Page 187 - Push Back

It may seem contradictory that Christ would eat with sinners, yet He would tell His disciples to
treat their own brethren as a tax collector or Gentile, refusing to fellowship with them, if they
were living an immoral life, but there is a sound reason for this. Those who have been given
much are held to a stricter judgment. To be given the light of truth, and to reject it is a serious
matter.

As Christians we are to proclaim the kingdom of God to others. Yet, if those who hear our words
resist the truth we are to move one. The apostle Paul demonstrated this in his ministry.

Acts 13:44-46
And the next Sabbath nearly the whole city assembled to hear the word of God. But when the
Jews saw the crowds, they were filled with jealousy, and began contradicting the things spoken
by Paul, and were blaspheming. And Paul and Barnabas spoke out boldly and said, "It was
necessary that the word of God should be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it, and judge
yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles.

Yahweh has said that He will not strive with men forever. As Christians we must be sensitive to
the opportunities around us, remaining sensitive to the guidance of the Spirit to know when to
speak, and to whom. He will provide us opportunities. We must impress upon people the urgency
of the matter. Yahweh will not continually draw a man or woman to Himself. If they repeatedly
harden their heart they may miss their opportunity for repentance.

Luke 13:6-9
He also spoke this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came
seeking fruit on it and found none. Then he said to the keeper of his vineyard, 'Look, for three
years I have come seeking fruit on this fig tree and find none. Cut it down; why does it use up the
ground?' But he answered and said to him, 'Sir, let it alone this year also, until I dig around it and
fertilize it. And if it bears fruit, well. But if not, after that you can cut it down.'"

One thing I would share before closing this chapter is that there are far more homosexuals
turning away from their sin than the government or media would lead people to believe. The
myth has been propagated that it is impossible, or at least exceptionally rare, for a homosexual to
turn away from same sex attraction. It is important to mention the falsehood of such a belief
because many Christians are daunted at the prospect of witnessing to homosexuals since they
have been told repeatedly that homosexuals cannot change. Similarly, those who have embraced
the homosexual lifestyle may lack confidence that they can change because they have been told
repeatedly by the government and media that same sex attraction is established at birth and it is
immutable.

The recent bills passed in California and New Jersey forbidding sexual orientation change efforts
by licensed counselors, efforts whose aim is to return homosexuals to a straight orientation,
provide evidence of how widely the false belief that homosexuals cannot change have spread.
According to a study conducted on a large population and published in 2007 by the University of
North Carolina at Chapel Hill, ex-gays actually outnumber gays in society. The following video
reports the findings of this study.