Why the Church of Scotland Decision is so wrong

So the Church of Scotland is continuing its seemingly inexorable march towards affirming gay marriage and, by implication, homosexuality. In this post I do not intend to focus on the homosexuality issue in particular, but to look at the wider errors  and total lack of understanding of the gospel that is demonstrated by the CoS’s move. I am writing this not as a diatribe against the CoS, but so that all of us, myself included, can learn. Furthermore, while the direction of the CoS as a whole is wrong, there are many good people, good ministers and good churches in the CoS. 

I have written elsewhere on the homosexualtiy issue in the light of Romans 1:26,27. If you want to read these you can go to:

Romans 1:26,27(a) - Homosexuality : Biblical and cultural background

Romans 1:26,27(b) - Homosexuality : What the Bible says

Romans 1:26,27(c) - Homosexuality : Some pastoral comments

There are many others who have written much more fully, and more eloquently, than I have. If you want more in depth stuff then look up work by Jame White, Michael Brown or Robert Gagnon. For an excellent, and very readable book, I would recommend Is God AntiGay by Sam Allberry. He is same-sex attracted, but also totally committed to Jesus and to Biblical teaching. You may also find the Living Out web site helpful. David Robertson recently delivered an excellent sermon on Romans 1:24-27.

So what are the fundamentals that I want to look at that are highlighted by the CoS decision? First of all, there are three fundamentals that should govern our lives as individuals and as churches:

Love the Lord your God with all your heart mind and strength (Luke 10:27; Deut 6:5)

Love your neighbour as yourself (Luke 10:27; Lev 19:18)

Fulfill the Great Commission (Matt 28:19,20)

The CofS decision falls down on all three. With regard to the first, God has made it quite clear in His word that homosexual acts are sinful. Indeed, all sex outside marriage is sin, and this includes sex before marriage. So much of the church is deciding putting the teaching of the world above the teaching of the Lord. 

The second is in some ways the most important, and the one that so clearly demonstrates lack of understanding of the gospel. Those who are choosing to adopt the world’s ways on sexuality claim to be having a more loving attitude towards people, so why is this so wrong? Well Jesus tells us that whoever sins is a slave to sin (John 8:34). And Paul tells us that the wages of sin are death (Rom 6:23). All sin is destructive. My sin is destructive to my life, it is destructive to the lives of others. This applies to all sexual sin, whether it be homosexual, heterosexual, pornography, or whatever. This applies to all types of sin, whether it be violence, exploitation of others, greed, hatred etc. The gospel tells us that all of us will one day have to give an account, it tells us that without the forgiveness in Christ we are all destined for hell. It tells us that there is a way of salvation, and that way is through faith and repentance. So where is the love in telling someone to continue along their path of destruction? Especially when we have been shown a very different path, one that is a path of life? Where is the love?

We would do well to remember the words of John in his first letter: “If you love the world, love for the Father is not in you” (1 John 2:15-17)

Now let’s look at the Great Commission (Matt 28:18-20). First, He tells us that all authority has been given to Him. So why should we listen to the world rather than to the Lord of All? Isn’t this a rather foolish thing to do? Many times we see in the Old Testament that Israel or Judah wanted to be like the nations - it never ended well. Then we are told to make disciples of the nations, teaching them to obey everything that Jesus has commanded us. How does teaching the world to continue on its own corrupt way fulfil this? If we look at the New Testament we see that the church did indeed seek to teach people how to live godly lives.

The gospel tells us that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom 3:23). That include me, it includes you, and it includes “them”, whoever “them” may be in any context. It tells us that we all need forgiveness, forgiveness that can only come through the justification of the cross. It tells us that we can be transformed by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives to make us step by step ever more like Christ. 

We can take heart, because the true gospel is the power of salvation. Moreover, the gospel thrives in hostile environments.

So what message should the church be giving? A life changing message or a sin affirming one?