reality, as many in our nation have responded negatively to this ruling in surprisingly shocking ways. Now as a biblical commentator, I feel it is my duty to consider issues that affect Christians and Non-Christians in temporal and eternal ways ľ this issue of homosexuality is one that needs to be addressed as there are so many confused people making personal life decisions, societal ones as well, that can determine the destiny of our great nation, and our future generations. So today on the broadcast I want to examine this issue of, homosexuality, which is growing in public approval, and present to you what you should know and do about it. But, let’s pause once more for another moment of music, then I’ll return with my message – THE BOY SCOUT DILEMMA!

…Early last year, the New Jersey Supreme Court ruled that the Boy Scouts of America located and operating there were in violation of State law when they excluded a scout master when it was revealed that he was a practicing homosexual. The issue went to the highest court in the land, the U.S. Supreme Court, which finally overturned the lower court’s ruling. One would think such a wise decision would be applauded by the nation, but alas, the opposite seems to be the case. Yes, all across the nation, from the knee-jerk reactions of the Clinton/Gore Whitehouse, to corporate America there has been a negative recoiling ad striking response. The government plans to punish the BSA, by disallowing them use of government land for Jamborees, and almost all financial support by many corporations and charities such as the “United Way,”

have angrily cut off all funding for the scouts because of their so-called “intolerant” position towards the lifestyle of homosexuality. Indeed, it’s been depressing for Christians to see this widespread “approval,” and rallying for the societal right of homosexuals to cast their immorality upon the nation with an “in your face,” gauntlet of challenge to the ancient morality of the Creator and the human race.

Now what’s at issue here? Is it civil rights? Is it discrimination of the worst sort to exclude homosexuals from leading and training boys to be men? In part, the answer is firmly, yes, but there is more at stake here. Permit me to categorize the issues and dangers we face when as a nation or any society, we begin the path of acceptance of immorality that has devastating consequences for individuals and nations…

First off, let’s define this issue of homosexuality. For starters homosexuality, “is the pursuit of sexual partnering and carnal copulation with those of the same sex”. In the Old Testament the Hebrew word for such persons was “qadesh” translated by the King James Version of the Bible as “Sodomite.” It literally meant a male pagan temple prostitute, who performed unnatural sexual perversions. It also meant someone who was “set apart” by desire and practice, for such immoral purposes. Sodomy or homosexuality as we call it today, was strictly forbidden in Israel. The Bible tells us this in,

Lev 18:22 (NIV) “”’Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable.”

Lev 20:13 (NIV) “”’If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads.”

Deu 23:17 (NIV) “No Israelite man or woman is to become a shrine prostitute.”

One can see, it is clear in the Old Testament that God’s Word strongly condemned the practice of homosexuality, whether it is between men or women, and regardless of whether it was in the so-called context of a loving, committed relationship! In fact, in Israel there were no known living homosexuals – God’s law said they were to be put to death for such acts of immorality. Apparently God meant business when it came to such sexual sins!

Then if one peruses the New Testament, they again find that God in giving new revelation found exclusively in the completed bible, the 66 books we have with us today, that homosexuality, that is the unrepentant repeated acts of carnal copulation between same sexes bore the wrath and judgment of God. Listen again to the Bible’s firm stand on this issue,

Rom 1:26-27 (NASB) “ … For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27 and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.”

1 Cor 6:9-11 (NASB) “… do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, 10 nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, shall inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.”

1 Tim 1:8-10 (NASB) “But we know that the Law is good, if one uses it lawfully, 9 realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers 10 and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching,”

Here we have three distinct sections of Scripture in line with the Old Testament teachings, that plainly declare the lifestyles of homosexuality or sodomy is a sin. Indeed, God says homosexuality and or lesbianism, is immoral, unnatural, depraved, abhorrent and socially unacceptable! The Boy Scouts in their oath and the purpose of their organization affirm this in their goal to help parents rear their boys to grow and become morally natural men. To have a scoutmaster who is immoral, unnatural, and depraved in his own maleness is contrary to every concept of the BSA’s goal and purpose, as the Supreme Court so ruled. However, it’s shocking to see our nation begin to reject the court’s decision, and more openly God’s Word that for centuries was honored, regardless of accepting Christianity. The Boy Scouts are now politically incorrect, judged intolerant and unworthy of corporate and national recognition! How sad and how shockingly sinful this is to every bible believing Christian.

Now, where is this all headed? How is it that 2-3 % of the population of this nation, which comprises all the homosexuals of the land can turn this righteous, God-fearing nation into a depraved society that thumbs its nose at God’s Word, and all that is decent, natural, and wholesome in our great American society? The answer is we have been duped to believe what amounts to lies, and false information concerning the sin of homosexuality. Let me explain.

Homosexuality is NOT an acceptable, natural alternate life style. No nation on the face of the earth ever embraced it without devastating consequences. To show you how far we’ve gone and now have ”crossed the line” of decency, I just read that the California Assembly in late summer passed a bill that makes it “mandatory” for California teachers in its schools to instruct and promote homosexuality! The new bill AB-1785, went even further and mandated the promotion of high praise and appreciation for homosexuality, bi-sexuality and even transvestitism (transgender, cross-dressing, etc.)! This will now go in California textbooks and classroom curriculum. The result, you figure ľ Students and teachers of religious convictions that oppose acceptance and promotion of sinful lifestyles will be under God’s judgment, and will be considered guilty of promoting hate in the classroom by merely expressing their objection to the lifestyle. Friends, we’ve gone too far, and it won’t be long before we like ancient Rome will be judged by God as a nation, and sent to our grave. If you don’t believe this be warned of God’s Word,

Psa 9:17 (NLT) “The wicked will go down to the grave. This is the fate of all the nations who ignore God.”

Edward Gibbon, who researched history on this subject in his writings, clearly showed that ancient Rome finally met its grave when it began to socially approve and encourage all forms of perversions, especially homosexuality. We too friends may have already “crossed the line,” beginning in California, and now with corporate America’s approval of homosexuality, by punishing the boy scouts for rejecting homosexual scoutmasters. Imagine, such a small group of deviant and dangerous people that represent the homosexuals of or land, can turn the direction of an entire nation toward approval and protection of their depravity. What does this say about the 100 million professing born again Christians who live here and say and do nothing in response to this? Friend know this ľ

#1 WE LIVE IN GOD’S MORAL UNIVERSE – Whether we like it or not, agree with this or not, this is God’s world and universe! In it, God has decreed that those whom He created (the entire human race) are under His laws for life and living. The Creator God has plainly spoken through His Word, the Bible that we are live righteously and morally according to what He defines as such, which excludes, under punishment from God, the perverted lifestyles and acts of homosexuality. Now for sure, God says all sin will be judged, but this particular sin appears to have God’s major attention in the Bible (Rom 1:26-27; 2Peter 2:7; 1 Cor. 6:9; Jude 1:7) Not only will such unrepentant sin be judged eternally in Hell, God says in this life there will be temporal judgments too. For instance we read in Paul’s writings,

Rom 1:27 (NIV) “In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.”

What is the “due penalty for their perversion?” It is sexually transmitted disease. Yes, all STD’S are a judgment for such sins, but especially in this day the HIV virus which has produced the AIDS epidemic that is now pandemic. Although not everyone who sexually sins against God’s natural order for intimacy, and who gets AIDS and other STD’S are guilty and deserve God’s temporal judgments, this does not take away the fact that these tremendous outbreaks all around the world are a result of turning away from God’s Moral order in the universe. Although God forgives all sin in this life, He does not guarantee freedom from all earthly consequences of such sin. Now indeed, all of us are sinners (Rom 3:23), and we know personal sins seldom stay personal. They soon branch out and affect others. Such as in war, innocent people die. In a divorce, the innocent often suffer… In our sexually transmitted disease epidemic with AIDS as the major player, people innocent of immoral acts can get these diseases too. Yet, it still can be said, it is a judgment from God! You see, my friend, scripture clearly shows that if we venture beyond God’s ordained limits for sexual behavior, there will be temporal and eternal judgments. The HIV virus and AIDS is clearly transmitted mainly through homosexual acts, with nearly 70% of all infected being homosexuals. Although not all who practice this deviant lifestyle get it, that doesn’t preclude the fact that it still is God’s judgment against such sins. Rather the fact that some are spared, why it simply shows the mercy and grace of God to those who escape.

So think on this ľ if a nation continues along the path to accept, approve, promote and protect the wicked sin of homosexuality, we shall soon feel the full brunt of God’s wrath not only against such personal sin, but the corresponding national sin of approval as well. This brings us to the second point we need to ponder.

#2 WE LIVE IN A WORLD UNDER THE JUDGMENT OF GOD - The very reason why we see such terrible things as STD’S, AIDS in particular, along with all the other physical devastations of life is our world is under a penalty of death for sin (Rom 3:23). Way back in the Garden of Eden when humanity’s first parents sinned, God promised them the world we live in would no longer be their friend.

Gen 2:16-17 (NIV) “And the LORD God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; 17 but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die.””

Gen 3:17 (NIV) “To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.”

God’s judgments against any and all other sins are clearly outlined in the entire Bible. But the good news is, if we obey God’s laws, we will not suffer the often severe consequence of such sins. But if we disobey God’s laws, personally and nationally for nations, we will suffer the fate of every single nation in human history ľ our beloved America will join them and be buried along side them in the grave!

Beloved, I believe we may have “crossed the line” with this California law, and more with our national “outrage” against the Boy Scouts proper response, to reject followers of, and the lifestyle of sexual perversion as an acceptable lifestyle for growing morally straight young men. Sin comes with judgment, it’s a fact. And, it’s all around us in general, but moreover, explicit judgments for sin will come to every nation that forgets or rejects God’s law for our moral universe. Lastly for today we see,

#3 WE LIVE IN A WORLD WHERE GOD’S WORD OFFERS GRACE TO ALL SINNERS – When God used the apostle Paul to describe the specific sin of homosexuality and its eternal judgment, along with it came the beauty of God’s grace and mercy. Listen to the scripture warning and offer,

1 Cor 6:9-11 (NIV) “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

Oh how wonderful is the grace of God! In 1 Corinthians 6:11, God’s Word says “as such were” some of you!” This means, God saved many out of all these sexually deviant, and sinfully disobedient lifestyles! The Good News message of the Bible and Christianity today is not personal CONDEMNATION, but RECONCILIATION and forgiveness! This should drive us all to our knees in thankfulness for God cares for us, even while we were yet sinners, for the Bible continues to say,

Rom 5:8 (NIV) “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

Our message to our sinning world and nation is simple ľ REPENT! That is, turn away from the sins God describes in the Bible, the unrighteous unwholesome and deviant living, and turn to the Creator God for forgiveness and change. Friend, you can be saved from all your sins, and God can rescue everyone from the bonds and slavery of it ľ if, you’ll turn to Jesus Christ and confess your sins, and call upon Him to save you. The Bible calls in the midst of such sinning.

Mat 11:28 (NIV) “”Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.”

John 3:16 (NIV) “”For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

John 6:37 (NIV) “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away.”

Rom 6:23 (NIV) “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

The Boy Scouts deserve not our condemnation and harassment, but rather our praise and support. They’ve taken a tremendous hit to stand for God’s ancient truth and righteous living, and they are right! Therefore, know this ľ homosexuals are depraved sinners and the only way their lifestyle is propagated is to find young boys early enough in life, during their yet unformed growth and maturity cycles, to confuse them and corrupt them to consider and accept a perversion of humanity God terribly condemns. Therefore, we must speak out! We who are Christian and all morally straight people must say, “enough is enough, and we will not allow such sin in our communities, or nation to cross the line any further.” Rise up, speak out against this tolerance nonsense, and sinful acceptance or embrace of the homosexual lifestyle. May God grant such righteous outrage to those who know Christ, and may He grant to those who are living in such unrighteousness to find the mercy, grace and forgiveness of God through Jesus Christ…

…In conclusion may I say this ľ Remember; God’s judgments rest on all forms of wickedness not just homosexual sin. Therefore, we should rightly stand against all forms of personal and national sins the Bible reveals displeases God. Even if the whole world laughs and stands against us, and may even persecute us, Christians must rise up, speak out and take a stand. The first place to do this in a free democracy is at election time! Whatever candidates locally and nationally that approve of this immorality and push to protect and promote it publicly should be cast aside. Whatever sinful lifestyles break out around us in our communities, we who know Christ must become vocal and political to stem the tide of such sin that will one day take down the nation and the world. And with this we must equally and more importantly declare God’s grace and forgiveness by spreading the GOOD NEWS that Christ died for all such sins and that He offers amnesty in this Age of Grace, to all who will come for cleansing ad forgiveness to Jesus Christ. May God organize, and rally those 100 million professing born again Christians to turn our nation around. I believe failure to do so, may well bring a promised end to sin, and our nation in the days to come…

Well, you've been listening to the World, the Word & You! Broadcast, and speaking today has been your host and commentator Dennis Finnan. We thank you for joining us and staying with us for these past thirty minutes. Say, if you would like a cassette copy or printed booklet of today's message, please write to me and we'll send it as always -- free of charge. Here's our address: Write to the World, the Word & You! Broadcast, PO Box 40133, Grand Junction, CO 81506 Meanwhile, as this the Lord's day most of our programs are heard, please be sure to attend a Bible believing Church of your choice. Then, tune us in again for another look at our world, God's Word and its relationship to each one of you! This is Dennis Finnan, signing off and wishing you God's rich blessing and a great day! Good by for now.

The World, the Word & You! Broadcast is a non-denominational ministry based on the historic fundamental evangelical interpretation of the Scriptures. A copy of our doctrinal statement is available upon request. These weekly radio commentaries can be heard in selected areas around the nation. Dennis Finnan has been the speaker for 20 years, and serves as General Director. These transcripts are available free of charge to all who desire them. Also available are radio cassette tapes and printed booklets of each message. A free listing of all messages is available upon request also.

For further information, reprints, or a listing of all topics, please write to our speaker, Dennis L. Finnan(dennis@wwy.org),or visit our webpage at http://www.wwy.org/