Our identity is in Christ. It’s not in our libido. We should be following our Lord, not our sexual drive, in terms of our definition of what it means to be a human being.
—Everett Piper—
Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality
—Revoice Conference—
Note: We will continue our series on “Equipping Members of the Next Generation of Christians to Defend Their Faith and to Embrace a Biblical Worldview” next time. The timing and urgency of another matter temporarily have pulled me away from that project.
Key point: Even though the Revoice Conference presents itself as compassionate, friendly, helpful, benign, and loving, it is pulling people and the church away from biblical truth and charting a very perilous course.
This week I write about an urgent matter, the Revoice Conference being held at the Memorial Presbyterian Church 
in St. Louis, Missouri this Thursday through Saturday, July 26 through 28, 2018. Memorial Presbyterian is a member of the Presbyterian Church of America, or PCA. The PCA was formed in the 1970s to hold the line against liberal theology. The PCA was
[o]rganized at a constitutional assembly in December 1973…[and] was first known as the National Presbyterian Church but changed its name in 1974 to Presbyterian Church in America (PCA). It separated from the Presbyterian Church in the United States (Southern) in opposition to the long-developing theological liberalism which denied the deity of Jesus Christ and the inerrancy and authority of Scripture.
Alarmingly, the tagline for the Revoice Conference reads as follows:
Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality
Do you see problems with this, right out of the gate? We’ll highlight some of those in just a few moments.
Background Information
We should understand that two schools of thought about homosexuality exist within the “gay Christian” community.
Side A…believes that God blesses same-sex marriages.
Side B…believes that God calls gay Christians to lifelong celibacy.1
To their credit, the leaders and promoters of the Revoice Conference are on “Side B.” Here is a portion of Revoice’s answer to the question, “What does Revoice believe about human sexuality?”
We believe that the Bible restricts sexual activity to the context of a marriage covenant, which is defined in the Bible as the emotional, spiritual, and physical union of a man and a woman that is ordered toward procreation. At the same time, we also believe that the Bible honors those who live out an extended commitment to celibacy, and that unmarried people should play a uniquely valuable role in the lives of local faith communities. Together, these two convictions constitute the “traditional sexual ethic,” because it represents the worldview that the Bible consistently teaches across both the Old and New Testaments and that Christians have historically believed for millennia.
We can be glad for an adherence to the principle of sexuality within man-woman marriage, but this gives way to other things that are quite disturbing. Concern is being expressed within the PCA as well as beyond it, as Revoice has ties to the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) as well. Karen Swallow Prior, a professor at Liberty University and a research fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the SBC, endorsed the conference. She said, “Now more than ever, the church must love and support our Christian brothers and sisters who are same-sex-attracted, yet desire to lead biblically faithful lives, whether in singleness or marriage. I’m encouraged that Revoice is here to meet this great need in the church.”
Meet the Founder of Revoice—And Note How He Describes Himself
Nate Collins, the founder of Revoice, is a writer and speaker for the Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. Collins “has served as an instructor of New Testament Interpretation at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and currently is a partner associate at The Sight Ministry, a Christian organization based in Nashville, Tennessee, that provides resources and support for individuals, families, and churches regarding LGBT issues..…Speaking from his own unique experience as a married, same-sex-attracted/gay man who is a husband, father, and follower of Christ, he is a vocal proponent of extending and receiving community with LGBT individuals both inside and outside the Church.”
What?!? There appears to be no shame or regret in claiming to be, not only gay and Christian, but in remaining gay, even in a heterosexual marriage. I mean no disrespect here, but honest questions arise. Is Collins wearing the description of being gay as a badge of honor? Does he believe being gay and in a heterosexual marriage enhances his ability to minister to others? At the very least, he appears not to see his gay identity as a negative thing. Perhaps we’re supposed to have greater sympathy for him because of the difficulties unique to his situation.
Embracing the Gay Identity
As with its founder, Revoice is big on embracing a gay or homosexual identity and uniting it with a Christian identity. Read again the main promotional statement for Revoice, which refers to “gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians.”
—Revoice Conference—
Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality
Here’s why this is problematic. Once we’ve become believers, our identity is in Christ, and any identity associated with sinful behavior should be rejected. Why? That identity is to be put to death!
Paul wrote in Colossians 3:1-8,
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. 2 Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3 For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4 When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Paul went on to write that because of such attitudes and behavior,
the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Paul also wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17-19,
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.
We don’t see this in the New International Version, but in verse 17, Paul explicitly said “all things have become new” (emphasis added). Not just some things, but all things.
It seems Revoice wants to unite a gay identity and a Christian identity everywhere we look. Greg Coles is the worship leader for the event. Greg is the author of Single, Gay, Christian: A Personal Journey of Faith and Sexual Identity. Even without knowing anything about this book other than its title, we recognize the author’s attempt to unite two starkly different identities. One reviewer showed he understands this just isn’t possible:
The author doesn’t discuss homosexual desires as evil sinful desires rooted in the sin living in us as Romans chapter 7 does. He seems to say he was born this way, didn’t choose it, and therefore people should accept this as his identity. However, I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t expect us to likewise accept of the “orientation” of fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, thieves, covetous, drunkards, revilers, and extortioners which God states in First Corinthians chapter 6 will NOT, along with unrepentant practicing homosexuals, inherit the kingdom of Heaven. God says in His Word that we’re all infected with sin, having inherited the evil spiritual infection of sin from our first fallen sinful parents. Rather than fighting a spiritual battle with the help of God’s Holy Spirit, the author accepts the evil infection and evil sinful desires as his “orientation” and expects his readers and the church to accept it too. The author didn’t seem to understand that homosexual thoughts and desires (his “orientation”) are also shameful and sinful rooted in the sin living in him that need to be fought against.
Stephen Black is executive director of First Stone Ministries, an organization that helps people break free from homosexuality and find Christ. Once gay himself, Black is deeply disturbed about Coles’s book and its impact on individuals and the church. You can read Stephen’s review of Single, Gay, Christian here.
Promoting a Victim Mentality
Revoice also uses terms that promote a victim mentality among same-sex attracted individuals and homosexuals—and that appear to be designed to elicit sympathy and compassion from people in the church. “Sexual minority” is one such term. The workshop titled “Rekindling Hope as a Sexual Minority in the Church” is described as follows (emphasis added):
How can we fight back against the temptation towards despair of being a sexual minority committed to historic Christian teachings on sex? How might we engage our longings as we await our King’s return? Join me [presenter Jeb Ralston] as we consider what it may look like to abound in hope, together.
—Revoice Conference—
Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality
Churches clearly have much to learn about showing compassion and love, including but not limited to the tough love of declaring the truth, to those who identify as gay or LGBT. However, accepting gays and LGBT individuals as a “sexual minority” in the church isn’t helpful, compassionate, or loving. It assumes that LGBT individuals have a legitimate perspective on sexuality when such a perspective—a gay identity—is totally unbiblical for the Christian. And yet, the goal of Revoice is to help “LGBT Christians…flourish” in the church, even as they live by a sexual ethic contrary to an identity they refuse to renounce.
The goal of Revoice is to help “LGBT Christians…flourish” in the church, even as they live by a sexual ethic contrary to an identity they refuse to renounce.
In Hebrews 10:24-25, the inspired writer of the Book of Hebrews declares,
“24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.”
This passage assumes mutual goals and values among church members, as well as a mutual passion for righteous living. These are foundational for church unity.
Insisting on being called a sexual minority in the church promotes division, not unity, among God’s people. The Bible describes God’s gift of sexuality as well as perversions of it, including homosexuality. Christians don’t agree on everything, but they certainly should agree on what the Bible teaches about human sexuality.
Insisting on being called a sexual minority in the church promotes division, not unity, among God’s people.
There’s more. Unity in the church is a testimony to the world. In His high priestly prayer on the evening before He was crucified, Jesus prayed for His immediate followers, and then for those who would come after them.
20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— 23 I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. (John 17:20-23).
Like everyone else, LGBT persons need help finding Christ, and thus freedom from, and forgiveness for, their sins. Then they need help cultivating their identity in Christ and overcoming their homosexuality. Because our culture emphasizes a gay identity so strongly and so thoroughly, Christians with ties to homosexuality may need special encouragement to abandon such an identity. It is not OK to remain a “sexual minority” in the church once a person or group of people confess Christ as Lord. Identifying oneself with sin or with temptations to sin is antithetical to identifying with Christ. Christ cleanses sinners from sin and gives His followers victory to overcome it.
Failing to Reject the Trappings of Sin and Even Upholding them as Valuable
Just when it seems things couldn’t get worse, they do. Here is the description of another Revoice workshop, “Redeeming Queer Culture: An Adventure” (emphasis added).
For the sexual minority seeking to submit his or her life fully to Christ and to the historic Christian sexual ethic, queer culture presents a bit of a dilemma; rather than combing through and analyzing to find which parts are to be rejected, to be redeemed, or to be received with joy (Acts 17:16-34), Christians have often discarded the virtues of queer culture along with the vices, which leaves culturally connected Christian sexual minorities torn between two cultures, two histories, and two communities. So questions that have until now been largely unanswered remain: what does queer culture (and specifically, queer literature and theory) have to offer us who follow Christ? What queer treasure, honor, and glory will be brought into the New Jerusalem at the end of time (Revelation 21:24-26)?
I have an answer to this question. Queer culture has absolutely nothing to offer those who follow Christ—nothing but temptation, darkness, and disruption of fellowship with God. Nothing “queer” will be brought into the New Jerusalem at the end of time, either! Why? Because queer culture stands in defiance of a holy God!
We hasten to add with joy that those who have been a part of the queer culture but have have come to God on His conditions have been redeemed from and out of it! They are trophies of God’s grace and will live forever in heaven; but this is true because they have honored God and yielded to Him. In contrast to the queer culture itself, they no longer are opposing God and living contrary to His purpose and design.
Yet, at Revoice, such a culture apparently is being celebrated. This celebratory attitude is especially evident in the actions of one of the keynote speakers, Eve Tushnet. The Wikipedia article on Tushnet declares she “is a lesbian Catholic author, blogger, and speaker.” Tushnet “stated the following on her Twitter account: ‘What’s better than St. Louis in July? St Louis in July but SUPER GAY.'” On the site Patheos, Ms. Tushnet promoted Revoice by writing, ‘This July, Come to the Big Gay Christian Extravaganza!'”
Ignoring the Power of Christ to Change Lives
Do you want to know how to be a straight ally of LGBT people? Preston Sprinkle, leader of this workshop, will help you:
What does it mean to be a straight ally for gender and sexual minorities? Join speaker, author, and New Testament scholar Preston Sprinkle as he shares about his journey of learning from LGBT people and the way they experience the world around them. Topics covered will include learning how to own the weight of the straight white evangelical tradition and its sins against gender and sexual minorities, how to show genuine compassion to LGBT people, and how to advocate for them so that they are empowered to thrive in their local faith communities.
Rather than advocating for them “so that they are empowered to thrive in their local faith communities,” Christians need to show unconditional love to their LGBT neighbors and friends—and that sometimes will mean letting them know their sins have separated them from a Holy God. The only way to be made right with God is to repent of sin and leave the old life behind. Will there be struggles? Of course! The road will not be easy, but Christ empowers believers to walk away from their pasts and live holy lives.
Even if a formerly gay man or a lesbian follows Christ yet struggles with same-sex attraction the rest of his or her life, it is right and proper for every believer to seek to live, with God’s help, as a heterosexual person. Sexual activity, of course, should remain in the bounds of man-woman marriage; but no Christian ever should see himself or herself confined to a gay identity. Nor should any Christian want to!
Many former LGBT individuals have been released from bondage, and thankfully, an increasing number of them are telling their stories. It is heartbreaking that the leaders and promoters of Revoice aren’t listening to them. People whose ministries highlight this kind of change have been turned away from even attending Revoice!
The Road Ahead
Revoice aims to be a movement, and it very likely will be. Its impact will be forceful and widespread. Mark it down, however! The “Revoice Road” will carry individuals and the church down a dangerous path. As one writer has warned,
This is the way it seems to happen with pastors and churches who abandon the truth:
1) Belief that homosexuality is a fixed identity.
2) Belief that homosexual desires can be pure so long as the homosexual remains chaste.
3) Adoption of the language of Gay Christian, Queer Christian, and sexual minority.
4) The realization that it is pastorally cruel to tell homosexuals that their sexual orientation is basic to their identity and not inherently sinful but that they must not ever act upon it.
5) Blessing of homosexual marriage and relations.
Emotion, not a recognition of truth, prevails in such a climate. In light of this reality, we’re reminded of 2 Timothy 4:1-5, a passage of Scripture originally written by Paul to Timothy, his son in the faith.
41 In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. 3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. 4 They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5 But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry.
But you, keep your head in all situations.
—Paul to Timothy—
Note that Paul does not say that those who “will not put up with sound doctrine” are not believers. In fact, many believers are misinformed and misled about many important things, including homosexuality. Cultural pressure is immense in our day, and it seems Christians and churches are accommodating the culture everywhere. The pull to depart from the truth is, and always has been, quite strong.
This is one reason why, just one sentence earlier in his letter to Timothy, Paul wrote about the truth of Scripture. Like a compass, God’s Word shows us the right way to go.
16 All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, 17 so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).
Don’t travel down the road of Revoice! Instead, rediscover and uphold biblical truth—and thereby love authentically!
Always remember that Jesus declared, “[Y]ou will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Copyright © 2018 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
top image: Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture passages have been taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
The link for one Bible passage takes the reader to verses in the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Note:
1Bayly, Tim. The Grace of Shame: 7 Ways the Church Has Failed to Love Homosexuals (Kindle Locations 964-966). Warhorn Media. Kindle Edition. Here pastor and author Tim Bayly is quoting from a page on the Gay Christian Network’s website that no longer is available: “Accessed August 19, 2017, https://www.gaychristian.net/the-great-debate/.”
By the way, The Grace of Shame is highly recommended!
Well written article. Thank you for making the point so clear.
Thank so much, Bill Wyler! —B. Nathaniel Sullivan