By Undule Mwakasungula, Rights Activist
I have been troubled to understand whether Jesus would have rejected homosexuals while He was physically on earth.
Homophobia against homosexuals is rampant, especially in Malawi. The debate over homosexuality has been controversial in many African countries.
Opponents argue that it is ‘unAfrican’ and sinful. But realising that we are all created by God, we cannot reject those deemed different from us.
Malawi prides itself as a God-fearing nation, so attacks on homosexuals should be unacceptable.
All people were created equal by God. These include sinners. Homosexual persons are also children of God and must be loved and supported.
God is love and tolerance. You cannot say you love God yet you hate or reject your visible neighbour.
Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the founder of Christianity, taught us to love one another regardless of our differences.
Jesus was a human rights defender and always protected the vulnerable. He interacted and ate with the rejects, including the corrupt such as tax -collector Zacchaeus.
Jesus taught us not to be judgemental or spiritually arrogant, but to leave it to God, the incorruptible judge.
In the book of Matthew 7:1-2, Jesus said: “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged. For with judgement you make you will be judged and the measure you give will be the measure you get.”
In Luke 6:37, He warned: “Do not judge and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.”
As a God-fearing nation, we should avoid behaving like the holier-than-thou Pharisees and Scribes who criticised the weaknesses of others while concealing theirs.
Some believers are selective in condemning sin. Jesus said it is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick.
“I came not to call the righteous, but sinners,” he said in the book of Mark.
The religious leaders of His time saw sinners as a social problem that needed to be fixed, but Jesus saw them as people created in his image who needed to be liberated.
He was not concerned that their sins would stain Him, but about His goodness influencing them to become better people.
This is how Jesus would treat homosexual people today.
If faith leaders and groups are worried about homosexuality, it shows a failure to spread the gospel of love and repentance to those they reject as sinners.
The church, as the body of Christ, must go out there and win souls into the Kingdom of God.
If Jesus was physically on earth today, would He have marched against the LGBTQ community as did some religious groups last week or would he reach out to them for their salvation as He did with the corrupt taxman and the woman caught in adultery?
Jesus knows how it feels to be a social outcast.
You would think the religious leaders would have been His best friends, but they hated Him, shamed Him and joined forces with politicians to kill Him in front of a cheering crowd.
Unfortunately, it is the same resentment that some modern-day religious leaders harbour against sexual minorities.
Religious leaders should preach love and tolerance. God is love, not as homophobic as His current servants are.
Sexual immorality, including same-sex activity, is listed alongside other sins in the scriptures, for God does not rank one sin as worse than another.
In Matthew 15:19–20, Jesus said: “Out of the heart come evil thoughts- murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, corrupt mind, false testimony, slander.”
Although the Bible teaches sexual purity, including abstaining from same-sex activity, those who practise homosexuality need our love and salvation like any other person, not rejection and condemnation.
Christians should not run away from their responsibility to win souls. Pushing for legalism, condemnation and being judgmental against homosexuals is ungodly.
