What Should Christians Think About Pride Month?
From children’s cartoons to cereal boxes, our culture has proclaimed the month of June to be "Pride Month,” formerly “Gay Pride Month.” Corporations are attempting to outdo one another in proclaiming their support and enthusiasm. Obviously many cultural and media forces approve but how should we think about this as Christians?
First, we need to understand what is happening in our culture from a theological standpoint. Romans 1 teaches us that when individuals or a people reject God (who has revealed Himself to us both by creation and by Scripture) our hearts are darkened and our minds become depraved (Romans 1:21, 28). Darkened hearts and depraved minds are open to all kinds of other beliefs and practices. When individuals reject God, God allows us that choice and the accompanying consequences. “For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error” (Romans 1:26-27). Homosexuality is not the only sin that springs from a depraved mind and a darkened heart. Greed, envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice, gossip, slander, hatred of God, insolence, arrogance, pride, and rebelliousness are all sins that result from a heart that turns away from God. Pride Month is not just part of the culture war. Pride Month is not some political effort. Pride Month ultimately comes from a distorted or altogether absent view of God and His Word.
Second, we need to understand what is happening in our culture morally. What is happening morally in our culture can’t be divorced from what is happening theologically. Our culture views anything that impedes an individual's sense of expression or sense of identity as oppressive. In fact this might be the only sin of the 21st Century. This is why homosexuality and transgenderism are portrayed as matters of civil rights. (Indeed, this was the reasoning behind the 2015 Supreme Court ruling Obergerfell v. Hodges). Therefore our culture views those who call homosexuality sinful as persecutors and oppressors. Our culture sees those who hold a biblical view of gender (See Genesis 1:28, “male and female He created them.”) as unkind, or worse, for inhibiting someone’s self-expression and limiting their personal freedoms. This helps explain the almost militant demand that some in our culture have toward accepting these behaviors.
Third, we need to understand what is happening our country spiritually. Spiritually, Americans are increasingly broken and increasingly irreligious. The sexual revolution has created moral fallout that has impacted several generations now. The church has not been exempt from the impact of this. Instead of standing strong for God’s design for marriage, sexuality and the family, many churches tried to ignore the issue. If a church won’t take a stand about sexual immorality in the form of adultery or fornication how can that church speak with moral clarity about sexual immorality of other forms? Inconsistency and lack of biblical teaching on these matters have watered down the witness of God’s church and kept us from demonstrating the beauty of God’s design for the family.
How should Christians respond? First, Christians must respond in repentance. We must put our own house in order. We must make sure we are walking with God in purity ourselves. 1 Peter 2:12 advises us: “Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation.” Second, Christians must respond in love. To name sin is not unloving. But to attack people or mock people is. There is no place for this among believers. Third, Christians must respond with prayer. Rather than lament the state of our culture, let’s seek God in prayer for our nation. Finally, let’s engage people with the Gospel of Jesus. Let’s share Jesus. The only hope for a deceived heart and a darkened mind is the light of Christ. Now is the time to share that light!