A surprising number of my friends on Facebook changed their profile pic to this photo. I guess the number itself wasn't so surprising as the number of them whom I would've assumed considered themselves Christian. Even Rob Bell, the famous evangelical minister known far and wide openly supports gay marriage.

Support the lifestyle of practicing homosexuality or support the teachings of the Bible—you can't do both. The Apostles, inspired by God and acting to spread the word about Jesus Christ, powerfully condemned the continual practicing of homosexuality alongside every other sin us humans get involved in. 

"Don’t you know that those who do wrong will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, who are idol worshipers, adulterers, male prostitutes, homosexuals, thieves, greedy people, drunkards, abusers, and swindlers—none of these will have a share in the Kingdom of God" (1 Corinthians 6:9-10, New Living Translation, emphasis added).

Paul wrote that to a church that was surrounded by a culture way more sinful than ours in the West today—temple prostitution was still a thing back then. But Paul and Barnabas and the other apostles were not afraid to go in and strongly condemn all those practices as what they were—sinful and despised by God. To be clear, there is a distinction between somebody who is homosexual (they have same-sex attraction, you might call it) and somebody who practices homosexuality. The former is a trait that is ingrained in somebody's state of mind, the latter is choosing to accept that way of life and practice it.

To those Christians who change their profile picture in support of "marriage equality," I say, "Stand for something, you gutless hypocrites." Or to quote Jesus when He rebuked the religious people of His day, "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: ‘These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men’” (Matthew 15:7-9, Isaiah 29:13, NIV). If you say you follow Jesus Christ, but don't have the guts to actually practice that way of life or support its teachings, then admit you are not a Christian. Will you join the next movement that seeks to legalize extortion? Will you change your profile picture in solidarity with shoplifters when the movement to legalize stealing comes around? Do you think it's OK to cheat on your spouse?

Be a Christian or don't. There is no in-between. Saying you follow Jesus Christ but supporting something like gay marriage is using His name in vain. It's an affront on His perfect, righteous character. It's an insult to God, who offered His Son so we all could have salvation from death (John 3:17). And let's not forget that accepting that sacrifice then willfully and purposefully sinning is what you might call the unpardonable sin (Hebrews 10:26-27).

Hope for All of Us Sinners

Here's Paul's follow-up point to his condemnation: "And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God" (1 Corinthians 6:11, New International Version). This is the scripture that many have called the most hopeful verse of the Bible. It shows that even in a society which was super pagan and sinful, a church made up of individuals called out of that mess could come to repentance and change. They could each look at their lives and recognize all the bad influences society had had on them, and decide to bury that old person. Put on the new man. Put on the mind of Christ. Live a life showing fruits worthy of repentance (Colossians 3:9-10, Romans 12:2, Philippians 2:5, Luke 3:8, Isaiah 1:16).

All of us are in the same boat—we all sin, we all fall short (Romans 3:23). We all must repent and live a life showing fruits worthy of repentance. Let's not get caught up in the popular movements that seek to distract us from our calling. Let's not let our clear vision of God's coming Kingdom be blurred by the slow and sure progression of human nature's influence. Let's put away our old, sinful ways and live a new life of righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:20-24).