A Biblical Perspective of Pride Month

This month has been deemed “Pride Month.” As such, I thought I would take a biblical perspective of the topic and see what God has to say to us. Before we get into this, this article is not meant to “gay bash” or be hateful in any way, but to try to view our culture from God’s perspective. There are some things we can learn that might help our own personal perspectives.

Pride

The first thing I’d like to address is the word “pride.” It seems to have been highjacked and is now a code word for alternative lifestyles. It’s interesting to me that such a word was chosen as it is fitting for the lifestyle. Pride is the root of such rebellion against nature and nature’s God. Pride that says “we know better than God.” In many cases, they want everyone around them to affirm and praise their lifestyle choices and anyone who denies it is a hateful bigot. Ironically, they are the ones who are in denial. Denial of the way they were made and rebellion against their own existence. Pride is a fitting term. What does the Bible say about pride? Pride is the first in a list of things God hates in Proverbs 6:17. God will destroy the house of the proud in Proverbs 15:25. Pride is an abomination to God in Proverbs 16:5. Pride causes divisions and fights in Proverbs 13:10. Pride precedes destruction and a fall in Proverbs 16:18. God resists the proud in James 4:6. Pride, proud, haughty, puffed up, or some kind of variation of pride shows up over 100 times in the Bible and not one of them is in a good light. It is at odds with the very character of God.

So, it is fitting that “pride” be the word of choice to sum up their lifestyle because they are in direct conflict with their creator. Romans 1:21 states, “… when they knew God, they glorified him not as God…” From there a list of degradation begins to unfold. and in verse 24, “… God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves.” Then it gets more specific in verse 26, “For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections…” and it goes on to describe the “pride” lifestyle, women with women and men with men. The in verse 28, it says, “… God gave them over to a reprobate mind…” The end of the chapter says that they which do such things are inviting the judgment of God and worthy of death. But not just them that do it, but those that have pleasure in them that do it. You see, all of those who stand along with this lifestyle in support are just as guilty as those involved in it.

There is an increasing number of Christians today who genuinely believe that the Bible does not address the LGBTQ+ lifestyle, but that it is religious fanatics and bigots who try to read into what is not there. They are either biblically illiterate or are guilty of what they are accusing; reading into the Bible what is not there. In Leviticus 20:13, God is quite explicit about homosexual behavior. In fact, the penalty in ancient Israel was death. God knew what it would do to a society. In the days of the kings in Israel, one of the marks of a righteous king was he would drive out the sodomites (1 Kings 14, 15, 22; 2 Kings 23). I am not suggesting putting them to death. But there is an interesting observation; since that lifestyle cannot reproduce, they must recruit. This is why it is being pushed on young children. Jesus said in John 10:10, “The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy…” That is exactly what the devil is doing on many fronts. He steels joy, as the LGBTQ+ are the highest demographic that seek psychiatric help and are on anti-depresants¹. He kills the next generation through abortion, or even just lost potential to reproduce through same sex relationship or bodily mutilation. The divil is the father of lies (John 8:44). He has deceived our entire society with lies that a lifestyle outside of God’s design could be fruitful.

Pride History

Too many times our society likes to divide into these sub-categories and try to say “see how this group contributed?” rather than celebrating the contributions as Americans, or as people. When we think of Pride month, I would like to go back to a city that was known for flying the rainbow flag. A city called Sodom. Now many are familiar with the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. If you asked, “Why did God destroy them?” many would say because they were overrun with homosexuality. Well, that is partly true. The whole truth, however stand as a sobering warning for America. Ezekiel 16:49-50 gives the explanation as to why God destroyed them: “Behold, this was the iniquity of thy sister Sodom, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance of idleness was in her and in her daughters, neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy. And they were haughty, and committed abomination before me: therefore I took them away as I saw good.” Interesting, the first on the list as to why God destroyed them: pride. They were overcome with pride. They though they knew better than God and professing themselves to be wise, they became fools (Romans 1:22). Next, fullness of bread. They had an abundance. Which then leads to the next one, idleness. Have you noticed it is only first world countries that spend so much time bickering over these issues? When you don’t even know where your next meal is coming from, what people do in the bedroom are the least of your concerns. We have nothing but stuff and time. America has been blessed, so we have to create things to grip about. Adding to the previous, they lacked compassion; “neither did she strengthen the hand of the poor and needy.” Selfishness had overtaken her. Those that promote pride month are typically on the political left. Interestingly, the left love to talk about compassion and taking care of others when it is someone else’s money, through social programs, etc. However it is typically the more conservative leaning, specifically the religious, who tend to out-give to benevolent causes. It then goes on to say that they were haughty, which is a type of pride that carries a distain for others. THEN, it brings up the abominations, which is likely referring to the homosexual lifestyles that were pervasive in Sodom. Amazing how in lockstep America is with Sodom of old. I wonder how much longer until God takes us away as He sees good.

A matter of authority

The bottom line is, it is a matter of authority. There is in the heart of every man a conscience and a basic knowledge that there is a God. There is something beyond this. Even nature itself teaches us certain basic truths about God, like His eternal power and Godhead (Romans 1:20). Whether we want to admit it or not, the issue is rebellion against nature and nature’s God. Against how they have been created. Personally, what people do behind closed doors is their business. When it is so aggressively pushed on society, that society will begin to crumble. We saw it with Sodom, we saw it with Rome, and we are seeing the early stages of it in America. The reality is, sin is a choice. We are all sinners and must deal with our various sins before God. God sent His Son, Jesus Christ to lay down His perfect life for the sins of the whole world. His sacrifice was accepted by God and appeased His wrath (1 John 2:2). The “Pride” movement is an addiction, like alcoholism or any other life-style sin. Jesus came to cleanse us of our sins. In doing so He is able to break the chains of addiction, oppression, and free those who have been taken captive by the devil (2 Timothy 2:25-26). With that, I echo the call of the Saviour for our nation and for the Pride group, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel!” (Mark 1:15).

Sources:

1. Kerr, Michael, Depression in the LGBT Population (2018, February 27)
   https://www.healthline.com/health/depression/gay
2. Levin, Mark, Republicans Give More to Charity Than Democrats, but There’s a Bigger Story Here (2018, November 5), https://nonprofitquarterly.org/republicans-give-more-to-charity-than-democrats-but-theres-a-bigger-story-here/