‘Is it appropriate for the church to apologise to gay people, robbers and others who are ‘spiritually sick’?

‘Is Someone Suggesting That God Should Apologise To Sodom And Gomorrah For
Destroying Them Because Of Gay And Lesbian Practices’?

Recently, Pope Francis was quoted in the social media, as saying that the Catholic Church should apologise to gay people, because in his view, the Church has no right to judge the gay community, but should have rather shown understanding by accommodating their shortcomings and respecting them. In other words, the Catholic pontiff is saying that the Church should be more tolerant and forgiving, which is what Christianity is all about. After all, the Bible enjoins all faithful not to judge or condemn others, as ‘all have sinned and fallen short of His Glory.’ If so, would the Church not need to offer apologises to armed robbers, murderers, prostitutes and all others who are ‘spiritually sick’? CHRIS IREKAMBA reports.

‘Pope’s Comment Is Not An Endorsement Of Gay Culture, But That Human Beings Deserve Respect’
(Most Rev. (Dr.) Emmanuel A. Badejo, Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Oyo)
The response of Pope Francis to questions concerning asking forgiveness of gay people was given while he was on a trip on June 27, 2016. His remarks were not about gays alone, but about any group the Church might have offended. In other words, he was reviewing history and making amends, if necessary. This is really not as novel as it may sound for those who know the history of the Church. The Pope actually chose his words very carefully. I think his exact words were: “I believe that the church not only should apologise to the person who is gay whom it has offended, …but has to apologise to the poor, to exploited women, to children exploited for labour; it has to ask forgiveness for having blessed many weapons.” He also said: “I repeat what the Catechism of the Catholic Church says: that they must not be discriminated against, that they must be respected and accompanied pastorally”.  So, here, we see that the Pope has not at all departed from the Church doctrine. Compassion and empathy have always been characteristics of mission in the Church. Except someone seeks mischief, this is not an endorsement of gay culture, but a recognition that all human beings, even those in error, deserve to be treated with dignity and respect.

(Bishop Emmanuel Badejo, Catholic Diocese of Oyo

The Pope rightly said that welcoming words and forgiveness will always be part of authentic Christianity, but endorsement of sin will never be. During the same interview, he re-emphasised that one can condemn behaviour, and the Church does that, without condemning people. Hate sin, but not the sinner is always a valid policy. Remember that the Catholic Catechism still says that homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered, are contrary to the natural law and cannot be approved under any circumstance. The simple fact is that some people will hear only what they will no matter what the truth of what is meant may be. So, the Pope correctly said that the Church must not only ask forgiveness of the gay person, who she may have offended, but of all whose dignity we may have failed to defend. That is a Christian duty, which does not amount to endorsing evil. Jesus, however, pronounced woes on recalcitrant sinners of His time, even as He invited all to repentance. Saint Paul called the Galatians foolish, but he loved them all the same. The Church does nothing different.

We must here demonstrate a clear understanding of the Church, as the Church of Jesus Christ, holy, while its members are sinners. Think of Jesus Christ with the Samaritan woman at the well in John chapter 4. The outrage of the disciples to find Jesus talking to her, one who could be considered an untouchable, was undisguised. Jesus approached the woman with compassion and gentleness in order to eventually open her eyes. That approach eventually turned the Samaritan into a Christian, because love conquers all. That is a residual characteristic of Christianity, but no reason for anyone to wallow in sin.

Nor were things very different with Saint John Paul II, who on behalf of the entire Church apologised to different groups of people, such as women and immigrants, who had been treated less than charitable by the Church at any point in history. At the time the Pope offered the apology, many people were scandalised at seeing the almighty Church seeming to capitulate by apologising to some people. That apology eventually, rather than demean the Church, actually endeared her to many. Hardly, any other organisation or country in the world has since shown such strength and moral courage to do the same. How I wish that this were more commonplace!

‘Are We Going To Apologise To All Thieves, Murderers, Fornicators And Adulterers?’
(Rev. Francis Ejiroghene Waive, General Overseer Fresh Anointing Missionary Ministries Inc., /Senior Pastor, Church of the Anointing, Warri, Delta State)
I never heard with my ears the Pope saying what you quoted him to have said about asking the church to apologise to gays. Since we live in a modern world, where anything can be ascribed to anyone on social media, I choose not to believe the Pope said this. I was raised a Catholic and I know that this statement is completely out of tune with Catholic theology. Even a child, who has gone through Catechism, will bear me out. But because I cannot claim to be more Catholic than the Pope, let me emphasise that the Pope is not the final authority in matters of faith and doctrine. The word of God, as written in the Bible, is the only inspired, infallible and final authority. The question, therefore, should be ‘what does the Bible say?’ and not ‘what did the Pope say?’ Anytime there is a conflict between what a man of God says and what the Bible says, the position of the Bible holds. “Let God be true and every man a liar” Rom 3:4.

Was it not because of gay and lesbian practices that God overthrew the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah in Gen 19? Or is someone suggesting that God should apologise about this? Did God not expressly speak against these practices in Rom 1:26-32 and many other scriptures? Or has the Bible been amended? The word of God endures forever! The Bible is not like the Constitution of nations that are subject to endless amendments, according to the whims and caprices of men. The church cannot apologise for calling a spade a spade. Sin remains sin no matter the social status of the sinner. Or are we going to apologise to all thieves, murderers, fornicators and adulterers? God forbid! Sadly, the scripture’s “Judge not” has been taken out of context and used to justify every evil deed of mankind.

God hates sin, but loves the sinner. If any of us in the church has not made this distinction, then we need to make amend in this area. We must treat every sinner with compassion, but never condone the sin.

‘We Must Apologise But Not To Legitimise What The Bible Has Condemned’
(The Most Rev. Emmanuel A.S. Egbunu, Bishop, Diocese of Lokoja, Church of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Kogi State)
We must be careful to keep the Pope’s comments and related issues in context. As he himself tried to elucidate, “I believe that the church not only should apologise to the person who is gay, whom it has offended but has to apologise to the poor, to exploited women, to children exploited for labour; it has to ask forgiveness for having blessed many weapons.”

Egbunu

Here’s how I would relate to what has been credited to the Pope: The Holy Bible remains the supreme and final authority on human conduct and divine standards. I do not think he was contradicting the biblical position, but rather the attitude that shuts the door against sinners, who should be assisted to seek God’s forgiveness, or pushes people away from seeking pastoral assistance over a sin they are struggling with. Of course, there is always this pastoral tension between attitudes that could encourage the prodigal to return home in repentance or to persist in such conduct that ultimately leads to destruction. Even though the Lord Jesus was a friend of sinners, He never endorsed sin. To the woman caught in adultery, He said, “neither do I condemn you; go and sin no more” (John 8:11). If anybody goes off feeling that the Pope has given a licence for sinful behaviour, such a one may be in for a shocker, when at the end of this life, we will be judged according to what each one has done while in the body. That is the teaching of the Holy Bible in 2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each of us may receive what is due us for the things done while in the body, whether good or bad.”

In the older Anglican Book of Common Prayer, worshippers are invited to confession with these words, “Dearly beloved brethren, the Scripture moveth us, in sundry places, to acknowledge and confess our manifold sins and wickedness; and that we should not dissemble nor cloak them before the face of Almighty God our Heavenly Father; but confess them with an humble lowly, penitent, and obedient heart; to the end that we may obtain forgiveness of the same, by His infinite goodness and mercy…” After the confession, the Priest, declaring God’s pardon begins with these words, “Almighty God… desireth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he may turn from his wickedness and live…”

It is also true that the Lord Jesus said He had not come to call the righteous but sinners; yet He also said in Mark 9:43, 45, 47-48 “If your hand causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life maimed than with two hands to go into hell, where the fire never goes out. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. It is better for you to enter life crippled than to have two feet and be thrown into hell. And if your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into hell, where “the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched.”

For gay, lesbianism or any other sin, the Church is not called to condemn or condone as we wish, but to faithfully proclaim God’s displeasure and prohibition, and give hope of forgiveness to the penitent. No responsible physician will deceive his patient about a chronic condition, simply because he wants to make the patient feel good. The patient sometimes requires bitter pills and surgeries to deal with life-threatening ailments. Very sadly, religion has been used to justify so much evil attitude, including slavery, racism, bloodshed, injustice and exploitation among others and we must apologise for that. But we can never legitimise what the Holy Bible has already condemned. I do not think that is what the Pope was doing, nor do I think God requires that from us. When the Holy Bible tells us what not to do, it also immediately tells us what to do instead. For me, the most important point of the parable of the Prodigal son in Luke 15 is v20 when, beyond his reminiscences and remorse, he actually got up, arose, and went home. That is the action Heaven waits for.

‘Christians Don’t Hate Gays, But The Church Cannot Apologise To Them’
(Pastor Mike Onyeka, Senior Pastor/Vision Bearer of Victorious People Assembly Intl Inc. (House of Praise), Aba, Abia State)
The Catholic Pope’s call that the Church should apologise to homosexuals and lesbians is human rights advocacy and a political public relations job. It is not a Biblical sermon from the altar for Christians. Even if what he meant was to advise Christians not to discriminate against gay people, he went too far in his language, knowing he is the head of the Catholic Church and a revered voice on Christian perspective in matters of public interest.

A lot of argument has gone on and still going on whether homosexuality is sin, whether the Church should accept same-sex marriage and whether professed homosexuals and the Church should ordain lesbians priests. In America today, there are gay bishops, ordained after they announced to the world that they are practising homosexuals and do not have any regrets about it. This article is not the proper venue to review all the controversy. But let me quickly say that same-sex intercourse is forbidden in both the Old and New Testaments of the Bible (Leviticus 18:22; 20:13; Romans 1:25-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11). All the Bible teachings about marriage refer to marriage between a man and a woman. There is no Biblical precedent of same-sex marriages.

Every Christian and the church, as a body, has an obligation to speak out against sin and to preach against immoral conducts, particularly when the devil is turning the sin of homosexuality and lesbianism into an acceptable international culture, with countries such as America and some very wealthy satanic individuals, spending billions of dollars to export and sponsor this culture all over the world.

It is public knowledge that certain African countries, including Nigeria, have been pressurised in various manner to legalise same-sex marriages. Some have succumbed to the pressures. Thank God Nigeria did not. What is going on is not physical.

Christians are not to judge unbelievers, but preaching against sin and urging men and women to repent and come to Jesus is not judging them. But the Church is given not just the power, but also the obligation to judge members of the Church and correct matters of unrepentant wrongdoing within the church and may excommunicate unrepentant offenders (1 Corinthians 5:9-13)

Christians are not to shun or avoid unbelievers, or be violent or discriminatory towards sinners, which include gay people. We are to show them love designed to draw them to Christ for their salvation and deliverance. We are not supposed to encourage them not to change in the name of human rights.

The problem with the gay scourge is that the advocates say first, it is not a sin, secondly, they cannot change because God created them that way, and so the society and the Church must accept them the way they are. Since the Bible does not support them, they are invoking human right and other philosophies of men. Christians don’t hate gays, but the Church cannot apologise to gay people for condemning sexual immorality.

‘I Can Call Something Evil Without Being A Judge’
(Archbishop Joseph Ojo, Presiding Bishop of Calvary Kingdom Church, Lagos-Badagry Expressway)
The Pope’s comment concerning ‘gay people’ is not as disturbing as the fact that the average Christian hardly wants to hear the truth these days…

I say this to mean that the voice of God is of uppermost importance in tackling any issue. When Christian Leaders are to speak, our basis should be what God has said in His word…

In their days, God destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah because of the decadence and evil practices. Today’s world seeks to hear extra-diluted fables and philosophies of men over and above the undiluted, infallible word of God that is able to save.

Rather than call something evil, people prefer to be silent, stating that we are not to judge. Shall we continue to accept the dictates of the enemy because we don’t want to judge? (Isaiah5: 20) “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!”

The work of a Judge is to condemn, convict or dismiss a case brought by a defendant. Therefore, I can call something evil without being a judge. “And sin shall have no dominion over you” – this is what the Bible says. As much as we preach God’s word so that the sinner would repent, we should do the same for those practising such sinful acts as being gay. Righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people, including the church.

Let us embrace the word of God that is profitable and able to make the sinner whole. Giving gay people undue recognition would not convict them of their sin, it would rather give them more reason to delay repentance.

Apologising to gay people would simply be an act of human marketing. There is nothing spiritual about it. We are in the last days and the Bible records also that the very elect could be deceived, if the days were not shortened