Rescue the Perishing has long seen the threat to Christian civilization posed by the sexual revolution as being much greater within the Christian churches than from unbelievers. The silence, acquiescence, apathy and finally capitulation, has occurred in about one generation. The power of the Gospel and our Lord’s Law-Word was taken off the table and replaced with fear and/or deceptive sophism’s.
In the homosexual realm we once confronted the fundamental lie of “sexual orientation” being advocated on the “Christian” campus of Central College, Pella, Iowa in the Spring of 2003. We distributed this attached flier all over Pella.
A few years later a public television crew from New York City (WNYC) came to Ocheyedan to film my objections to a Lutheran girl setting up a homosexual GLSEN club at M-OC Floyd Valley High School in Orange City, IA. (They nearly pleaded to interview me when after they spent two days of contacting over 40 pastors in the Sioux County, Iowa area and couldn’t find one willing to go on camera and challenge this high school girl’s public rebellion.)
Their question of me was, ‘How should Christians treat someone in the Church who has been born with a homosexual orientation but has not acted on it; that is, had not engaged in a homosexual act‘ (which was this girl’s claim). My response had the audio/video crew members sporting the “we’ve been had” grin by the time I was done. To my knowledge, my interview was never broadcast. Below is a close summary of what I said on camera. (Their question, BTW, was an accurate repeat of the sinful doctrine held by the Christian Reformed Church denomination.)
MY RESPONSE:
What if I could convince the Rockefeller, Robert Woods Johnson and the Packard foundations, who’ve been well known to fund research on sexual anarchy, to donate up to $750 million to the top five research universities and medical schools in North America and Europe, telling them to look for a genetic DNA code that proves some people are born with an orientation to steal their way through life? And, also, look for another genetic code demonstrating that others are born with an orientation NOT to be sexually faithful to their spouse? What if they told these universities and medical schools that they would start with provisional allocations of the money and based on their reports of “promising” research data, more millions of pledged dollars would be freed up to continue their research. No one would be surprised to see these institutions responded by hiring researchers, PhD’s, and lab technicians; then open new labs and go to work doing self-proclaimed objective research.
Who’d be surprised to learn after a few years the research did “look promising” and as a result, millions more dollars came to each university? After 5 to 7 years of this process who would be surprised to see the research directors of these top universities stand with the Executive Directors of these foundations at the National Press Club announcing major scientific ‘breakthroughs’?
Like the following, “We can now prove with scientific certainty that some people have been conceived with a deterministic orientation to commit adultery and others to steal. The research data proves it,” they would sanctimoniously announce.
The response? There’s a big PR hoopla. “Now the problem with stealing and crime is understood! Now the problem with divorce and societal family breakdown has a scientific explanation to it!”
Soon the media and cultural tools are unleashed. This new “science” is showing up in Hollywood scripts, day-time talk shows, videos, songs, etc. The publishing industry gets millions and soon biology textbooks for high schools and universities now report this “scientific evidence” as fact. Soon schools are teaching this new science and people with these new-found genetic orientations are coming around to speak to student assemblies sharing their struggles with such. A full-blown propaganda system has been executed for a few years when suddenly, a few members in your church now conclude that this is their deterministic biological orientation.
How are the rest of us in the church to know such fellow members have been born with this orientation? Easily. They are telling their fellow member that this new scientific “fact” applies to them. And they are asking for our love, prayers, kindness and sacrificial compassion.
Now consider these incidents in my church.
What if after worship one Sunday Pieter came up to Rod and said, “Rod you know I have not done well in life. It’s because I was born with a genetic orientation to steal my way through life, and not work. Would you pray for me brother? Your $70,000 pickup is the best looking set of wheels in the church parking lot. My orientation is to come out late some night to your garage and steal your pickup. I know that would be sin and I can’t do that, but please pray for me, because I’m really tempted and struggling with my genetic orientation to steal.”
Or how about when Helen approached Gertrude and said, “Gertie I need your prayers. You know God made me with a genetic orientation not to be faithful to my Herman. Your Leo is the best looking man in church and I’m really tempted to seduce him some night and sleep with him. Now I know it would be sin to do this, but I need your prayers and compassion so I don’t act on my genetic orientation to commit adultery.”
When the redeemed sinner struggles with lustful thoughts and desires, both material and sexual, and doesn’t act on them in any fashion – then the limit of his/her sin is between them and God. They need to repent of these thoughts, seek a closer walk and dependence on Christ through reading His Word, prayer, right worship, service to the needy and striving to obey His law in all areas of his/her life. If they have not sinned against a brother or sister in Christ (or any others), yet continue to struggle with temptation, he/she must go to their pastor or elders and their spouse (if any), and quietly share their struggles and ask for prayer and spiritual guidance.
But for some reason the person in the Church struggling with the sin of his/her desire to engage in sodomy gets to transform the name from “lust” to “orientation”, go around the church advertising it and asking for everyone to support and love him/her. If the potential thief or adulterer tried this he/she would be firmly advised to stop and come talk to Pastor for counsel the first time. The second time they employed such “coarse talk” (Eph. 5:4) they’d be sternly rebuked and the third time they’d be shown the door as a trouble-maker.
But somehow the rules are different for those with homosexual thoughts/lusts in the Church? I’m not buying it. Homosexuals need to repent of their sinful thoughts and turn to Christ like the rest of us redeemed sinners.
END OF RESPONSE