First Person: Playing the ‘gay card’

There’s a great line in the 2002 movie “Catch Me If You Can,” based on the true story of Frank Abagnale Jr. Before his 19th birthday, Frank successfully conned millions of dollars worth of checks by being able to make people think he was a Pan Am pilot, doctor, and legal prosecutor. In the movie, Frank Sr., portrayed by Christopher Walken, is instructing his son, Frank Jr. (Leonardo Di Caprio) in the fine art of making the con work.

He says, “Do you know why the Yankees always win?” Frank Jr. answers, “Because they’ve got Mantle?” The father says, “No. It’s because the other team’s too busy staring at the pin stripes.” One of the key ingredients to pulling off a deception is getting the victim to focus on something other than the obvious. Sadly, that is the common strategy the gay community most often uses in trying to con the public into believing something other than the barefaced, clear, and conclusive truth of the Bible’s condemnation of homosexuality. Politicians use this trick all the time. When caught in a lie, deception, or other problem, crafty office holders will blame someone else or use techniques like “playing the race card” to divert attention away from the real issue.

We’re seeing the same technique used today by the gay community when it comes to trying to legitimize homosexuality. The urban dictionary defines “playing the gay card” as, “Similar to playing the black card, playing the woman card, playing the disabled card, et cetera. When someone exploits positive discrimination to get their way, and points to a personal trait of theirs as a fault which somehow justifies their actions or inability to do something they’d ordinarily be expected to do. Also used to guilt trip people into taking back something they’ve said on the grounds of them being insensitive.”

I asked a few of my friends in ministry to give me their take on “playing the gay card.” Best-selling author and Christian historian Peter Marshall says, “In a time of increasing sexual confusion, American Christians need to be clear about where we stand on the issue of homosexuality. Is it sin, or not? From a Christian point of view, it comes down to whether or not we accept the binding authority of Holy Scripture. First Corinthians 6:9-11 is quite clear:

“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. 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.”

If you believe that the Bible is indeed the Word of God and therefore binding in all matters of faith and conduct, then it is obvious from this passage that homosexuals cannot receive salvation from the Lord Jesus until they repent of their homosexuality. And God’s Word also makes clear in this same passage that homosexuality is not an inborn condition of human beings, since it is put on a par with other sexually immoral practices such as adultery.

First Timothy 1:10 also lists men (meant generically to include women also) who practice homosexuality with those who are sexually immoral, again indicating that this is a behavior issue, and not one of genetics. Leviticus 18:22 is also explicit: “You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” If the Creator God viewed homosexuality as a natural condition akin to skin color, it would never be presented in the Bible as something for which people need to repent in order to receive salvation. For the color of one’s skin is certainly never mentioned in that context.

Deron Biles, professor of Old Testament at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, says: “The question of God’s view of homosexuality is not in question. God has made two things abundantly clear: God loves all people and he hates all sin. God has given us his Word, and his Word is clear. Sin isn’t wrong because I believe what God said, and it’s not right because I disagree. Sin is sin because God said so. You and I don’t have to agree with his standard, but our lack of agreement doesn’t mean he hasn’t said it.”

One of my mentors in the ministry, Dr. Stan Coffey, says it like this: “Gays and liberal theologians often say that Jesus did not say anything against homosexuality. The truth is that Jesus did condemn homosexuality. In Matthew 19:3-8 Jesus stated that marriage was between a male and a female. ‘That at the beginning the Creator made them male and female.’ In the passage Jesus also said that all forms of sex outside marriage don’t fit into God’s perfect plan. That would include homosexuality as well as adultery.”

<SPAN style=