Heterosexuality is not the cure!  Christ’s love and love for Christ is the cure.  This is not merely Christians’ wishful thinking.  Is it not possible for a believer to be a new creation in Christ?  Is it not possible for us to say to fornicators, adulterers, idolaters, homosexuals, and sodomites: “of such were some of you” But you were washed, sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God? (1 Cor 6:9-11).

Within the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), debate and controversy has troubled the church resulting in votes on Book of Church Order (BCO) amendments primarily, although not exclusively, on the question of church officers identifying as a “Side B gay Christians.”

The origins of this identification are unclear but by some accounts comes from the Gay Christian Network which attempts to walk a fine line between professing gay Christians who do not see their sexuality as sinful as “Side A,” and those who by contrast see their desire as sinful and therefore seek to control their desires in celibacy as “Side B.”  At best, this identity is confusing even for those professing it.  The advantage is that “Side B gay Christians” identify with both the gay community and the Christian community. The motivation for some, as expressed by Greg Johnson, is this allows for care over those who are gay.

This raises many questions that are generally not the focus of the discussion and debate.  By not addressing the core questions, the presbytery votes on the BCO amendments presented larger questions that continue to loom on the horizon that threaten the peace of the church.

Why is this precise definition of “Side B gay Christians” so important?  As explained by its proponents, it is an attempt to provide a compromise between the objective of attempts at “conversion therapy” of gays to become “ex-gay,” and those who struggle with same-sex attraction and consider their being gay as unchangeable, yet believe they are forgiven in Christ.  “Side B gay Christians” identify with both communities as a result.

As Christian leaders, teaching and ruling elders are charged with protecting the “peace and purity” of the church, is it Christ-honoring to officially have church officers living with such a compromised identity straddling two communities as distinct from one another as the church of Christ and the gay community?

At what point are we as Christ’s church ignoring the admonitions to: “avoid foolish disputes, genealogies, contentions, and strivings about the law; for they are unprofitable and useless” (Titus 3:9); and “But avoid foolish and ignorant disputes, knowing that they generate strife (2 Timothy 1:23)?”

This whole question has resulted in strivings about interpreting God’s law that has resulted in strife and division threatening the unity of Christ’s church.  At best, the use of the term “Side B gay Christians” is defined by psychology and cannot be explained definitively from God’s Word.  The term “gay” only became popular since the 1960s where the term sodomite was not comfortable to be used to identify oneself.  Yet biblically, the practices of gays are defined as sodomy.

Why is there the need to defend the “Side B gay Christian’s” identity? Such a designation calls into question the possibility of what Thomas Chalmers called the “expulsive power of a new affection.”  The most effective way to kill our sin is by finding greater joy in Christ.  Do “Side B gay Christian” advocates not have any hope in that reality?  Christians need to repent of the practice of “conversion therapy” as the cure for same-sex desires; Christ is the only hope.  To withhold the hope of the joy and delight that Christ changes one’s desires, is a great sin in and of itself.

Heterosexuality is not the cure!  Christ’s love and love for Christ is the cure.  This is not merely Christians’ wishful thinking.  Is it not possible for a believer to be a new creation in Christ?  Is it not possible for us to say to fornicators, adulterers, idolaters, homosexuals, and sodomites: “of such were some of you” But you were washed, sanctified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of God? (1 Cor 6:9-11).

Why does TE Greg Johnson thrust these discussions on us?  He should back away from writing books such as Still Time to Care, in which he alleges that those who disagree with him do not care about homosexuals.  Why does the church need to affirm his questionable definitions?  Is he so self-righteous in his care for gays that he judges others and finds them not as caring?  Can he not receive correction and trust Christ as his defense?  The warning of Titus 3:10-11 is sobering.

It is also sobering to read Proverbs 6:16-19.  Is Greg Johnson sowing discord among his brethren?  I do not presume to know.  Yet I sense that we as a church of Jesus Christ are being asked to affirm his identity and beliefs.

May God restore the peace and purity of His church with in the PCA.  We need to pray more diligently for this to be so.

Dr. Douglas Kittredge is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is pastor emeritus of New Life in Christ PCA in Fredericksburg, Va.