"The tongue of the wise useth knowledge aright: but the mouth of fools poureth out foolishness." (Proverbs 15:2).
It is a good practice to think about the words we use, what they mean, and how we can speak "aright".
The word in question in this post is the term "gay".
Right off, I will say that I personally could not recommend using the word "gay" as any sort of slur, especially in a flippant way. I think the reason is because I am stuck with the knowledge of what it means.
The word "gay" in truth means cheerful, happy, merry, jovial; brave, bright, fine, etc. that does not seem to me a proper term of insult.
We find it once in Scripture. James 2:1-3 "My brethren, have not the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory, with respect of persons. 2 For if there come unto your assembly a man with a gold ring, in goodly apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment; 3 And ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, Sit thou here in a good place; and say to the poor, Stand thou there, or sit here under my footstool:"
The word "gay" there in James 2:3 means someone's finery in apparel.
In modern times, the word was co-opted for the sodomite homosexual death style (not really a lifestyle) to endeavor to make homosexuality seem more acceptable and normative, and fun.
The casual use of it can have unexpected consequences. I know of people who were teased and called by that term in derision so much that they began to believe that perhaps there were of that identity. Others hearing it, have been influenced to think that it is something to laugh about, and thus is not so serious a sin.
As a rule, I try not to use it to mean anything of that perversion, because those who are in bondage to that abomination are not truly gay in the proper meaning of the word. "Even in laughter, the heart is sorrowful: and the end of that mirth is heaviness" (Proverbs 14:13). I have talked with homosexuals in front of sodomite bars, and when they got away from their companions, sometimes they would express their guilt and their desperation over the chains of this wickedness that they loved and were enslaved by, even groaning and crying. So the meaning of the name does not belong to that conduct of identification.
Furthermore, when I hear that term attributed to other, especially by Christians, even in a joking or flippant manner, to borrow from another brother's expression, "I feel part of me die inside". That sin with which the term is linked today, effeminacy and sodomy, rejection of God's design and enslavement to unnatural lust, is not a laughing matter. I know people who are pursuing that path to their own perdition, and it grieves me.
Ponder on these verses from one of my favorite psalms:
Psalm 119:136 "Rivers of waters run down mine eyes, because they keep not thy law."
Psalm 119:158 "I beheld the transgressors, and was grieved; because they kept not thy word."
Psalm 119:53 "Horror hath taken hold upon me because of the wicked that forsake thy law."
How can I laugh at that which is destroying my fellow human beings? It is a shame even to speak of those things which are done of them in secret. We are to shine light on it, reprove it, but how can I make it a joke?
I am not seeking to bind another man's conscience, but the topic was raised by someone recently, and I felt compelled to share my thoughts and position.
Abortion must be Abolished.
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