The Coming Persecution

I first taught a seminary class on the book of Romans in 1985. I said then, as we discussed Rom 1:24–27, that I thought one day Christians in America would eventually face some sort of persecution for their views on homosexuality. It is easier to see now, many years later, how this could come about. Today, the public schools are teaching the normalcy of homosexuality, and the popular media is totally given over to its promotion. The military has now accepted “gays,” which, ultimately I think, will be the end for evangelical chaplains. Surely, the time will come, when only those new chaplains who accept the rightness of homosexuality will be admitted into the services. And the Boy Scouts have just caved. All of this means that Christians who do not affirm, not just a grudging acceptance of homosexuality, but a positive belief in its rightness—even goodness, will not only be ostracized by society, but actually persecuted by the government. Surely, the first thing to go will be the tax-exempt status of many institutions. What comes next is difficult to determine. Maybe persecution is too strong a word, but the consequences of opposing the homosexual tidal wave will not be pleasant.