Desmond Tutu's fifteen minutes should be about up by now. He's had his parade, a lot of time in the limelight, been given his cake and eaten it too. It's time for him to quietly pass out of my sight.
He has lately come out and said he would choose hell rather than go to a homophobic heaven. Tutu went on to say that he would not be able to follow a homophobic God.
Well, in the first place, to say you're 'phobic' about something means you're afraid. I seriously doubt God is afraid of anything...especially us and more specifically those of us who are homosexual. I find it extremely hard to believe that someone who has advanced through the ranks of the Anglican church like he has, and supposedly being learned in the Bible, can make such a stupid statement.
There is a common misunderstanding in today's world about who and what God is. It is so common, in fact, that people are deciding they can argue...successfully...over spiritual and biblical things without having any knowledge one way or the other in either.
If you are a true believer in both the Christian God and scripture, you should be convinced there are absolutes. You know, without a doubt, there are no 'grey' areas. With all sincerity, your belief is that everything....everything...can eventually be reduced to right and wrong. Black and white. Good or bad. You also believe in the ultimate authority of scripture in your personal life. And you take the study of it and ingrain it into your belief system and try to formulate your day to day actions according to that written word.
The Bible is very...VERY...plain about homosexuality. It doesn't mince words, it doesn't talk about it in cryptic verse that's hard to understand, and it gives no quarter as to how God feels about it. It is referred to as an abomination in his sight...among other things...and carried with it a death sentence in the Old Testament. One cannot refute this in any way, shape or form. The true Christian must....must....believe the same or be in direct conflict with God. Now, that doesn't mean that if you disagree with this you are going to hell. There is only one reason a person goes to hell. That reason is to reject Christ as your personal savior. If you don't believe in hell...that's fine. But since hell is mentioned more times than heaven in the New Testament, it's easy to conclude that Jesus believed in it and so did the New Testament writers. Check out Luke 16.
The good thing about today, is that ever since Jesus died on the cross and rose from the dead, we have been living under the dispensation of God's grace. We are free to worship or not to worship. We are free to believe in whole or in part, or not to. We are free to live a life of debauchery or one of morality. And, since we are under this umbrella of grace, there are no punishments....right now....for outright rebellion against God. His judgment fell on Jesus at the cross, who bore all our sins for us. John's Revelation does tell us though, that there is a limit to God's patience and that his judgment will once again revert to the Old Testament variety, but on a much larger scale. Revelation tells us that if those judgments were not shortened, there will have been no flesh left alive.
I have known and worked with many homosexuals. I have nothing against them. I really don't. They are free to live any way they wish. This is God's gift to all of us. We have the 'will' to direct the course of our lives on our own, or with his guidance. It's up to us. I do not believe, and never have believed, that homosexuals should be arrested or beaten or even killed. They are human beings that Jesus died on the cross for. If they were good enough for him, they are good enough for me. But, the irrefutable fact of scripture is that they are living an abominable life in the eyes of God and he will not accept it. Can I say, without pause, that since they are homosexuals they are automatically hell bound? Of course not. That is the realm of God alone. However, scripture advises us you can have a good idea who is a child of God by the fruit they bear in life. If it is in direct opposition to him and his word, there could be a problem.
There are too many people today who believe that being a good person will be enough to get them through those pearly gates. Here, too, the Bible is very plain. It says there are none that do good, no, not one. It says that our righteousness is as filthy as menstrual rags. It says that if we fail the law in one point, then we are guilty of it all. I think we all fall into that category. This is why Jesus, the perfect sacrifice, had to die for us all. All we have to do is confess our sins, receive him as savior, and follow him. If someone goes to hell, it's like walking into the gas chamber with a full pardon in your back pocket. Yet, people are the same now as they were when they fell from grace in the garden of Eden. We are little 'gods' who think we know how to live our lives better than God can guide us. So, we go our own way and do our own thing until, like in the days of Judges, everyone is doing what is right in their own eyes. How is that working out for you?
So, for Desmond Tutu to come out and say that he would tell God 'No Thanks' about entering into heaven and would choose hell instead is a statement that leaves one to believe this man is on the precipice of apostasy....which is bad. Very bad. He has chosen the path of political and social correctness...as defined by the godless politicians and societies of today....instead of what he has professed to believe in all his life. That is gutless, cowardly, and unscriptural.
Hell was made for Satan and his demons. According to Jesus, it is a place of torment and that none should ever wish to go there. Unfortunately, he also says that broad is the way and wide is the gate that leads to destruction, and few there be that find it. If you wish to disbelieve, that is your God given right and I bid you success as you go on your way. If you wish to interpret the Bible according to your own agenda, I bid you the same.
The most frightening verse in the Bible, which I would suggest Tutu read again and again, is Matthew 7:21. It says, Not everyone who says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. It's not the sayers. It's the doers. Jesus goes on to say that people will protest before the throne and say, Lord, we have cast out demons and prophesied in your name. That's when the Father will say to them, Depart from me, you who work iniquity, for I never knew you. Think about it. Jesus is saying that there will be those who have worked in his name all their lives, yet will be cast into hell to their eternal shock. What does this mean for the rest of us who haven't even done that? To interpret portions of the Bible to fit your life scheme and is apart from what it is truly saying, is to be running pell mell through a minefield...blindfolded.
My belief is grounded in a lifetime of study and life experience. It cannot be swayed nor changed. If, in the end, I am found out to be wrong....I can say right now that it did me no harm and allowed me to live peacefully with those around me who did not believe nor live as I. If I'm right, I will be interested to see Tutu's answer when he faces the Almighty. I seriously doubt he will be as haughty as he has recently been. In fact, I doubt any of us will have much to say...at least that which could be seen as being argumentative before the one who made us. Choose hell instead of heaven? What true believer would ever say such a thing. It doesn't matter if this is right or not. What matters is that he is saying if God does not allow homosexuals into heaven...which none of us knows one way or the other, it is his realm of judgment....that he will consider his ways higher than God's and reject him. It boggles the mind of this true believer. Even in my darkest days, I would never make such a statement. God does not answer to us. We answer to him...whether you like it....or not.
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