preach the truth

Great response by Denny Burk to more sad advice/teaching by Rachel Held Evans and her ilk ...

1. Pastors do need to beware of “politicizing” the pulpit. Partisan politics should not shape the message of men who are called to preach the gospel. John Piper recently preached a message on gay marriage in which he modeled how to bring the truth to bear on a political issue without being political. Listen here. Rank partisanship is one thing. But bringing the gospel to bear upon fundamental moral questions is another.

2. Faithful pastors are going to preach the whole counsel of God, even when it offends people (2 Tim. 4:2). That means that they will preach what the Bible says about sexual ethics. That message is pretty straightforward. Every sexual act outside of the covenanted union of one man and one woman in marriage is sin. That includes pre-marital sex, adultery, homosexuality, and more. I think Held Evans confuses political preaching with preaching about sexual ethics. Both of them are controversial. The former should be avoided at all costs. The latter must be embraced at all costs.

3. We shouldn’t evaluate Christian sexual ethics on the basis of how much they may or may not “alienate” people. We have to base our beliefs on what scripture teaches, not on what we think people may be offended by. There will always be people who hate the light and who wont’ come to it (John 3:20). We do not turn off the light so that those folks can have room to stretch out. Yet that is exactly what Held Evans wants to do. For her, it’s not only about churches becoming less political. It’s also about churches becoming less clear about the issue homosexuality.