My name is Ian Murray. I am 36 years old and I have made some stupid choices in my life. There was a time when I could have identified with many characterizations described in Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. I was a drunkard, or an alcoholic and drug addict as it would be classified today. I lived on the street as a panhandler. I was despicable, as I used my disability (I am in a wheelchair) to make people feel sorry for me and give me money for food; but I'll give you three guesses as to where their five, ten and twenty dollar bills really went, but you'll only need one - drugs and booze. This made me a swindler. I wasn't satisfied with 'just enough' to get me through the day, I wanted more than enough; this made me greedy. Paul's words in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11 does shed some very unpleasant facets of my life. I am also very happy to pronounced though that today I can identify myself with the word located in verse 11, 'were'. I am no longer a drunk and a swindler. Today I am over 10 years sober from alcohol, drugs and cigarettes and I am the youth pastor for my church.There is however another part to this story. When I was five years old I truly and wholeheartedly asked Jesus Christ, the son of the living God to come into my life and save me from the consequences of my sinful nature. All through my childhood, preteens and even into my early teens, I was used by God and I saw Christ in my life and many other people did too. However, even though this is the case there was a factor about me that played into my downfall with alcoholism. I had a serious rebellious streak. What does this mean? This means that through my rebellion and all my drug and alcohol use, I was a Christian.
Would it be correct then to say that during that time I was a drunkard-Christian? Or how about a rebellious-Christian, or a swindling-Christian or a greedy-Christian? Of course not. If I was to marry my drunkenness, dishonesty, greed or rebellion with my Christianity I would be saying that those acts are in the same category as my active Christianity, and this is simply not true. Am I cured from my past's transgressions? No. I don't get tempted to swindle people out of their money any more but that life style in all of its evil has left me with daily battles. I still do get tempted once in a while by a beer commercial on television and I can only spend so much time around friends who are enjoying a mere alcoholic beverage with dinner. I classify myself as a 'recovering alcoholic', however I don't classify myself as a recovering-alcoholic-Christian. So instead I state that I am a Christian who is: a recovering-alcoholic and a recovering-drug addict. You may think that I am playing with semantics, but there is a difference. The identity - recovering-alcoholic-Christian - forces me to share my sinful temptations with my Christianity, while the identity - a Christian who is a recovering addict - shows a separation between my Christianity and my temptations to sin. In the same way regarding my choice to begin my journey towards sobriety I don't classify myself as a smart-Christian because such a characterization robs Christ of the credit for the work he did in me through all those who helped me get me to where I am today. As such I am a Christian who eventually made some good choices.
Today's culture can also be characterized by Paul's words. In Paul's second letter to Timothy, Paul states that there "...will be terrible times in the last days. People will be... lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God..." - 2 Timothy 3:1, 4. Of course both secular and religious systems that value pleasure before God have always existed since sin came on the scene, and they still exist today. However today there is an ideology running rampant within the walls of the Christian church that suggests that what God pronounces as sinful is good if the sin is something innate. The face of this ideology is the Gay-Christian Movement and their message is that homosexuality is innate and thus it is not a sin but something to be praised and promoted. This movement is tying together their homosexuality with their identity as a follower of Christ. Many gay activists in one way or another ascribe to the view that someone's sexual orientation is not a choice but something that is a part of the gay man or woman. Members of the Gay-Christian-Movement believe that God made the gay man or woman gay and therefore conclude that being gay must be good. Many disagree that homosexuality is innate, however even if they are wrong and it is a part of someone's being that doesn't mean that homosexuality is within itself good. In fact the alleged innate status of homosexuality advocates for the Scripture's teaching of the corruptness of creation. Scripture is clear that nature was affected by sin (cf. Romans 8:22) and so it stands to reason that one's sexuality (a very natural part of every human being) would also be affected by sin. Homosexuality is then just one form of a corrupted sexuality. As such the prophet Isaiah has a few words for subscribers of the view that homosexuality is good despite God's declaration of it being evil:
Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, - Isaiah 5:20
Jesus' disciple John states that "[if you] claim to have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, [you] lie and do not live out the truth." - 1 John 1:6 Associating anything sinful with your Christian identity provides strong evidence that the light is off and you are milling around in the dark as you say "I am a Christian." It is however important to never deny your struggles! If you struggle with addiction to booze, drugs or pornography; or if you struggle with homosexuality or any other sexual sin, or pride, or anger, and so forth - come out! John warns that the truth of God is not in you if you do not admit that you are a sinner, (cf. 1 John 1:8, 10). So own your sin but then disown it. John promises us all including you that:
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:9
In sum if you are a Christian battle your sin; don't identify with it and certainly don't amalgamate your sin with your Christian identity.
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