A Sin We Haven’t Yet Considered, but Should

An Epilogue to “Six Ways J. D. Greear Goes Wrong in His Recent Blogpost on the Church’s Discussion About Homosexuality”

The Gospel does not abrogate God’s law, but it makes men love it with all of their hearts.
—John Gresham Machen—

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Key point: In our last two posts on Southern Baptist Convention President J. D. Greear’s sermon and article on homosexuality, we have discussed numerous sins, including homosexuality, religious pride, and materialism. One sin we have not considered, but must, is the sin of failing to appropriately yet sufficiently warn people about the dire consequences of homosexuality.

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This is an epilogue to a 2-part series titled “Six Ways J. D. Greear Goes Wrong in His Recent Blogpost on the Church’s Discussion About Homosexuality.” Part 1 is available here and part 2 here. Go here to access a streamlined version of this series as a single article.

Of all the duties assigned to Christian leaders today, I believe the duty to warn is among the most important, yet most neglected. Paul wrote to the Colossians believers, ^“Him [—Christ—] we preach, warning every man and teaching every man in all wisdom, that we may present every man perfect in Christ Jesus” (Col. 1:28).

The verb translated warning in this verse is significant. Issuing warnings is an inseparable part of effective evangelism, and it’s been the responsibility of biblical heroes in both the Old and New Testaments. In fact, every believer is to be involved in sounding appropriate warnings. The gospel is good news—but no one really can understand just how good unless he or she also comprehends how awful and devastating sin really is. Warning people about sins’ consequences is therefore a necessary part of telling the good news.

The Sin of Failing to Appropriately Warn

J. D. Greear’s sermon, “How the Fall Affects Us All,” is troubling on a number of levels. That said, it is especially problematic because of its lack of appropriate “sin specific” warnings—warnings that appear in the very text that Greear was supposed to be preaching from. Homosexuality isn’t the only sin named in Romans 1:24-32 and surrounding verses, but no one can give the passage a fair reading and come away from it without realizing that homosexuality is an extremely serious sin God will harshly judge.

Despite this, Greear emphasized instead that God’s Word “shouts” about pride and materialism and “whispers” about sexual sin. Beginning at the 1:05 mark in the following clip, Greear proclaims,

Jen Wilkin, who’s one of our favorite Bible teachers here and who’s actually leading our women’s conference, says we ought to whisper about what the Bible whispers about, and we ought to shout about what it shouts about. And the Bible appears more to whisper when it comes to sexual sin compared to its shout[ing] about materialism and religious pride.

Don’t listen only to this portion of the clip, however—listen to it all. You can hear and read Greear’s statements on this page.

How can J. D. say this in light of 1 Corinthians 6:9-11,15-20 and in light of Nathan’s bold confrontation of King David about his adulterous affair with Bathsheba and his setting the stage for the murder of Bathsheba’s husband Uriah? And these are just two of many passages of Scripture we could cite. While Greear does acknowledge that same-sex behavior is sinful, he comes down so hard on other sins that he effectively minimizes the seriousness of homosexuality. Beginning at the 2:11 mark, Greear declared,

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While Greear does acknowledge that same-sex behavior is sinful, he comes down so hard on other sins that he effectively minimizes the seriousness of homosexuality.

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Only when you understand [that you are the worst sinner you know] will you [also] understand that if Jesus came to die for you that there is nobody He didn’t die for. And when you finally realize that in your soul, you’ll stop being a judgmental, Pharisaical dispenser of the Law, and you’ll suddenly become a gospel witness. And your life will no longer be characterized by judgmentalism and fundamentalism, and it’ll be characterized by compassion. You’ll start loving your neighbor like somebody made in the image of God, and feeling compassion for them in their weakness. You’ll begin to treat them first and foremost like people who deserve compassion—not scorn, or judgment, or a political voting block that we need to marginalize.

When you understand that, then what that means is that you become a person who will, for example, stand up and be among the fiercest advocates for the preservation of the dignity and the rights of LGBT people. Because we recognize that gay and lesbian people are essentially just like us—people made in the image of God like us, and deserving of all the dignity and respect that we desire for us or our children.

There is no them! That’s what Paul is saying. It’s just a big old we!

J. D.! I have a question for you! What rights do LGBT people not currently have that Christians ought to be contending that they receive?

I’ve got other questions as well.

• • • Was Nathan being prideful when he confronted David about his affair, or should he have shown greater compassion and worked diligently to protect and secure David’s and other adulterers’ rights?
    • Had you been given the chance, would you, Pastor Greear, have told Nathan, “There is no them! It’s just a big old we!”?

Behind the Sin of Failing to Warn: A Misreading of Romans 1

Not only were LGBT individuals who listened to J. D.’s sermon not sufficiently warned, but people who might potentially warn them were effectively “neutralized” by accusations of pride and Pharisaism from Greear. Do not misunderstand. No Christian ever should see himself or herself as any less needful of God’s grace than anyone else. Pride is a horrific sin. But you can mark it down. It isn’t just the religious who need to be warned about pride. It’s also those who’ve embraced pride as a mantra under which they practice egregious and unnatural sexual behavior. When God gives these people over to their unnatural desires, severe consequences ensue. God’s people must warn them so they can avoid His wrath by repenting of their sins and relying on Christ for salvation. This is true compassion.

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True compassion warns people about impending danger.

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I strongly believe that however unintentionally, Greear didn’t allow the passage to speak for itself but instead brought his biases to it and presented it in light of those. Again, do not misunderstand. Pride, disobedience to parents, deceit, gossip, slander, and all the other sins Paul names in Romans 1:18-32 are offensive to God as “stand-alone sins.” Even so, Paul doesn’t present the transgressions he names as stand-alone sins. The vices and wrong attitudes the apostle names, including homosexuality and pride, are all a part of a mix of transgressions that characterize people who have “suppressed the truth in unrighteousness” (v. 18). For a more thorough discussion of Greear’s erroneous reading of this passage, go here.

Whether Intentional or Unintentional, Leading People Astray Is Serious

It is the duty of every spokesman of God to warn the wicked. (Wicked, by the way, is a biblical word.) If he does, then the sinners themselves bear full responsibility for their offenses. If he does not, God will hold His spokesman accountable for his inaction, for failing to sound the alarm. Are evildoers off the hook? In light of verses such as Ezekiel 3:20; 33:8; and Romans 1:20, we see that they are not. The point here, however, is that failing to warn the wicked, or minimizing or distorting the needed warning in some way, is a very serious sin. Not only that, it’s a sin of which numerous Christian leaders need to repent, especially those who appear to be enamored with the “gay Christian” and social justice movements. J. D. Greear is among them.

This is the elephant in the living room! J. D. Greear is the President of the Southern Baptist Convention, yet he is misleading, not just homosexuals, but Southern Baptists as well, on the matter of homosexuality. This is true even though Greear rightly acknowledges that homosexuality is sinful.

In James 3:1, the apostle wrote, “Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, knowing that as such we will incur a stricter judgment.” God’s spokesmen must be diligent and careful in order to “get it right.” When they don’t get it right on a matter as serious as this, they must be challenged.

This is why I’m calling out J. D. Greear.

 

Copyright © 2019 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.

top image credit: Photo by Raúl Nájera on Unsplash

Unless otherwise indicated, Scriptures in this article have been taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.