According to the Associated Press, the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is getting ready to abolish their celibacy requirements for its gay and lesbian clergy after decades of debate that have divided the denomination and split Protestants worldwide. The policy change has already been adopted at its national assembly last year but they need approval by the majority of their 173 presbyteries, or regional church bodies. The new policy will take effect July 10th, after all the presbyteries have voted. The deciding vote, expected Tuesday night, would come from the liberal Minneapolis-St. Paul presbytery.
According to Michael Adlee, a church elder and executive director of More Light Presbyterians, which advocates for gays and lesbians, “More people will be able to live the truth of their lives, parents will talk more about having gay kids, and people will come out in Presbyterian churches.”
The church currently requires its officers to either be in a monogamous heterosexual marriage or to remain celibate. That is currently the standard in most traditional Protestant churches. As a member of the clergy is not only a leader in the church, but is supposed to be a moral example as well, anything less is grounds for that clergy member to be removed from their office.
Let us get right to the heart of the matter. The definition of the word church by dictionary.com gives numerous definitions. Most have to do with Christianity or God or the Christian faith. When you take God out of the church, it simply becomes a structure or a building where meetings can be held. In other words, without God and Christianity, there really is no such thing as a church.
The question is, then, “Has the Presbyterian Church stopped being a church?” Only Christians worship in a church, the God being worshipped there is the Christian God, the God of the Bible. The actual word church comes from the old English word cirice which, stems from the Greek kyriake (the Lord’s house) which comes from Greek kyrios (ruler, lord). The word Christian means “Christ like”, it is never about cultural popularity or the feelings of the people participating in the worship. The word worship comes from the Old English wordscip (condition of being worthy, honor) from worth. A sense of "reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being" is first recorded c.1300. The focus is always on the object of worship, not the people doing the worship.
To remove the celibacy requirements for non-married clergy in a Christian church is to say that if Jesus Christ was your pastor and He was not married, He could engage in sexual activity outside of marriage and there would be no sin. That very thought is repulsive. Jesus set the standard for all church members by the very life He lived on this earth. And even though for over 2000 years, the church has been about Him, when He walked this earth, He was all about everyone else. His entire focus was on God the Father and How He could please and honor the Father with His life.
When has life or truth ever been about being able to have sex with someone? Michael Adee, the executive director of More Light Presbyterians says (again), “More people will be able to live the truth of their lives…” How? By engaging in an activity that God says denies the very truth of His word?
Now, this does not address the argument that some people were born gay or lesbian, that God made them that way. But if a single heterosexual man or a single heterosexual woman chooses a vocation to serve God either here in the United States or abroad on the mission field, they are both called to sexual purity. If that same man or woman has strong sexual feelings towards members of their own sex, they are still called to that same purity. Doing anything else is telling God, “My feelings are more important than being obedient to the truths set out in Your Word.” As my mother once said, “You may not be able to do anything about the way you feel, but you can do something about what you do with those feelings.”
The Apostle Paul addressed the issue of sexual purity several times in the New Testament, but a couple of verses in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says it all: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
For an entire denomination to disregard the truths of God’s Word in favor of the feelings of a minority of the population is unimaginable. But the Presbyterians have now decided to go with the flow. Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology, religion, and divinity at Duke University told Reuters, “They're making this change amid a larger cultural change. General public opinion on gay rights is trending pretty dramatically in the liberal direction.” The PCUSA is following the footsteps of the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Church of Christ in attempting to be culturally relevant by making the Gospel a little less offensive to its membership.
I’m just reminded of one last scripture, which the Presbyterian Church would do well to remember. It’s found in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 3: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
According to Michael Adlee, a church elder and executive director of More Light Presbyterians, which advocates for gays and lesbians, “More people will be able to live the truth of their lives, parents will talk more about having gay kids, and people will come out in Presbyterian churches.”
The church currently requires its officers to either be in a monogamous heterosexual marriage or to remain celibate. That is currently the standard in most traditional Protestant churches. As a member of the clergy is not only a leader in the church, but is supposed to be a moral example as well, anything less is grounds for that clergy member to be removed from their office.
Let us get right to the heart of the matter. The definition of the word church by dictionary.com gives numerous definitions. Most have to do with Christianity or God or the Christian faith. When you take God out of the church, it simply becomes a structure or a building where meetings can be held. In other words, without God and Christianity, there really is no such thing as a church.
The question is, then, “Has the Presbyterian Church stopped being a church?” Only Christians worship in a church, the God being worshipped there is the Christian God, the God of the Bible. The actual word church comes from the old English word cirice which, stems from the Greek kyriake (the Lord’s house) which comes from Greek kyrios (ruler, lord). The word Christian means “Christ like”, it is never about cultural popularity or the feelings of the people participating in the worship. The word worship comes from the Old English wordscip (condition of being worthy, honor) from worth. A sense of "reverence paid to a supernatural or divine being" is first recorded c.1300. The focus is always on the object of worship, not the people doing the worship.
To remove the celibacy requirements for non-married clergy in a Christian church is to say that if Jesus Christ was your pastor and He was not married, He could engage in sexual activity outside of marriage and there would be no sin. That very thought is repulsive. Jesus set the standard for all church members by the very life He lived on this earth. And even though for over 2000 years, the church has been about Him, when He walked this earth, He was all about everyone else. His entire focus was on God the Father and How He could please and honor the Father with His life.
When has life or truth ever been about being able to have sex with someone? Michael Adee, the executive director of More Light Presbyterians says (again), “More people will be able to live the truth of their lives…” How? By engaging in an activity that God says denies the very truth of His word?
Now, this does not address the argument that some people were born gay or lesbian, that God made them that way. But if a single heterosexual man or a single heterosexual woman chooses a vocation to serve God either here in the United States or abroad on the mission field, they are both called to sexual purity. If that same man or woman has strong sexual feelings towards members of their own sex, they are still called to that same purity. Doing anything else is telling God, “My feelings are more important than being obedient to the truths set out in Your Word.” As my mother once said, “You may not be able to do anything about the way you feel, but you can do something about what you do with those feelings.”
The Apostle Paul addressed the issue of sexual purity several times in the New Testament, but a couple of verses in 1 Corinthians 6:18-20 says it all: Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a man commits are outside his body, but he who sins sexually sins against his own body. Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your body.
For an entire denomination to disregard the truths of God’s Word in favor of the feelings of a minority of the population is unimaginable. But the Presbyterians have now decided to go with the flow. Mark Chaves, a professor of sociology, religion, and divinity at Duke University told Reuters, “They're making this change amid a larger cultural change. General public opinion on gay rights is trending pretty dramatically in the liberal direction.” The PCUSA is following the footsteps of the Episcopal Church, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and the United Church of Christ in attempting to be culturally relevant by making the Gospel a little less offensive to its membership.
I’m just reminded of one last scripture, which the Presbyterian Church would do well to remember. It’s found in the Book of Revelation, Chapter 3: I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm-- neither hot nor cold-- I am about to spit you out of my mouth.
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