It is absurd how the gospel so easily escapes many religious people and how scripture has become a smorgasbord of choices, some of which is appropriate teaching and some to be avoided since it doesn’t fit the narrative of a social agenda. Progressive Christianity is a case in point, preaching love, tolerance and acceptance of sinners and welcoming LGTBQ members along with their alternative lifestyles in direct contradiction to the Bible.
On Facebook recently, a series of pictures of the Clackamas United Church of Christ’s front sign with woke messages to passers-by that included:
“Our Transgender Siblings Have Heartbeats,””
Kind Atheists Are Closer to Jesus Than Mean Christians,”
“Happy Pride Month. Jesus Had Two Dads We Think That’s Fabulous,”
“Jesus Loves Our Transgender Siblings Be Like Jesus,”
“Just Love People I Will Sort It Out Later – God,”
“Homosexual People Are People of God,”
“Jesus Was A Brown Skinned Refugee.”
Woke pastors, by preaching a gospel of love, but neglecting the gospel of repentance, attempt to make Christ more like sinners than to strive to imitate Christ. Nowhere in the gospel can you find passages encouraging the acceptance of sin. When Christ healed people he told them their sins were forgiven and warned them to “Sin no more.” John 8:3-11 is a great example of how Jesus handled the situation with the woman caught in adultery. When Jesus challenged those gathered to stone her, saying, “Let anyone of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” After they had all left, Jesus asked her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” “No one, sir,” she said. “Then neither do I condemn you. Go now and leave your life of sin.”
When Jesus healed the crippled man in the fifth chapter of John, he later saw him in the temple and said, “See you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse will happen to you.” John 5:14. Repentance and salvation go hand in hand. John the Baptist preached a baptism of repentance (Mark 1:4). Peter wrote, “As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” 1 Peter 1:14-16
What do you think would happen if someone erected a sign across the street of the church mentioned earlier containing Bible scripture? Versus such as:
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter.” Isaiah 5:20
“But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under a curse.” Galatians 1:8,
“Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped created things rather than the Creator – who is forever praised. Amen.” Romans 1:24-25
“No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.” 1 John 3:6.
“Don’t you know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” 1 Corinthians 6:10
“Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord’, will inherit the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Mathew 7:21.
Would their pastor respond with love? The Bible says that God does not change. Jesus does not change, “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed.” Malachi3:6. ”Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” Hebrews 13:8, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.” James 1:17. And one of my favorites, “The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.” Isaiah 40:8.
Jesus had a lot to say to the religious leaders of his day and it wasn’t to flatter them. He issued stern warnings about leading people astray. He also prophesied that in the last days many false teachers would emerge and, deceive even the elect, if that were possible (Mathew 24:24). The apostle Paul wrote, “For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.” 1 Timothy 4:3.
Today we have Joel Osteen and the charismatic life coaches and leaders of the Prosperity Gospel tempting the masses with wealth and health messages that have little resemblance to the true gospel. These gurus of grace have little in common with the disciples of Jesus, living in multi-million dollar mansions, owning private jets and skillful at growing mega churches. How many of their congregants’ feet do you think they have washed?
In my book Seeking Truth, I take a deep dive into what religion is as opposed to the relationship Jesus taught is necessary in order to draw near to our Creator. O challenge you to check your presuppositions at the door and join me in a thought provoking examination of the Christian church and what it is called to be.
Brian Austin
I struggle to know how best to address these issues with Biblical integrity and with love. It’s never an act of love to pretend the Bible does not speak strongly against certain practices. It’s also never an act of love to speak with hatred toward people who are struggling with these issues. Our world has come to identify daring to disagree as disrespect and hatred. I think people spoil a good cup of coffee by putting sugar in it, but nobody has yet labeled me as a coffeefobe because of that, even though I’m fairly outspoken about it. The Bible says a number of things very clearly, yet believing what the Bible says is now being treated as a hate crime.
The church has been hateful at times. I don’t think any of us can avoid that admission. But our failures don’t change what the Bible teaches. Our failures don’t change our calling to love, but to call to repentance as we love. Most of us need a whole lot of help in that regard — and a lot more wisdom than is often shown.
Clinton Bezan
I appreciate your apprehension with this complex issue. As humans we cannot fully comprehend God’s holiness, omniscience, omnipresence, omnipotence and the immeasurable love he has for us. It is simply beyond our capacity to understand because God transcends our finite ability to comprehend an infinite God. Additionally, our efforts to relate to sin are inherently biased since we tend to compare our sin to the sins of others, rather than to God’s holiness. The human error imbedded in the history of the Church further complicates the narrative since we tend to conflate Christian religious dogma with scriptural truths. Jesus himself wrestled with the Pharisees over these same disputes in authority.
As believers, we must focus on imitating Christ. Not following some wealthy, charismatic life coach who leads a mega church or some profoundly philosophical, articulate, eloquent and compelling orator blessed with stage presence but lacking in scriptural truth. Neither Joel Osteen or Jordan Peterson have any power to save souls. The common mistake made in this post-modern age of subjective morality is we tend to debate worldview rather than pivoting and searching for God’s face. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.” Proverbs 9:10.
My book Seeking Truth explores the tension between religion and relationship, and the elasticity surrounding ritual and ceremony versus faith and fellowship. There is so much to say about this topic and it is so imperative that we get this right, yet it is perhaps the most avoided discussion both within and outside of the umbrella of Christianity. Ultimately there is only one authority. God. And he is represented by his word and the testimony of his Son.
Alex Angioli
There are many issues to address, but here are a few. In your article Sin no More, every scripture you quote is from a letter, whether Pauline or otherwise. You give the impression that you quote from Jesus, but you provide nothing from him. What we see is your own version of angry theology.
How do you compare or contrast Joel Osteen or Jordan Peterson? This is mind boggling. Jordan Peterson is an intellectual who is OPPOSED to post-modernism. Have you read anything he has wriitten? Does not sound like it. You also seem to have an oppositional stance against Joel Osteeen. While I have no attraction to mega-church expression of Christianity, I recall many instances of Joel Osteen clearly proclaiming and inviting his listeners to a clear evangelical profession of faith in Christ.
You seem to judge against “subjective morality” – but with little understanding. Is there any experiential morality that is not “subjective”? As a reader of Scripture, or of Plato, you may come across models of morality. They only have an effect on your life when you make them “subjective” – that is incorporate them into your own lived experience of life. To imply that subjectivity makes a principle dubious is unreflective at best of the history of human thought.
Well that is enough for now – you may have some reflexion on these points.
Clinton Bezan
I appreciate your comment however you are in error with your perspective because you downplay the authority of scripture, nor do you know scripture since you inaccurately say that every scripture I quoted was either Pauline epistles or letters and not direct quotes of Jesus or in your words providing nothing from him. Your assumption of angry theology is proof that you neither understand Christ or deny his teaching. There were many things that Jesus preached that offended his audiences and that is what got him crucified. Heave you not read John 6:26-66? “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” John 6:66.
The words of Christ, quoted above from John 8:3-11, John 5:14, Mathew 7:21, or Mathew 24:4 all are concise warnings against being healed or forgiven and continuing a life of sin. These are not my words but the words of Jesus! The letters written by Paul , John, James and Timothy do not in any way contradict the words of Jesus and perfectly harmonize with the Old Testament prophets Malachi and Isaiah. “All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
To cherry pick scripture and only acknowledge passages that don’t offend one’s position while dismissing the ones that do, demonstrates a severe lack of understanding in the holiness of God. God is clear in the book of Deuteronomy what things are detestable to the him. Since God does not change, these same practices are detestable to him still. The scripture above that quotes the words of Jesus, “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will inherit the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.” Mathew 7:21, illustrates that God hasn’t changed his mind regarding sin.
Sin creates a barrier between man and God that can only be overcome by the atonement of Christ on the cross. However if that atonement is taken for granted or rejected outright the barrier still exists and will prevent the sinner from entering heaven. “If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left.” Hebrews 10:26. Jesus loved the sinner but did not in any way condone the sin. The Church as the body of Christ is called to imitate Christ therefore, sin is not welcome in God’s Church. If LGBTQ people repent we must welcome them however, we must not tolerate blatant sin within the congregation of the Church. Church leaders, even more so, must be above reproach in their lifestyle and teaching (1 Timothy 3:2).
In response to your defense of Joel Osteen and Jordan Peterson, neither of these two gentlemen has the truth of God within their understanding since they have both contradicted the Bible and don’t explicitly follow it. They must be rejected as speakers of God’s truth, along with Oprah Winfrey and others who undermine the sovereignty of God by making him out to be less than he has revealed himself to be in the Bible. It doesn’t matter what they are opposed to, in favor of or neutral about, if they contradict the word of God they are liars and unfit to lead in God’s eyes. “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight. As it is written, ‘He catches the wise in their craftiness.” 1 Corinthians 3:19. To worship anything other than God as he revealed himself to be in the Bible or Christ as he claimed he was, is to make him out to be far less than what he is and therefore constitutes idolatry.
As for subjective morality, any morality apart from the objective morality of the Lord our God is immorality. Unless Christians and Christianity can come to terms with this truth, they will not attend the wedding supper of the Lamb. As I quoted Jesus in Mathew 7:21, Not everyone who says to me ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter into the kingdom of God.” There is only one true model of morality. Just as there is only one God, “I, even I, am the LORD, and apart from me there is no savior.” Isaiah 43:11. Apart from the morality of God, there is no morality.