The issue the EPC faces is no minor tweak to The Westminster Confession of Faith, its Book of Order or The Essentials of Our Faith.  It’s a major decision and potential radical departure from divine revelation.  As such, it must be recognized for what it is: Spiritual Warfare.  That’s not a popular term, but it’s a reality from the beginning of time.

As the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) draws nearer to a decision on whether to ordain same-sex sexually attracted candidates and receiving self-identified “gay” or “same-sex attracted” pastors, there is a need to clearly identify the issue.  Please note first, however, that I used the term same-sex sexually attracted as opposed to same-sex attracted.  Why?  The attraction is basically sexual, and that is a more honest euphemism.  People are attracted to others of the same sex as friends and relatives, but it is not sexually.

It’s time for the EPC and any other churches dealing with the ordination and receiving of men or women whose attraction is sexual in nature to establish a rule for their debates and discussions of the issue.  The euphemisms, “gay,” “same-sex attracted,” and “latent propensity” are purposely intended to detract from the heinousness and seriousness of the sin God hates.  Remember the definition of “euphemism”: “the substitution of an agreeable or inoffensive word or expression for one that is harsh, indelicate, or otherwise unpleasant or taboo.”

Those who are for ordaining and receiving such candidates will definitely refer to one of these terms—most probably “same-sex attracted.”  It softens the sin and evokes empathy or sympathy for those involved.  However, it fails to deal with the biblical treatment of the sin.  God’s divine revelation does not make fuzzy or soften in any way that sin, nor any sin.  It creates an uneven footing for debate and discussion. Church leaders, as shepherds and under shepherds, have a responsibility to treat all issues from a biblical position, not a cultural acclimatization.  “Cultural” comes from the world and perhaps from someone, remembering the world, the flesh and the devil.  The issue relates solely and biblically to “homosexuality.”  Both the actions and desires or passions relate directly and distinctly to unnatural and wicked sexuality.

Therefore, euphemisms should be barred from debates and discussions, and the terms “homosexual” and “homosexuality” be used, as they factually convey the sin in practice and passions.  Thus, the pros and cons will be on a level field when relating to the Scriptural definition and description of the core sin.  Linguistic twists should be resisted being recognized from whom and from where they come—neither heaven nor the Word of God. They come from Christianity’s primary enemies, that is, the world, the flesh, and the devil.

As one who had to learn two foreign languages, French and Arabic, I can’t escape the role of linguistics and the power of words that play a major role in this debate and potential accommodation to a departure from millennial Christian orthodoxy.

The issue the EPC faces is no minor tweak to The Westminster Confession of Faith, its Book of Order or The Essentials of Our Faith.  It’s a major decision and potential radical departure from divine revelation.  As such, it must be recognized for what it is: Spiritual Warfare.  That’s not a popular term, but it’s a reality from the beginning of time.  So many churches and denominations have caved into the sly and subtle linguistic lures Satan has always used to question God’s commands and principles.  This is just one of many.  This is no time to be fooled, as the evidence produced by those churches and denominations who have already fallen under its lure is very clear.

Remain firm and faithful to the Word of God by resisting the linguistic lure of euphemisms that create a sympathetic and positive perception of sexual immorality that God has soundly condemned in both Testaments.

“God forbid: yea, let God be true, but every man a liar.” (Romans 3: 4)

Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.