It’s incomprehensible that any shepherd of God would identify himself by or with sexual immorality.  Claiming to be abstinent is not an issue.  Abstinence does not change the heart. Many single, widowed, or divorced Christian men and women are abstinent without identifying with their desires, lusts, or temptations. 

For several years, multiple Reformed churches and denominations, including the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC), have dealt with the issue of whether to allow gay pastors.  What does it take to acknowledge God’s divine revelation has already dealt with the issue of gay Christianity?  Have we forgotten history’s testimony that homosexuality was one of paganism’s most licentious sins? It is doubtful time-consuming debates or discussions would even be necessary if it were not for a euphemism.  The word “gay” is benign and inoffensive. Yet when used to modify the words “Christian” or “Christianity,” it is a camouflaged lie from the pit of hell.  Behind the benign word are the real words, i.e., “homosexual,” “sodomite.”  It’s time to remember Romans 3: 4, “. . . let God be found true, though every man be found a liar. . .” This is a reminder that God is the ultimate authority and truth, and that human beings are fallible and prone to error.

In beginning to address the issue of receiving gay pastors, what is written may sound harsh; but of all sexual immoralities and sins, God uses the harshest words in Scripture to define and describe His holy anger against homosexual sin—such words as abomination, unnatural, indecent acts (Leviticus 18: 22, Romans 1: 26, 27) Not only does He condemn the acts, but also the desires, e.g., “degrading passions . . . burned in their desire toward one another . . .” 

In Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians, the Holy Spirit reveals this: “Or 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 effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor . . . will inherit the kingdom of God.”  (1 Corinthians 6: 9-10)

It’s incomprehensible that any shepherd of God would identify himself by or with sexual immorality.  Claiming to be abstinent is not an issue.  Abstinence does not change the heart. Many single, widowed, or divorced Christian men and women are abstinent without identifying with their desires, lusts, or temptations.  It is equally unbiblical to claim minority status in the church, as she is an institution composed of a majority—a majority of all sinners saved by the grace of God through the atonement through His Son, Jesus Christ.  She is the body and bride of Christ that demands chaste faith and practice. All believers are on an equal basis in the church.

When a pastor claims and identifies with a sinful desire, lust, propensity, or temptation, what is he basically communicating to a congregation?  Several undesirable traits become apparent:

• Foremost, his view of a most high holy God is seriously lacking.
• He fails to recognize or understand God’s holy wrath against both passions and acts, or he chooses to reject God’s revealed wrath.
• He minimizes the gravity of sinful desires, lusts, or temptations, which God clearly revealed as requiring repentance.
• He conveys pride of his sexual impulse dilemma—as opposed to unrest by embracing the world’s perspective rather than the Biblical precept and tenet.
• He fails to suffer shame with sinful desires, lusts, or temptations by exuding comfort expressed unabashedly openly and publicly.
• He intentionally or unintentionally aligns himself with a notorious group known to be among the most sexually promiscuous.
• He brings and encourages unbiblical division of people groups into the church based solely on sexuality.
• Though claiming to be abstinent while self-identifying as homosexual, he positions himself with the unrighteous.
• He models acceptance of a sinful lifestyle that will immeasurably harm young or new Christians by planting seeds of confusion relative to sanctification.

These are not specific to any one pastor, but rather general of any. These are just some traits that deserve attention.  There are others. Why would a shepherd of one of God’s flocks intentionally and purposely identify himself as homosexual?  (Let’s drop the euphemism.)

Over two millennia of church history and no evidence that any Christian, much less any pastor, ever identified one’s position in Christ with a besetting sin—particularly a sexual sin.  It’s unfathomable that this is occurring at this late stage of history.  It’s scandalous, particularly for those who proudly claim sola scriptura (Scripture alone).  The only explanation for this is addressed in II Corinthians 11: 14,15: “No wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.  Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness….”

Biblical truth is frequently harsh—harsh because the consequences are dire for all involved.  Yet truth must always be balanced with love.  So, where is love in this; how does it reveal itself?  Foremost, church leaders are responsible to protect the church and the flock from error.  Their first responsibility is to love and obey our most holy, righteous God. Secondly, they are to love the flock, the body and bride of Christ. Thirdly, they will lovingly seek to bring a self-proclaimed gay pastor to repentance out of deep care for his soul. When it comes to sinful desires, passions, or propensities, we all, in sincere humility and shame, must repent. This is common to all sin.

Evangelical Presbyterian Church shepherds and elders, choose God’s clear, direct, simple divine revelation. Resist the world, the flesh, and the devil.

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.