[Faith-talk] Why the Rejection of the Nashville Statement on Sexuality Is a Rejection of the Bible

[David Moore]

Why the Rejection of the Nashville Statement on Sexuality Is a Rejection of
the Bible

Michael Brown

Posted: Sep 02, 2017

If a group of astronomers issued a major document stating that the Earth
revolves around the sun and the moon revolves around the Earth, it would be
greeted with a shrug of the shoulders. Who didn?t know that? Why, then, has
a recent statement by Christian leaders affirming the basics of biblical
sexuality been greeted with such protest from other professing Christian
leaders? It is because these other ?Christian? leaders have rejected the
authority of the Word of God. 

For those who haven?t read the Nashville Statement, the Babylon Bee, a
Christian satirical website, actually sums things up well, and with some
well-placed sarcasm: ?It says some really controversial stuff for
Bible-believing Christians, like that God made Adam and Eve as (trigger
warning) male and female, that marriage was created by God to be the union
between one man and one woman, that He loves people with gender dysphoria
and same-sex attraction even if He doesn?t approve of all of their actions,
and that He offers His grace and mercy to sinners of all stripes.? 

Yes, just the most basic of the basics, reaffirming what the Church (and
Synagogue) have believed about marriage and sexuality for two millennia and
offering grace and mercy to all. That?s why, when I was asked to be one of
the initial signatories, I signed on without hesitation. What was there to
disagree with? 

Yet in response to the Nashville Statement a headline on the Huffington Post
declared, ?Hundreds Of Christian Leaders Denounce Anti-LGBTQ ?Nashville
Statement.?? The Post called the statement ?divisive and bizarrely-timed,?
noting that it ?drew harsh criticism from many other Christians, members of
the LGBTQ community and even the mayor of Nashville.? 

Need I tell you that this article was penned by Antonia Blumberg for the
Post?s ?Queer Voices? section?  

Of course LGBT activists and their allies will condemn a statement that
reaffirms God?s standards for marriage and sexuality. Why should that
occasion surprise? 

Likewise, a September 1 op-ed piece in the New York Times stated that, ?This
week, an influential group of evangelical Christians publicly doubled down
on intolerance in a message about lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
people that represents a renewed commitment to open bigotry.? 

Yes, ?The Nashville Statement?s harm is more than symbolic. The hateful
beliefs it endorses have real-life, devastating consequences.? 

And who is the author of this article? Eliel Cruz, a self-described ?leading
bisexual activist.? 

Are you seeing a pattern here? 

The problem is not with the Nashville Statement. It is with the Bible, since
the statement only reaffirms what the Bible clearly teaches, namely that: 
1) God made humans male and female; 2) marriage, as intended by God, is the
lifelong union of a man and a woman; 3) homosexual practice is always sinful
in God?s sight; 4) God offers forgiveness for all human beings through the
cross of Jesus; and 5) those who struggle with same-sex attraction or gender
identity confusion can be welcomed into the Body of Christ like any other
struggling individual, as long as they do not celebrate or affirm that which
is wrong. 

And that?s why a counter-statement, called the Nazareth Statement, issued by
LGBT ?Christian? leaders and their allies, affirms all the talking points of
LGBT activism, including: 

? That ?our wide spectrum of unique sexualities and gender identities is a
perfect reflection of the magnitude of God's creative work? and that it is
wrong to limit God?s creative intent ?to a gender binary or that God's
desire for human romantic relationships is only to be expressed in
heterosexual relationships between one man and one woman.?
? That it is wrong to argue that ?God intended human romantic relationships
to be limited to one man and one woman.?
? That it is unhealthy to force ?individuals to embrace a gender identity
that matches the cultural assumptions based on their biology.?
? That one cannot judge Christian orthodoxy based on views about
homosexuality but that is not Christlike to hold to traditional Christian
teaching on homosexuality or to refuse ?to openly dialogue with LGBT+
people.? 

Talk about turning the Bible upside down!  

According to this counter-statement, gender is what you perceive it to be,
your biology doesn?t determine your gender, men can have God-blessed sex
with men and women can have God-blessed sex with women, provided it is
?covenantal,? and it is unchristian to uphold Christian standards of
marriage and sexuality. 

That?s why I say that people who have a problem with the Nashville Statement
have a problem with God and His Word. It's that simple. 

There is, however, one more angle to discuss, and that is the connection to
Donald Trump.  

You might ask, ?What in the world does President Trump have to do with this
statement on sexuality?? 

It appears that some Christian leaders are upset with the statement because
some of the signers endorsed Trump or serve on his advisory faith council,
as if this somehow disqualifies a biblical statement from being biblical.
What kind of logic is this? And what of the fact that other signers were
strong Trump critics? And what of signers like Rosaria Butterfield and
Christopher Yuan, both of whom came out of homosexual practice and are
compassionate gospel witnesses with a non-political message of
reconciliation? 

A misleadingly-headlined articled in the Washington Post reads, ?Why even
conservative evangelicals are unhappy with the anti-LGBT Nashville
Statement.? 

Yes, ??Had white evangelicals leaders ? withheld support for Mr. Trump after
the infamous ?Access Hollywood? tapes, maybe their opposition to same-sex
marriage would be viewed ? as a principled, rather than a bigoted,
position,? said Skye Jethani, a prominent Chicago-area pastor and author.? 

With all respect to Rev. Jethani, virtually every evangelical leader I know
expressed disgust with those tapes, some of those leaders spoke directly to
candidate Trump about them (and in strong terms), and all agreed that this
was an ugly part of his past that he himself regretted.  

And does Rev. Jethani really believe that liberal Christians, LGBT
activists, and the secular media would have greeted our statement on
biblical sexuality any differently today if none of us had voted for Trump?
Does he really think that we were not already mocked and vilified for the
principled, biblical stand we had taken for many years prior to this? 

The Babylon Bee asks the question, ?Who has signed the Nashville Statement??
The answer? ?A whole mob of fringe, hate-filled bigots with zero
credibility, such as John Piper, J.I. Packer, Mark Dever, R.C. Sproul, John
MacArthur, Al Mohler, Russell Moore, Francis Chan, and Matt Chandler. Just
look at that list of theological lightweights?couldn?t they at least have
gotten some people who?ve proven themselves as faithful witnesses of
Christ?? 

In contrast, the Washington Post quoted from almost no nationally recognized
conservative evangelical voices, despite its bold headline. 

The Bee also notes, with full sarcasm, ?That those supporting the Nashville
Statement are not doing so because they believe the Word of God, but because
they are homophobic, neo-nazi white supremacists who worship Donald
Trump?which makes sense, as long as you don?t think about it for longer than
about three seconds.? 

Precisely so. 

I?m all for dialogue with professing LGBT Christians, and I have often
apologized for the church?s past failures in our treatment of those who
identify as LGBT. And I constantly preach on the need for a baptism of love
for those who identify as LGBT. 

But love and truth go hand in hand, which is why the Nashville Statement
should be affirmed by all those who love Jesus, love the Bible, and love the
LGBT community. 


https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2017/09/02/why-the-rejection-of
-the-nashville-statement-on-sexuality-is-a-rejection-of-the-bible-n2376638?u
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