Sleight of hand is defined as "a skillful movement of the fingers or hands by which a magical effect is accomplished." In actuality, a magician uses his entire body as a sleight, the purpose of which is to direct the audience's attention to another area and away from what is really going on.

'Gay' theology espouses a verbal sleight of hand and possible its proponents' 'strongest' argument is "Jesus never said anything about homosexuality."

Years ago I saw a brochure with the following question on the front -- "What did Jesus say about homosexuality?" Opening the brochure I found a blank page and initially thought this specific brochure must not have gone through the copier, but I realized the text-less page was their answer -- "Jesus said nothing about homosexuality."

During a 2004 Easter TV program Rev. William Willimon, the Dean of Duke Chapel and a newly-appointed bishop to the United Methodist Church, made a similar statement. I waited for the TV host to correct Willimon's faulty thinking, but no correction came.

Signe Wilkinson, an editorial cartoonist with the Philadelphia Daily News, used the same argument when attempting to show Christians to be shallow-minded.

A few years ago Nightline aired a town hall meeting where a lesbian used this argument; though surrounded by pastors, priests and Christian laymen, no one, including Nightline host Ted Koppel offered to correct her.

And on the eve of the 2004 Republican National Convention, former president Bill Clinton uttered that antiquated and illogical refrain while speaking at a church.

While secularists use the argument--knowing its faulty logic, only a few Christians see through the transparent lie. As I speak around the country leading our 1-day conference, MORE THAN WORDS: walking people out of homosexuality, I find that less than ten percent of Christians can refute the argument. When I asked more than a thousand students and faculty from a large Christian university to reply to this argument, less than six percent got close.

Why? Because few Christians read the Bible and even fewer know apologetics -- "The branch of theology that is concerned with defending or proving the truth of Christian doctrines."

The former can be illustrated by the following story.

A group of deacons was interviewing a twenty year old Bible student for pastor. Several deacons were concerned about the man's youth and inexperience. Another deacon, impressed with the candidate, attempted to ally his colleagues' fears so he asked the would-be preacher to give a brief overview of the Bible.

The greenhorn held his head high and started, "Well the Bible begins when God placed David and Bathsheba in the Garden of Gethsemane where they were told to eat manna and quail. But when they ate five loaves of bread and two fishes, God sent them out of the garden into the fiery furnace.

Moses led the Egyptians out of Israel in six days and then he rested on the seventh day.

Elijah was a fiery prophet whose successor Eleazar asked for a double portion of baked fish.

The sleeping prophet Jeremiah cried his entire life over a broken alabaster jar which had been thrown into the lion's den.

Jesus had twelve apostles whose wives were called the epistles. He preached to the Ninevites who walked on the water until a big fish coughed-up a handful of change.

Paul was converted on the road to Emmaeus when he saw a bright star in the east. On one occasion, he preached an all-nighter and a man named Zaccheus went to sleep; Zaccheus fell off the Tower of Babel and died, but Paul raised him on the third day."

After the recitation the obviously embarrassed deacon turned to the chairman and asked "what do you think about that?" The seasoned chairman gushed, "I still think he's a bit young, but he sure knows his Bible!"

The chairman is not the only one who is biblically illiterate. Many Christians find the gay argument convincing or at the least do not know how to reply.

First, the statement in and of itself can not be proven true or false! We do not know everything Jesus said because not everything He said is recorded in the Bible.

A common riddle is 'Johnny was afraid to go home because of the man behind the mask.' People automatically make assumptions about key words in the riddle, i.e. that Johnny is a small boy, that 'home' means his house, and that the 'man behind the mask' is a scary person.

But the riddle loses its mystique when we learn 'home' means home plate as in baseball and the man behind the mask is the catcher.

Similarly we assume if Jesus never said anything about homosexuality, this sexual practice must not have been a big deal and thus He approved it.

While the specific argument can not be proven true or false, a true statement would be "the Bible does not record Jesus speaking on the issue of homosexuality."

Here is where apologetics comes in. There are numerous issues on which Jesus is not recorded to have spoken--child molestation, domestic abuse, or rape. But certainly He would not have condoned such behavior.

Jesus endorsed heterosexuality in that he quoted Moses -- 'a Man shall leave his father and mother and ....the two shall become one flesh.' If homosexuality was equal to heterosexuality, Jesus missed the best opportunity to declare that in the biblical record.

Next, the 'Jesus never said' argument implies that only what Jesus is recorded to have said is true. The implication is that only what the Bible records Jesus to have said is valid; those of you with a red letter edition get your scissors. Ninety-nine percent of the Bible belongs on the editing room floor.

When Readers Digest published its Reader's Digest Bible in 1982, not only did it produce a theological feud, it was a commercial flop! The 'gay' argument implies that much of what God the Holy Spirit has inspired is untrustworthy.

The next time you hear someone regurgitate that bromide, politely correct them. Then immediately present the gospel with these words, "Something the Bible does record Jesus to have said was 'you must be born again.'"