While leaders of the Revoice movement currently affirm that God designed marriage to be between one man and one woman and that acting on homosexual temptations is sinful, it is clear they also believe that being a Christian does not necessarily require a SSA individual to try to overcome his or her “gay” sexual orientation. To realize this, however, an observer sometimes will have to “read between the lines.”
Consider this paragraph from the Revoice “Statement on Sexual Ethics and Christian Obedience.”
We believe that all Christians have been given a new spiritual identity in their union with Jesus Christ, through the work of the Holy Spirit, and as a result of their adoption by the Father as sons and daughters in God’s family. We believe that this spiritual identity constitutes the core reality of Christian existence; that it is the truest element of Christian personhood; and that it should therefore be the central feature of Christian self-understanding. As those who share one Lord, one faith, and one baptism, we believe that other features within the composite of individual identity—such as nationality, ethnicity, gender, or sexual orientation—do not change or add to this spiritual identity, but should be ordered in relation to this ultimate identity in Christ, which unites all within the household of God. (Rom. 6:6; 1 Pet. 2:9; 1 John 3:1–2; Phil. 3:8; Rom. 8:12–17; Phil. 3:4–11; Acts 22:25–28; 1 Cor. 9:19–23)
Note that “sexual orientation” is placed on the same level as the qualities of “nationality, ethnicity, [and] gender.” Yet “nationality, ethnicity, [and] gender” are not rooted in or related to temptations or sinful desires. A “gay” or “same-sex attracted” orientation is. Further, in the above paragraph we see no emphasis on a need to renounce or avoid a gay sexual orientation, other than the statement that the personality traits named “should be ordered in relation to this ultimate identity in Christ, which unites all within the household of God.”
The Revoice “Statement on Sexual Ethics and Christian Obedience” goes on to say this:
We believe that the Christian tradition celebrates deep, committed relationships between believers that are marked by spiritual intimacy, emotional connection, and even chaste, non-sexual expressions of physical affection. Such expressions of intimacy and affection should be ordered according to the patterns and principles of spiritual kinship that exist within God’s family. As modeled by Jesus and his disciples, we believe that the pursuit of intimate, rich, platonic friendship is consistent with the biblical witness and Christian tradition, and that such relationships can be marked by varying degrees of permanence, affection, and a shared sense of partnership in life and ministry. (John 13:1–20; 21:12; 1 Sam. 18:3, 20:17,42)
Without an encouragement to renounce and walk away from one’s gay identity or SSA sexual orientation (difficult though this may be, even for Spirit-empowered believers), what might giving the green light to “deep, committed relationships between believers that are marked by spiritual intimacy, emotional connection, and even chaste, non-sexual expressions of physical affection,” despite the fact the statement says these “expressions…should be ordered according to the patterns and principles of spiritual kinship that exist within God’s family”?
It isn’t difficult to see where this is headed, and it isn’t headed to a place any true Christian will find desirable, nor to one that will please God.
This page is part of a larger article.
Copyright © 2019 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
top image, Revoice website, 2018