I came across this clip of Lakelandite (Lakelander?) and SBC Superhero, Al Mohler on YouTube. I've watched a lot of the man's work but had not seen this one. It's worth a few minutes of your time.
Any biblical scholar or Christian, whether liberal or conservative on the homosexuality "issue", must--at some point--come face to face with Paul's apparent understanding of homosexuality as sinful. We can choose to agree or disagree with Paul, but his words often stand strongly against the practice of homosexuality.
While I continue to charge that Paul's comments in Romans 1 MUST be understood contextually with his stern warning in Romans 2 to those who judge (go ahead and take a few minutes to read them both), I find Mohler's statements within this video intriguing. He does not back down from the Southern Baptist Convention's strong stance regarding homosexuality (that it is sinful and that those who practice it need to be rescued from it); he takes an opportunity, under fire, to speak a truth to many who have taken the SBC's stance on the subject and done unfaithful work with it.
He acknowledges that the church has done a poor job with this issue (I agree) and that there are people "struggling" within their churches with this "issue" even if the SBC does not want to acknowledge it (I agree). As he puts it: The Christian Church (defined however you like) has tried to tell the "truth" but has not told the "truth" in a biblical way. Yes. Yes. Yes, Al.
Let's put it another way. Forgetting for a second my insistence that Paul's claim that homosexuality is indicative of human sinfulness in a generalized sense must be understood within the context of Paul's second chapter of Romans (the "therefore" transition is my indicator here), Mohler is stating what many within the evangelical movement need to hear. Mohler is asking the Christian church to remain faithful in the ways in which it preaches the "truth", asking it to rethink its strategy of "homosexuality is a choice" and rid itself of the "certain type of homophobia" it has produced.
While Mohler is still proposing that homosexuality is sinful and needs to be repented of and that the gospel (I'm assuming he's defining it in the same way I am? The grace of God through the risen Jesus Christ) is a remedy for sin, he's calling here, very publicly, for accountability in the way in which this gospel is moved throughout the churches of the SBC. To the questioner it may seem that Al Mohler has made more ambiguous his once strong stance on homosexuality as sin; he has not. He continues to assert this principle regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality. He is simply asking that the church repent of its own sins in calling out the sinful nature of others.
Like I said, Romans 2.