1 Corinthians 6:9-11"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?"

"Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?  Do not be deceived; neither the immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor sexual perverts, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor robbers will inherit the kingdom of God.  And such were some of you.  But you were washed; you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God" (1 Cor. 6:9-11).

Question:

Should homosexuality be considered a sin, mistake or wrongdoing – depends how somebody would phrase it? Thank you.

Comment:

Your question reflects the challenge of accurately translating the Bible, without allowing personal or cultural biases to influence choice of words. The passage above is from the Revised Standard Version, a reliable and objective translation. In other translations into English the term translated here as "sexual perverts" is assumed to mean “homosexuals” and is translated thus. Still other translations use the term “male prostitutes,” reflecting the use of both male and female prostitutes in many pagan temples at the time that Paul was writing. (The City of Corinth was a particular hotbed of such rituals, so his concern for the Corinthians in the fledgling church there is understandable.) The overall sense is a condemnation of those who engage in sex for money, or who forcibly commit sexual acts on others. These choices would be condemned whether performed by heterosexuals or homosexuals.   The meaning of the overall passage is clear and, I think, beyond argument. The only way to achieve the elevated spiritual consciousness that Paul here calls "the kingdom of God" is to Put God First – to affirm our Oneness with the infinite Light and Love of God as our highest priority. All the immorality described – idolatry, adultery, sexual perversion, theft, greed, drunkenness – concerns those who place selfish and fear-based human wants above their spiritual identity and spiritual purpose. It is simply impossible to achieve kingdom consciousness if our human priorities are so badly warped.   To “pervert” something is to misuse it – to take something good and twist it into an expression of evil.  Drunkards, for example, are unable to enter the kingdom, not because they drink – Jesus drank; there's nothing inherently evil about wine or alcohol – but because they make alcohol more important than God.  Sex is something good – it is intended as an expression of love, an intimate opportunity to express divine love to another person, and to receive divine love from that other person as well.  To choose to use sex as a fear-based, lustful act of aggression is to pervert its sacred purpose and will, indeed, block us from the kingdom – not because we're being punished, but because the consciousness from which the choice is made cannot exist in the kingdom.   It may well be that Paul believed, or assumed, that all homosexual relationships were based on lust and aggression.  Even so, it was not the homosexuality that was the issue, but the underlying energy. Heterosexuality based on lust and aggression would be equally condemned. Today we know that homosexuals can form relationships as loving and spiritually solid as heterosexuals. They can express their sexuality in ways that further the expression of God's love in the world, just as heterosexuals can.    So we can embrace the spiritual truth of this passage and leave behind any cultural limitations that Paul may have expressed – or that we may express in attitudes we bring to the passage. It all comes down to idolatry, really. Anything we make more important than God is a false idol – whether it's sex or alcohol or money or possessions or power.  And any false idol will keep us from kingdom consciousness until we have surrendered to our spiritual purpose and allowed our innate Christ Light to guide us to new choices.   Blessings!

Rev. Ed