Gal 1:8 But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let them be under God’s curse!
At the Metropolitan Community Church Conference (gay churches primarily in US), for the first time the word “decline” is mentioned but framed politically in the overall decline of church going in the USA. They did not mention that liberal churches are falling off the cliff numerically. Whilst conservative are also falling in percentage terms, the numbers remain constant. The greatest growth is the charismatic evangelicals.
The issue perhaps is how to progress beyond “inclusive” and “progressive”? which obviously hasn’t work. We have taken away the power of the Cross and the hope of glory and reduced it to kindom relationships and gay rights activism on earth. Once gay marriage is achived, what then? Sometimes there is no growth despite being the only gay church in a city of millions because God is not allowed to minister His grace and love due to man made theology.
The Inclusive Gospel makes an assertion that all belong to the same God regardless of the spiritual deities that we worship. This is a half truth in that whilst we are all God’s creation by Adam, God sees us in the spiritual deity that we worship. We need to be born again to escape from Adam’s curse. We are all under condemnation and judgement in the first Adam.
God doesn’t really see us as all beautiful and glam. Rather, God sees us by our choices and allegiance. If we worship Baal, God sees Baal in us. Therefore, when Israel worshiped other gods, there were rejecting Yahweh. The way to become a child of God, to be born again in a second birth is by accepting by faith Jesus as God, and Messiah, through water which is the baptism cleansing of our sins by imputing our sins upon Christ broken body, and by the blood, Jesus payment for the penalty of death for our sins.
There is a place of grace when we exalt Jesus as a name above all names. The inclusive Gospel tries to call what is unholy holy, making the Holy one of Israel as one with other pagan gods and putting a church banner to sanctify it, but nevertheless they are under the curse of preaching another gospel.
This is a real abomination, replacing the truth of God with a lie from hell. It takes away the consequences of us worshiping other gods. They are rejecting the necessity of Christ death and suffering for us at the Cross which many progressives calls hideous and blood thirsty. In essence, they want the right to chose to sin but not bear the consequences of death for their sins and call themselves wise and learned and serious in their self delusion and denial. Ultimately God doesn’t see us as gay or straight, men or women, but whether we are accepted in the beloved or not.
We don’t become inclusive by trying to be inclusive. The first churches with female pastors and mixed congregations were not the liberal mainline, but the charismatics Pentecostals when the Holy Spirit came upon them in Azuza Street. They begin to see people as Christ sees beyond the division of gender and race.
Indeed, it was the baptism of the Holy Spirit upon the Roman Centurion that resulted in Paul realizing that God was at work apart from the law. But the “progressives” still preaching the law, the love commandments essentially neglecting the grace of God in Christ Jesus. They are preaching another Gospel, and are under the curse rather than blessed.
What Gay people need is Hope and freedom from condemnation not religion, inclusive Gospel, nor religious laws framed as the Love commandments. They talk about “creator God” yet believe not in creation. There is no relationship with God rather a focus on self which is the shema of Israel quoted everyday yet they rejected Jesus, God incarnate, standing in front of them. In the last days, Jesus is knocking at the door of gay churches asking to come in, so that they could see from the bible the revelation of Jesus Christ instead of the religion of man.
When Jesus was resurrected, He walked together with two disciples. He deliberately chose not to declare to the disciples in the first instance that it was Him, Jesus, but to show them the revelation of Christ in the OT bible. Gay churches are not lacking progress but revelation.
The world is not anti-God but anti-Christ. To say that we have “Faith in God through Christ Jesus” or “to strive for the love commandments” is not insightful. God exists despite whether we have faith. Therefore, faith in God is often not the issue, but who do we say Jesus is? as a prophet, a teacher, or the Savior, God incarnate. God meets us how we see Jesus. If we consider Jesus as the good teacher, we only have more questions and no answers and no hope.
Ironically, they say that they are progressive yet have not progressed beyond the OT law. We can’t really love, if it is by our “uzza” or strength of the law. When the Ark fell, and Uzza (“man’s strength”) grabbed hold of the ark, he died, so is the strength of the law leads to death, frustration, conflicts, and demise. There is no grace but curse under the law.
We can only really love if we are born again from within by the new Adam, Jesus Christ, that we can love when we are at rest and is forgiven with no condemnation. Trying to love, whilst remaining in the old Adam is religion with no hope of salvation. Few would want to go the gay churches when it is all about the religion of man, and the word of man. An authentic biblical faith is based Word of God and revelation of Christ from the bible which gives authentic faith and hope.
MCC may have lost the golden opportunity being the only gay church for an effective presence world wide, and the door is now rapidly closing and decline sets in with gay marriage and aging after 50 years from 1968. Is not that they have not tried, but their “progressive” theology which was their inclusive strength is now their liability for a world looking for eternal ancient truths. They had preached another Gospel without the centrality of Christ to save and to heal, and grace was given them 50 years. In Gal 1:8, the power of the law, the curse of the law is now coming. So whatever is touched even with good intentions are tainted.
The term “progressive” Christianity is actually man’s wisdom and a theological denial of Jesus as the way, the truth and the life to God. They somehow allude to Paul being “progressive”, but the biblical context was always creation, the fall, the flood, the law, and Jesus Christ, and His return. Jesus is the center, the alpha and the Omega. It starts with Jesus, the ” I am” at Creation, and ends with Jesus, His second coming. Paul was talking about how God was made accessible in an inclusive manner through Jesus Christ apart from the Law, and being from the lineage of Abraham. It is through Jesus Christ despite the progressive attempt to include and pray to other gods.
Gal 3:8 6 So also Abraham “believed God, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”7 Understand, then, that those who have faith are children of Abraham. 8 Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.” 9 So those who rely on faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.
The Word of God never changes. It was the bible, the scripture who foretold inclusion of the Gentiles justified by Faith in Jesus Christ into the lineage of Abraham. Without Christ there is no justification however much we may like to think “progressively”. There is nothing for man to boast about how progressive they are, because it was all prophesied in the bible and the work completed at the Cross of Calvary. It is finished, the completion of God’s grace at the Cross allowing us to walk our faith from the position of victory, from the finish line.
Some “progressives” are rather creative to claim Paul’s teaching was progressive leaning, since they never progress because the Shema of Israel or the Love Commandments which they only interpret narrowly since they pray to a god of many names rather than the God of Israel who is One.
The biblical narratives of creation, fall, flood, God’s chosen people, the coming, and return is also rejected in the name of progress. The devil has a good way of stealing the Word of God from Gay churches through the words of mere man, human reasoning and philosophies, and humanism . For the Greeks, the first “progressives”, Jesus resurrection was the stumbling stone.
The bible is not inclusive, and Apostle Paul definitely was not inclusive. When Apostle Paul mentioned about the Gentiles which he was called to, they were included in Jesus Christ death and resurrection. It was by faith, faith that Jesus is the Messiah that resulted in their inclusion not merely because they were gentiles.
For Apostle Paul, all our differences fade into insignificance because it is Christ that unites us. Whilst gay churches focuses on our difference, ie being gay and lesbian, man and women, rich and poor, the patriarchal hierarchies. Having a focus on being inclusive is divisive and leads to conflicts and a focus on self, whilst having a focus of Christ makes our differences melt away. Ironically, to be inclusive, we must first be exclusive.
Gay churches often are places of needless conflict and strive because of the focus on the law, on the focus of self. The most unnecessary conflicts are found when we are self focus, using our own strength to love others, not believing that we are all children of God by faith in Jesus Christ into the lineage of Abraham as God’s chosen people. We may not believe that God has favorites in Israel, but it is our free will. When there is no self, there is no pride, no ego, no honor to defend.
Heb 11.1 Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
1 Thess 5:8 But since we belong to the day, let us be sober, putting on faith and love as a breastplate, and the hope of salvation as a helmet.
The House of God is a place where the name of Jesus, the Ark of the Jews, is honored and revered above all other gods. Faith is the certainty of Hope of our salvation in Jesus Christ both now and in heaven to come. A bible grace based Christian gay community is therefore a place where all are made equal in Christ Jesus. It is a place where Jesus heals and saves, believing that God is good, that Jesus gives us hope and a good future, now and in heaven to come. We bring in the presence of God, when we give honor and glory to Jesus. Gay churches would be a place of no condemnation because Jesus has taken all our condemnation at the Cross of Calvary.
Let us not be under the curse by preaching another Gospel based on the law – the love commandments or an inclusive Gospel which rejects the finished work of Christ at the Cross of Calvary. It will rob us of our hope, the helmet of salvation and leaves our mind opened to the devil, and waters down the Christian faith to one of good works.
Our authentic Christian faith is in the hope of salvation for today and for eternity, that God of Abraham is One and is a good God, for Jesus has bought us victory from death, and adoption into the House of God and the House of Abraham. It is not what we do, how much we love, or fail to love, how much we are holy or unholy for only Jesus is righteous and Holy, and we are made righteous in Christ Jesus.
Jesus, Jesus, that’s just something about that name
Master, Saviour, Jesus
Like the fragrance after the RainJesus, Jesus, Jesus
Let all heaven and earth proclaim
Kings and kingdoms will all pass away, but there is something about that name.