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How should the Church respond to the issue of homosexuality?

The question of homosexuality is a complex one for two reasons. Firstly, for some reason, modern society has judged it a worse sin than many others. For this reason a great deal of attention has been directed toward it and made it a very inflamintory topic. while the Bible judges homosexual action as sin, it does not consider it a worse sin than any other. Secondly, unlike other sins, attention today seems to be more directed toward the temptation rather than the action. Some one who is tempted to steal yet resists that temptation is not labeled a thief. Yet, a person who is tempted toward sex with someone of their same gender is often called homosexual whether or not they have ever acted on that temptation. The Bible, however, condemns only sin, not temptation. So, how can we approach the topic from Biblcal point of view? Because of this complexity, the answer to this question can not be short and has been divided up into 4 parts listed below.

The Short Answer - the official letter regarding homosexual marriage as released by the Office of the President of the LC-MS.

The Long Answer part 1 - Law and Gospel and the origins of homosexuality.

The Long Answer part 2 - What does the Bible say about homosexuality?

The Long Answer part 3 - What can you do for a loved one from a Law/Gospel perspective?

Other excellent information can be found at:

Exodus international

LC-MS Plan for Ministry to Homosexuals and their Families This was written before much of the recent research disproved a direct genetic link to homosexuality and is a resource for pastors. In the three part answer above more recent information about the causes of homosexuality was included and part 3 is directed more toward how the individual friend or relative can help.