The PCA has been presented with changes to our Book of Church Order that would disqualify men from serving as officers in the church if they identify as gay or same sex attracted, or if they are publicly known to be gay or same sex attracted. I think that this is the opposite of what is best for the church today. I will give a number of reasons in following posts, but here I would like to articulate what I think would be best for the PCA and for all churches that love Jesus and are committed to follow the Bible's prohibitions of all sex outside of a man + woman marriage.
I would like to see churches full of men and women who have honored Jesus as Lord and are obeying Him with their sexual desires. I would like to see churches full of men and woman who limit their sexual behavior because they decide to love Jesus more than they love the pleasures of sex. I would love to see gay and straight single people abstaining from sexual activity entirely because they have committed their lives to obey the God who became man and lived a celibate life of enormous sacrifice. I would love to see married people in man + woman marriages abstaining from all forms of sexual activity outside of their own marriages because they have been faithfully loved by the God who became man and gave His life in sacrificial love for His church.
In our day, this is a big ask. It is difficult for all singles--gay and straight--to follow Jesus and the Bible's teachings on sexuality and sexual activity. It's also difficult for all married people to do the same--to keep unstained by the sexualized culture that surrounds us. As we begin to describe what we want for our non-straight family members, and what we want to invite our non-straight neighbors into, it's really important that we acknowledge how widespread straight sexual sin is in our world, and often in the church. It is really easy for straight people to pontificate on these matters in ways that feel hypocritical, because very often the church does not police is straight members with even 10% of the intensity that it policies non-straight people.
I have had countless conversations with non-straight people. Many who love Jesus, many who don't. I have had the joy of watching non-straight people come to our church and experience Jesus and the gospel and their lives have changed as they've been brought into community. But then, when the subject of homosexuality comes up, they have walked away. It breaks my heart.
The biggest apologetic that I know of today is being able to point non-straight people to other non-straight people who are following Jesus and have made Him Lord over their sexuality. The testimony of someone who understands the sacrifice required and is making the sacrifice is enormously helpful.
I would like to see churches full of people who identify as gay as an honest expression of the nature of the temptations they experience. I would like their testimony that yes, this is how they find themselves attracted, but they are committed to obeying Jesus instead of those attractions. I believe that these people, and their honesty, are an incredible source of hope for our non-straight neighbors, who would be encouraged to say, "Jesus isn't crazy. This is possible. Knowing these people shows me proof of this." Non-straight believers would also be an incredible source of joy and strength for our non-straight brothers and sisters in the church, who would be encouraged to say, "I'm not alone here. Maybe I can be more open about my own struggles with sexual sin and find deeper community and experience of the gospel in being known."
I would also like to see churches full of people who experience homosexual desires and temptations, but who do not identify as gay because for them sexuality is not (maybe is no longer?) a very important part of their identity. These are people who may continue to experience homosexual desires and temptations, but do not feel dominated by those desires and temptations to the point where they are important for that person to bring up.
I would like to see churches full of these two kinds of Christians. I think that both of them are supernatural examples of God's grace and strength, and of the power of the gospel to believe and to live a life of sacrificial denial. I think that anyone today who isn't straight, but commits to Jesus and submits their sexuality to His lordship in obedience is a superhero that should be celebrated as the gospel miracle that he or she is.
I believe that one of the most powerful ways that we can reach more of our non-straight neighbors is by honoring and celebrating our non-straight pastors, elders, and deacons. These are men who have sacrificed an enormous part of their feelings and desires. They are denying themselves something that no one today except for Jesus is calling for. If they choose to be publicly known as gay, then we should be thankful that their presence will encourage many of our non-straight neighbors that there is hope for them. Their presence will also encourage many of our straight brothers and sisters that our non-straight neighbors have a place of hope in our church, so they can more easily be invited. Instead of removing these men from office, I believe we should honor them and be excited that in them we have God's miraculous, gracious proof that there is something better than what the world is offering.
For those non-straight men who are officers and who are not publicly known as gay, we should be thankful for them as well, because there are also many non-straight men and women who want to leave their gay identities behind, as part of their pre-Christian lives. The better we are able to honor those whose sexuality is known, the better we'll ensure that we provide safe harbor for those who aren't known--so they'll be sure that they have a place to go and are not isolated if they struggle.
To remove officers from the church for being honest about this area of their lives I believe creates a culture where at least this one kind of struggle is not allowed. That forces people back into the closet and hurts our ability to be an open door to the world that we are trying to reach.
Here are my posts that go further into the reasons to vote no on the PCA Overtures:
A Vision
Reason #1
Reason #2
Reason #3
Reason #4
Reason #5
Reason #6
Reason #7
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