Now I want to state firmly and for the record that I fully understand that from a Biblical stand point the act of homosexuality is a sin. There are many verses that coincide with this both in the New Testament and the Old Testament. That is not what I am disputing and if that is the only reason as a Christian that I should not see this movie then I must press the issue. There are many sins that are written about in the New Testament and the Old Testament that Christians as a whole have no problem with when they are indulged in film. Galatians 5 is one verse that shows us many of these sins.
For the Acts of the Sinful Nature are obvious: Sexual Immorality, Impurity and Debauchery; Idolatry and Witchcraft; Hatred, Discord, Jealousy, Fits of Rage, Selfish Ambition, Dissensions, Factions and Envy; Drunkenness, orgies and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God.
Now let me break down something: Christians believe that Sexual Immorality is the act of homosexuality, HOWEVER that is not all Sexual Immorality entails. It entails ANY and ALL Pre-Marital sexual relations that occur. So my friends I'm sorry if you enjoy movies like 50 shades of grey, The Notebook, How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days, Twilight... I think you get the point. If the movie involves any sort of implied or otherwise premarital sex then the movie contains sexual immorality.
How about Witchcraft? More and more movies like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Chronicles of Narnia, Aladdin and the like have explored the world of magic and witchcraft. Yet we as Christians flock to these movies with no issue. Once in a while we'll still see the occasional Christian saying that these movies should be avoided because of the obvious sin content that they contain. But we shrug it off and say its just entertainment. Its not real.
Hatred, Discord, Jealousy, Fits of Rage, Selfish Ambition, Dissensions, Factions and Envy. Have any of you seen Star Wars? That list pretty much sums up episodes 3-7. If not a Star Wars fan about Batman vs Superman or Captain America civil war? How about Spiderman or movies like Mean Girls. Do not all of these movies contain at least one of these sinful natures?
Drunkenness: How many of you enjoy the occasional college humor movie like Superbad, or American Pie, or Idiocracy.
The obvious response to all of this well homosexuality is different. You're right it is. Because homosexual people are people who deal with real issues on a daily basis. Homosexuals are people who have been rejected largely by the church for their sexual preference. Homosexuals have had people stand out on corners with signs saying awful things such as God hates fags. They've had people tell them that their chances for disease and death will increase because of their sexual preference. For a millennia they have been rejected and ostracized by society and in the last 10 years that has started to go away. Yet Christians still hold onto "Well it's sinful so I won't be participating"
Allow me to challenge you that if you do not go see Beauty and the Beast because it contains one iota of a sinful act that you should turn off your TV and never turn it back on again. Let me challenge you that if you refuse to go see Beauty and the Beast because you believe the sinful act is in someway different than all other sinful acts, that maybe you should go read your Bible again.
God does not differentiate one sin from the other. Romans 3:23 says that All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Does that mean that we must celebrate sin? No. But please look at this another way. Put yourselves in the shoes of the homosexual people who have been ostracized and rejected by society and for some even their families. They see what you are posting on your social media as well. They see it and they are deeply hurt because they are just people trying to get by. And for many of them that hurt is turning to anger, not anger against the church but anger against God. With our Christian idealism and stubbornism we are turning away hurting homsexual people away from God.
So why will I be going to see Beauty and the Beast? Because sin is sin and maybe just maybe I can show the love of Christ by attending a movie that everyone expects Christians to boycott. So if you decide to go: Go with the love and the peace of Christ.
