If a man feels honestly compelled to describe himself as a homosexual Christian, and the description is accurate, we heartily commend his honesty and desire to help him overcome this sin, but he is not qualified to hold office in the Presbyterian Church in America. If, however, homosexual lust no longer dominates a man, he should gladly drop the shameful description and hate such a perverse label.

Some ordained officers in the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA) are publicly describing themselves as “gay Christians.” Is this acceptable? Should men who describe themselves as homosexuals hold office in the church? The answer is no, for the following reasons.

1. If the word ‘homosexual’ accurately describes a man, then he is not qualified for church office.
2. Homosexual sin is biblically akin to bestiality and incest.
3. If officers identify as homosexuals, then homosexual perversity will be further normalized in the PCA.

If the word ‘homosexual’ accurately describes a man, then he is not qualified for church office

Currently, all officers in the PCA publicly confess that homosexual acts are sinful, and the Scriptures clearly support this understanding. Leviticus 20:13 says, “If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them.”

God’s Word not only condemns homosexual acts but also condemns the desire for such acts. Romans 1:26-27 says, “For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.”

The desire for homosexual sex is a manifestation of an unnatural and vile passion, and if these perverse sexual desires characterize a man to such an extent that he thinks he should publicly identify with them, then he is not fit to hold office in the church.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10 says, “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.”

If a man can be accurately described as a fornicator, idolater, adulterer, homosexual, etc., then he will not inherit the kingdom of God. If this is the case, then he obviously is not fit for office in Christ’s church.

One might object, “The homosexual Christian no longer practices these sins!” If so, then calling himself a “homosexual” is inaccurate and even insulting. If they say this description is justified because a desire for perverse sex still characterizes him, then this dominant lust would disqualify him for office, too. If perverse sexual desires characterize a man and the description of “homosexual” is accurate, then he should not hold office in the church. If, however, a man sometimes struggles with a sinful desire, which is not characteristic of his life, then it is wrong and even insulting to make that sin his self-description.

If a man who is an adulterer trusts in Christ and stops committing adultery, he should not describe himself as an adulterous Christian.” If the term adulterer still accurately describes the daily ongoing dominance of this lust, so that it honesty compels him to identify as an “adulterous Christian,” then he is not qualified for office. If, however, he sometimes struggles with lust for women who are not his wife, but it does not characterize him and he mortifies these lusts, then the description of “adulterous Christian” is no longer accurate and to call him such is an insult.

So, if a man feels honestly compelled to describe himself as a homosexual Christian, and the description is accurate, we heartily commend his honesty and desire to help him overcome this sin, but he is not qualified to hold office in the Presbyterian Church in America. If, however, homosexual lust no longer dominates a man, he should gladly drop the shameful description and hate such a perverse label.

And that brings us to a very important point that is lost on many who have been seduced by the LGBTQ+ juggernaut that has swept the nation: Homosexual desire is a shameful sexual perversion.

Homosexual sin is biblically akin to Bestiality and Incest

Leviticus 20:12-15 says, “If a man lies with his daughter-in-law, both of them shall surely be put to death. They have committed perversion. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man lies with a male as he lies with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination. They shall surely be put to death. Their blood shall be upon them. If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is wickedness. They shall be burned with fire, both he and they, that there may be no wickedness among you. If a man mates with an animal, he shall surely be put to death, and you shall kill the animal.”

In this passage where God condemns homosexuality, note the two other sexual sins that are akin to it: bestiality and incest. Some people in the world have bestial or incestuous sexual attractions. They may even have had these attractions from an early age. According to the new philosophy infiltrating the PCA, the man who experiences such sinful sexual attractions should be encouraged (or at least permitted) to describe himself by that attraction. If this is true, then a Christian should be permitted the self-description of “Incestuously Attracted Christian” or “Bestially Attracted Christian.” Currently, I know of no officer in the PCA who thinks officers should be permitted to use either of these self-descriptions.

This raises an important question. Why is it acceptable for an ordained officer to describe himself as homosexual, but not acceptable to describe himself as “beasto-sexual” or “incestuo-sexual”? The answer lies in a 40-year long publicity campaign that has successfully normalized homosexuality in American culture. Sadly, this campaign to normalize homosexual perversion has influenced some PCA officers and members, who now believe officers should be permitted to describe themselves as homosexuals. If these men have their way, they will win a great victory for the homosexual movement and further corrupt Christ’s church.

If officers identify as homosexuals, then homosexual perversity will be further normalized in the PCA

The most obvious thing about homosexuality is that it is all about perverse sexual desires and acts. In order to normalize homosexuality, homosexual activists have long recognized the necessity of downplaying the perversity of what homosexual men want to do to one another.

Two homosexual activists named Marshall Kirk and Hunter Madsen openly acknowledged this strategy in their 1987 article, The Overhauling of Straight America, in which they state: “At least in the beginning, we are seeking public desensitization and nothing more… As far as desensitization is concerned, the medium is the message—of normalcy… In the early stages of any campaign to reach straight America, the masses should not be shocked and repelled by premature exposure to homosexual behavior itself. Instead, the imagery of sex should be downplayed and gay rights should be reduced to an abstract social question as much as possible. First let the camel get his nose inside the tent–only later his unsightly derriere!”

The first two points of this essay have been attempts to uncover the “unsightly derriere” of homosexuality and awaken God’s people to the perversity of homosexual sin. I fear that some in the PCA have been seduced by the propaganda of homosexual activists. They think homosexuality is about civil rights for oppressed sexual minorities, or simply a different way of looking at the world—maybe an appreciation of masculine beauty and aesthetics or a desire for male friendship. That is not what it is about. Homosexuality is about a vile and shameful desire to have sex with someone of the same sex. This desire is biblically akin to incestuous and bestial sexual desires. This is the unsightly derriere of the homosexual camel.

If officers in the PCA are permitted to identify as homosexuals it will have the effect of “Overhauling the Straight PCA.” God’s people will be further desensitized to sexual perversity and the enemies of God will gain another foothold in the church of Christ.

Therefore, the addition of 7-4 to the Book of Church Order is needed to make clear to the church that: “Men who describe themselves as homosexual, even those who describe themselves as homosexual and claim to practice celibacy by refraining from homosexual conduct, are disqualified from holding office in the Presbyterian Church in America.”

Steven Warhurst is a Minister in the Presbyterian Church in America and is pastor of Westminster PCA in Kingsport, Tenn.