The Culture Beats at the Doors of American Churches; We Want in Now.

Some said it was a given and only a matter of time. Once homosexuality was accepted in the mainstream the culture would bang on the doors of the Church demanding they do the same. Those who said it were right. Those who scoffed and said what happens in the culture stays in the culture could not have got it more wrong,

It has been what, seven years since gay marriage was legalized and the drive to change Church teachings never lets up.

You could say it is on an endless forward trajectory.

The number of NGO’s that push for change has proliferated tenfold in a short period of time; probably in the time it takes to write this. The attempt at dialogue in some form or another is endless.

But it is not just the gay activists who at fault they getting a whole lot of help.

Gay clergy (and laity) are now opening the doors to the culture from the inside.

Four years ago, (in 2018) a gay Presbyterian clergyman, or did he come out gay a year later, sorry my bad; introduced a workshop called Revoice and it has made waves ever since.

If the truth be told many would liken it to more of a Tsunami.

I will not go into too much detail; you can read all about it on the ‘net. I’ll just provide a brief outline.

It works like this; there are two sides, a side A that wants gays fully integrated in the Church. So a no brainer.

Then there is Side B that says they hold to the biblical position of marriage being between one man and one woman; so for them, this means celibacy.

But here is the slip between cup and lip; they reserve the right to maintain their gay identities, celebrate gay perspectives in line with the culture and ‘Queer theology’; as well as being open to close friendships with like-minded folk of the same sex.

And if you don’t see a whole lot of problems right there then……Well nobody can help you.

This whole thing screams shenanigans; just who is fooling who.

Then there those who say the Side B folk should be given the benefit of the doubt that their intentions might be good, but there is no theological precedent for any of this. It is wrongheaded plain and simple.

Then there are those of us who see the glaring political clues and wiles at work.

It can be summed up as; 1) this is the problem, like the example of Side A, the cultures take and the Churches take is incompatible.

2) What can we do about it?

3) Voila; the solution lies with side B. Problem solved.

The strange thing is activists say the Side B stance is gaining ground and acceptance among ‘gay’ Christians. How is that for coincidence?

One Church of England bishop warns the American Church of what lies ahead. Saying we are way ahead of you on the gay acceptance thing; and here is what we have learned.

It came down to; just listen to people’s stories, what harm can come of it, or so we thought. Eventually theology was thrown out of the window as whims trumped the biblical standard. The clergy and laity caved and you know the rest. It ended on the note of just tell us how we can we accommodate you.

Coming back to Revoice, what about the other elephant in the room no one seems to want to talk about?
This emphasis on sexual identity is idolatry; surely.

At last year’s Revoice conference more laity than activists took to the stage this time round to tell more of their stories; but mostly to slam those in the Church for their intransigence.

Expect the tone and language to become more belligerent in the near future as the culture looks on licking its chops.