Friendship Shouldn't Excuse Sin

When I was in High School I had a friend who was a perpetual liar. He had such a reputation for going far beyond exaggeration that people who know him well knew that his word could not be trusted.
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After completing High School my lying friend went to work for a farmer who farmed right across the road from one of the fields I farmed. During the fall of the year one of the farm radio shows would ask farmers to call in with yield reports. Since this man had been a friend of mine for years I recognized his voice when he called in and I also knew that I could expect him to lie. He was running my neighbor’s combine right across the road from where I was harvesting and as I listened to the radio, I could see how full his combine got in the same distance I had traveled. By comparing the level of corn in his combine and mine, I had a pretty good estimate of how well the field was yielding, and sure enough, he lied.
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If you were to call my friend a liar, I could not argue with you. Further, I would not try to convince you that lying is okay simply because I have a friend who lies. Sadly, some people try to convince us that certain sins are okay simply because they have friends and family involved in those sins. This is especially true of homosexuality.
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A lot of things are sinful. That is why Jesus died and rose again- because we are all sinners whether gay or straight. What makes the discussion on homosexuality so difficult is that most people are willing to admit that lying, stealing, slandering, murder and so many other things are wrong, but want to ignore what the Bible says about homosexuality.
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At the same time, we must never forget that just like any other sin, if a person trusts Christ and really repents, it will be forgiven. We must also remember that we all struggle with sin. “All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23). Some people struggle with pornography, others struggle with alcoholism (drunkenness), others struggle with covetousness (greed), and some struggle with homosexual desires.
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Think of it this way, if a married man has a desire for a woman other than his wife, does it make it okay for him to sleep with her? No! It is wrong because it is adultery and God makes it clear that adultery is a sin. Some would argue that this is only wrong because the wife could be hurt in this situation, but even if the husband was able to do it without the wife ever finding out, it would still be wrong! The point is, it is wrong because it is sin. The same is true of homosexuality.
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Now if a person has homosexual temptations, but admits that acting on them is a sin, then I see no reason to treat it different than other sins people are tempted with. But if the person has the temptation and says there is nothing wrong with acting on it, then they are denying the scripture.
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I understand that not everyone is a Christian. For some of you my arguments really are not applicable unless you eventually come to the point to finally agree with what God has said, but for those of you who believe on Christ, you should believe the Bible, and it is very clear on this specific sin. That doesn’t mean we do not care about friends who are sinners, but let us not make excuses for their sin no matter what it is. Let us also recognize that we are all sinners and not make excuses for our own sins either.