Were You Born That Way?

Some people excuse their sin by saying, “I was born this way!” Our culture currently struggles with the subject of gay marriage. One of the sticking points is that some “scientists” have taught us that many people are born with homosexual tendencies. In fact many homosexuals will admit, “I’ve felt this way all my life.”

What if these scientists are right? What if homosexuals are born with an attraction for the same sex? At first most Christians recoil at this notion and declare that it can’t be. We know homosexuality is a sin and thus science must be wrong. I must admit that I believe science is wrong at this point. What if it could be reasonably demonstrated, however, that gayness is innate? Would such a discovery serve to contradict the Bible? Not at all!

Spend just one minute reflecting upon your own sinful tendencies and temptations. You will find that many of them have been with you as far back as you can remember. When did you have your first desire to lie, steal, disobey, lust, dishonor your parents, or mislead? You could say, “I was born this way!” Does that excuse your wrong desires or behavior? Of course not! We are ALL born with sinful inclinations. Theologians call this original sin or inherited sin.
The Bible teaches that we inherit a sinful nature because of Adam’s sin. This inherited sinful nature is sometimes called “original pollution” or “inherited corruption.”

David says, “Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Ps. 51:5). Some have erroneously thought that the sin of David’s mother is in view here, but the context has nothing to do with David’s mother. David is confessing his own personal sin. He says:

Have mercy on me O God...blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity...I know my transgressions....Against you...have I sinned. (Ps. 51:1–4)

David looks back on his life and realizes that he was sinful from the beginning. As far back as he can think of himself, he realizes that he has had a sinful nature. Psalm 58:3 says, “The wicked go astray from the womb, they err from their birth, speaking lies.” Children do not have to be taught how to do wrong; they discover that by themselves. We have to teach them how to do right, to “bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord” (Eph. 6:4).Are we exempt from God’s moral standards on the grounds that we’re “born this way?” No, God still commands us to tell the truth (Eph. 4:25), steal no more (Eph. 4:28), stop lusting (Eph. 4:22), be angry and sin not (Eph. 4:26), clean up our speech (Eph. 4:29), and get rid of malice (Eph. 4:31). Our particular temptations and struggles may vary, but the standard remains the same: “Be holy.” (1Peter 1:15-16).

The viability of Christianity is that it has an answer for why anything at all is sinful. Humanity is in rebellion to an eternal, righteous, and just God whose standards and nature do not change. Christianity attempts to repair the ruins because something is actually broken.

The bankruptcy of Secularism is that it has no foundation from which to object to anything at all. Yet secularism believes that many things are not what they should(?) be. One wonders why, in a universe of purposelessness and meaninglessness, anyone comes to the conclusion that anything is broken and in need of repair.