Denver Pride Parade wrapped up a monthlong carnival of rainbow flags and “celebrate your truth” slogans—drawing roughly 120,000 spectators on 17th Avenue alone and half a million across weekend events. Concert stages, floats, snake-handlers, and pet costumes, rainbowed and bedazzled downtown, all in the name of Pride (one of the seven deadly sins, by the way…).
As Pride Month closes, let’s examine this through a Biblical worldview – the lens through which I endeavor to view and live life. Scripture is clear that same-sex relations run counter to God’s design. Leviticus 18:22 states, “’Do not practice homosexuality, having sex with another man as with a woman. It is a detestable sin.” Romans 1:26-27 describes such passions as “shameful” and “turning against the natural way to have sex.” (In fact, just read Romans 1:18-31. You’ll see that Paul describes a world we live in today.) Yet Denver’s parade paraded these “lifestyles” like trophies—a monthlong celebration of what the Bible calls sin.
I know. I can hear it. “Keep your God out of my life (or face or government or whatever chant they wish to chant).” I am not inserting my God into your life. I am simply stating my belief and how I view things.
Still, the Gospel never stops at condemnation. Jesus reached out to sinners, eating with tax collectors and urging, “Go and sin no more” (John 8:11). I stand firm in my belief that homosexuality and gender confusion conflict with God’s created order, and I reject a culture that glamorizes every sinful impulse under “pride.”
But I also believe that all sin is equal in the eyes of God, and my sin of gluttony is equally as detestable to God. We all sin and fall short of God’s glory, and my mandate (and that of every other person who professes Christ) is also to love every person made in God’s image. “Hate the sin, love the sinner” isn’t a cliché—it’s Christ’s command to us.
Here’s my charge as Pride Month ends:
- Speak Truth in Love. We must lovingly share God’s standards—calling out sin without cutting off the sinner. Ephesians 4:15 urges us to “speak the truth in love,” not with bitterness or mockery.
- Extend Grace & Forgiveness. Romans 3:23–24 reminds us “all have sinned and fall short,” and are “justified by his grace.” Whether our neighbor grapples with same-sex attraction or gender confusion, our arms and prayers remain open.
- Uphold God’s Design. Genesis 1:27–28 anchors us in the created order: male and female, blessed to multiply. This binary reflects God’s intention for family and flourishing.
- Pray for Repentance & Healing. True freedom comes not from declaring pride in sin, but from redemption in Christ. Let’s intercede for those lost in the Pride spectacle, that they might find forgiveness, purpose, and new life.
As the rainbow tents fold and the music fades, remember Jesus’s greatest act: laying down his life for sinners—each one of us. Pride Month may exalt sin for a season, but grace endures forever. May our lives be beacons of truth, love, and mercy—welcoming all, calling all to repentance, and pointing every heart toward the cross.
