Julie Rodgers is a prominent voice within the "gay and celibate and Christian" movement. Last year she was hired by the Chaplain's Office at Wheaton College to minister to students who proclaimed their gayness with pride. Yesterday on her blog, Rodgers admitted she wasn't completely sold on her efforts to promote gay Christian celibacy (she has also resigned from her position at Wheaton):
Though I’ve been slow to admit it to myself, I’ve quietly supported same-sex relationships for a while now.
And,
While I struggle to understand how to apply Scripture to the marriage debate today (just like we all struggle to know how to interpret Scripture on countless controversial topics), I’ve become increasingly troubled by the unintended consequences of messages that insist all LGBT people commit to lifelong celibacy. No matter how graciously it’s framed, that message tends to contribute to feelings of shame and alienation for gay Christians. It leaves folks feeling like love and acceptance are contingent upon them not-gay-marrying and not-falling-in-gay-love. When that’s the case—when communion is contingent upon gays holding very narrow beliefs and making extraordinary sacrifices to live up to a standard that demands everything from an individual with little help from the community—it’s hard to believe our bodies might be an occasion for joy. It’s hard to believe we’re actually wanted in our churches. It’s hard to believe the God who loves us actually likes us.
There is much that could be said about her blog post, but we'll leave that for another day. What is important to note now...
...is the failure of Wheaton and other institutions and churches to love those people under their care who are tempted by homosexual sin. I shouldn't have to say this but in an antinomian age it must be said: By "loving" I mean calling sinners to repentance. Not only have these institutions accepted the godless notion that sinful attractions aren't sinful, but, because of such views, they've turned over the shepherding of the souls under their watch to men and women who are spiritually destructive. In coming years we will hear more voices within once conservative denominations like the PCA celebrating the placement of "gay and celibate Christians" on universities as campus ministers and in churches as youth directors and pastors. This move will be the last exasperated effort of those who go on to embrace fully homosex and homosexual coupling (This PCA church in Portland is showing the way). Those of us who have responsibility for the flock in the local church and who also share the responsibility of examining men for ordination by presbyteries must protect the purity of the Bride and resist such moves.
Julie Rodgers and her honest admission should be a cautionary tale. She shows us that those who are unwilling to accept Scripture's condemnation of homosexual attraction will end up affirming homosexuality all the way. A gospel that forbids repentance for particular fashionable sins is no gospel at all and those who espouse such a false gospel will lead our children astray.
Andrew Dionne is the pastor of Trinity Presbyterian Church (PCA) in Spartanburg, SC. He and his wife Sarah have six children. Read more from Andrew here.
