The rainbow flag is a symbol that has been adopted by the LGBT community in the United States and around the world. Using scripture to reinforce his points, a pastor in Texas has urged Christians who have taken to flying the rainbow flag in support of same-sex marriage to reconsider their stance.
In an op-ed published by Christian Post on Thursday, Pastor David Ruzicka of Fort Bend Fellowship in Katy, Texas, looked at whether or not Christianity was compatible with the practice of homosexuality or same-sex marriage. Before tackling the highly controversial issue, he issued a disclaimer to anyone who might take offense from his remarks.
"Before you call me a hater and small minded bigot - understand this: I've spent a lot of time in my life ministering to people in the worst of situations. I have loved people you might deem unlovable," Ruzicka wrote. "I'm just contrasting what our culture is saying with what God's Word says."
Ruzicka focused on five ideas about same-sex marriage that were in direct conflict with "simple Bible-based Christianity." He first looked at the idea of the rainbow as a symbol of gay pride, which he thought was "trying to poke your finger in the eye of God."
"The rainbow is one of the oldest Christian and Jewish symbols, representing God's promise to Noah in Genesis 9:15," Ruzicka wrote. "If anyone takes a sacred Jewish or Christian symbol and says it represents their pride in (what the Bible calls) sin, that should be a giant warning sign that this is not a movement of God."
The Texas pastor then questioned the second idea of "gay pride" itself. He contended that "God is at war with all pride," citing Proverbs 8:13 to reinforce his point.
"The word 'pride' or 'proud' appears in the Bible over 100 times and is never, ever used in a favorable way. It is always negative," Ruzicka wrote. "It's associated with arrogance and conceit and self-sufficiency."
As an example, Ruzicka looked at the story of King Nebuchadnezzar as outlined in Daniel 4, who took pride in his great kingdom.
"God took his mind and sent him wandering insanely in the wilderness like a cow," Ruzicka wrote. "Embracing a concept that God loathes (pride), is a good indication this is not a movement of God."
For the third idea, Ruzicka looked that practice of homosexuality. Based on his interpretation of the Bible, he believed that both homosexuality and same-sex marriage are sins.
"God never stutters. He doesn't say one thing when He means another," Ruzicka wrote. "He's never confused words for each other. But looking at the verbal gymnastics that folks go through to try to justify homosexuality with the Bible, you'd think that God was an illiterate who can't spit out a coherent sentence."
Ruzicka referred to Bible passages in both the Old and New Testaments to drive home the point that homosexuality was sinful behavior, in particular Romans 1:26-27 and Matthew 19:5. However, he emphasized that there is forgiveness from God for homosexuality and every other sin.
"The hope for every man, woman and child, is salvation through Jesus Christ," Ruzicka wrote. "But you have to come to repentance. Which means you have to get to this starting place that you agree with Him that it's sin."
The Texas pastor contended in the fourth idea that homosexuality is a sin like no other. According to his observation, compared to other sins like lying, cheating, and stealing, homosexuality is the one sin "that is paraded, prided, and promoted at every level of society."
"If I engage in homosexuality, I get a parade," Ruzicka wrote. "And if anyone calls it sin, they get run out of town (figuratively for now)."
According to Ruzicka, marriage can only be between one man and one woman because for Christians, "it also represents Christ's relationship with His church." He thought that Christians would be forced to violate their conscience by participating in a same-sex marriage, which he described in the final idea as "a totalitarian intolerance of dissent."
"The same-sex marriage movement is not unlike the Borg," Ruzicka wrote. "The Borg, from the Star Trek series, would assimilate you into the collective, make you part robot and you would lose all personal identity. Their motto is 'You will be assimilated. Resistance is futile.'"
Ruzicka contended that any group that refuses to tolerate dissent is "not a movement of God." Besides the same-sex marriage movement, this also applied to "Christian" movements such as the Spanish Inquisition and the burning of witches at the stake.
"To say 'I'm for Jesus' and 'I'm for same-sex marriage' is a nonsensical statement because Jesus is against every one of those points," Ruzicka wrote. "One caveat: if you make up your own Jesus and own Bible, none of this applies."
The Texas pastor challenged Christians to choose to serve either Jesus or same-sex marriage.
"If it's Jesus, do it honestly, up front, and embrace all He is and all He says," Ruzicka wrote. "If it's same-sex marriage, do it honestly and declare that you're not buying what Jesus is selling."
Regardless of which side Christians chose, Ruzicka concluded by declaring that Jesus had Good News to bring "to all sinners, whether their sins be lying, stealing, adultery, homosexuality, or pride."
"He is the Good News in a world bombarded with bad news of murder, terrorism and hatred," Ruzicka wrote of Jesus. "He is the hope of the world."
