RAY BOLTZ: A GAY CHRISTIAN?

Today I was out in my car and caught the tail end of the Albert Mohler program on my radio. He was discussing a shocking announcement made this past week by a well-known Christian singer that he was in fact gay. The problem was I tuned in too late to hear Mohler state exactly who was being discussed. I now know that he was talking about one of the most famous Christian singers of the 80s and 90s, Ray Boltz. I have Boltz 2 volume greatest hits downstairs in my basement. I remember numerous Fourth of July celebrations using his song "I pledge Allegiance to the Lamb." I still tear up listening to the song "Watch the Lamb," as I contemplate my Savior going to His death for my sins. Needless to say, this news is shocking to me.

I am broken by this as a fan of his music. He believes Himself to be a "gay Christian." This is the way God made Him. He states at the end of an interview with a Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender (LGBT) magazine that “This is what it really comes down to,” he says. “If this is the way God made me, then this is the way I’m going to live. It’s not like God made me this way and he’ll send me to hell if I am who he created me to be … I really feel closer to God because I no longer hate myself."

Here is what we need to take away from this: 1. It is possible to point others to the redeeming work of Christ on the Cross that removes our sins and calls us to trust and repentance, yet never truly be changed personally. I have seen Ray Boltz's concerts lead many to understand the gospel, yet he himself has apparently missed the point the whole time. The gospel is not about accepting ourselves the way we are as he seems to believe; it is about Christ dying for us as we are to mold us and make us like He is. The gospel is about Jesus loving us enough to NOT leave us as we are, but change us into His glorious likeness. 2. We should not throw stones, but instead pray for him and his family. I am concerned about a person who lives in a homosexual lifestyle and sees no problem with it in view of Scripture. But I am concerned about his soul more than anything else. He is implicitely stating that he sees no sin in the homosexual lifestyle, thus believing God now loves him because he has accepted the "truth" about himself. Yet the Bible reveals the real truth about ourselves as sinners in need of redemption from our sins, not acceptance of them. Satan is the deciever and Scripture reminds us that "the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God," (2 Cor. 4:4). Could it be that what he "feels" as God's acceptance is really the sinister work of the Serpent who decieved our first parents in the Garden?

I am going to bed tonight praying for Ray Boltz. If you would like to read the full article (WARNING: website may be graphic and offensive to readers), here is the link:
http://www.washingtonblade.com/print.cfm?content_id=13258.

I also encourage you to check our www.albertmohler.com and listen to the Monday broadcast.