Worse than homosexuality
Imagine you’ve been justly convicted and imprisoned for life in a foreign country for various acts of cruelty and lawlessness. I know…you’re a good person and would never find yourself in such a scenario, but just go with me here. Now imagine also that a good king of a very prosperous and more powerful country makes a deal to purchase your freedom and bring you into his kingdom…a provision which costs him greatly. But you refuse to be released or even to acknowledge him as a king. Could there be anything more insulting…or stupid?
This is precisely the scenario millions of people do find themselves in. They/we have done many wrong things…and we know we have. Our wrongs are woven into our past like a thick cord that binds and restricts and grows with each new misdeed. We are imprisoned in this propensity to lie, ridicule, hate, and worse…powerless to always and only do what’s right, even if we wanted to, which many do not.
But the King of kings has paid a great price to set us free and millions nevertheless reject him and his offer of freedom as his subjects. To all the sin that Jesus paid for they add the sin of unbelief…the only one they must pay for themselves. The unforgivable sin.
When Jesus sent his disciples out to proclaim the Gospel of his kingdom, he told them:
“And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.” – Matthew 10:14-15
Sodom and Gomorrah were destroyed because their sin was “very grave,” most notably the sin of homosexual acts. As grave as that sin is, Jesus is saying that not listening to those telling of God’s provision for their sin is worse. That’s right…contrary to what many think, in the Christian worldview homosexual activity is not the worst sin in the world. Not even close. Dismissing and rejecting God’s priceless gift of redemption is the worst sin of all.
Times like these of uncertainty, fear, and financial hardship are prime opportunities for proclaiming the Gospel of God’s kingdom. When life gets hard and our foundations are shaken we look for help and hope. Those outside the kingdom who are wise will “receive” and “listen to” disciples of Jesus like me when we tell them of the King who bought their freedom and secured for them an eternity of joy and peace, if they will just believe and trust in him.
But the unwise who do not listen may not get another opportunity and will be left in the dust of their just imprisonment. Jesus’s followers have been told not to pursue those who stop their ears to the truth, who deny they need a Savior, who live as if he doesn’t exist. And “on the day of judgment” if they have persisted in their sin of unbelief, though they may want to cling to the King, he will shake them off as justly condemned dust.
