My wife and I drove by a church near us which had a sign out front. "We are an affirming church." Now, that seems like a strange advertisement. Affirming what? Well, it's not hazy. The notion is well-known in the proper circles. An "affirming church" is a church that has rejected biblical commands and descriptions for things like marriage (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:5-6; Eph 5:31-32) or sexual immorality (Lev 18:22; Rom 1:26-27; 1 Cor 6:9-10; 1 Tim 1:10; Jude 1:7) or gender identity (Gen 1:27). These churches have decided that they have new information from the lips of God that He only made clear in the 21st century because every follower of Christ from the days of Jesus until the 20th century understood that Scripture was undeniably clear on marriage and homosexual behavior and gender identity. So, with this new-found clarity, they affirm same-sex marriage and "loving same-sex sexual relationships" and gender fluidity. These churches specifically do not simply encourage all people, LGBT or not, to come because they need Jesus ... like all people. No, they affirm the sexual sin as not sin.
Here's the problem. The way to get to "affirming church" status is to jettison, not embrace, Scripture. And this is a serious problem. Note, for instance, that Jesus referred to marriage as being between a man and a woman (Matt 19:4-6), but these folks are denying it. Can you call it "Christian" if Christ is denied? Can you call it God's church if God's Word is denied? Can believers simply affirm whatever they wish? If they embrace the gospel but reject the source of the gospel and, therefore, the parameters the source places on the gospel, can it be said they embrace the gospel? Look, the "good news" is not simply whatever "good news" you want it to be. It has to be something specific, and "we affirm everyone" is not there. Remember, it was Christ who said, "I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness" (Matt 7:23). Not all that all-inclusive or all-affirming, was He?
Interestingly, affirming churches don't affirm everything. In their haste to be inclusive and diverse, they necessarily exclude those who ... are not inclusive and diverse. If you attend such a church and wish to be biblical in your beliefs and interactions, you will not be welcome. They are affirming for those who are outside of biblical Christianity, but not so much for those who aim for actual biblical Christianity.
3 comments:
We are in need of another great Reformation. Just like in Luther's time, the congregations have not learned how to read their Bibles and are simply dependant on the voice of their pastor, and have now lost sight of the Gospel. The Roman Church bemoans the division that the Reformation created, but I think it is worth it if it brings back biblical thinking in a personal level and brings the Gospel back to the church.
David,
You're not wrong at all. Especially in this time of the celebrity pastor culture we definitely see people who uncritically follow the flavor of the month wherever they lead.
I affirm what you wrote here today, Stan. It is very sad to see such “churches” pop up all over. It is a case of “the blind leading the blind,” for sure. The only thing they are affirming is that they are willing to make a minority of people in our culture feel accepted at the expense of the others who might truly wish to know God--and leading all of them further along to a very tragic afterlife. (I would suggest to them that they add a banner under their rainbow one that reads, “We tickle ears here,” but they wouldn’t understand the reference, to their shame.)
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