Making Space for Heresy
Churches that take space from biblical doctrine do nothing but make space for heresy. A case study for 2 Timothy 4:3, read of one particular church (acting as a spokesperson for numerous other churches) demonstrating its social justice priority by asking congregants, not simply to announce their preferred pronouns, but to use the pulpit to express their subjective faith.
The minister of the Plymouth United Church of Christ congregation, Rhina Ramos, is making space specifically for LGBTQ+ individuals to stand in the pulpit and preach their truths. Undeniably, the force behind this is social justice. The trouble is that this ministry is purporting an unbiblical mandate: doctrine is oppressive. The article is championing the removal of orthodox, historical practices within the church.
I have sought to boil down some of the contradictions within this article, limiting myself to three items for consideration:
1. It would bring their own condemnation to preach the whole counsel of God.
There is no Bible in the pulpit, so this consideration doesn’t matter. However, congregants standing in the pulpit, preaching the social justice narrative, would not be able to preach texts regarding gender, God’s design for marriage (Matthew 19:4-6), God’s role for elders and overseers, or the variety of passages condemning homosexual practices across Old and New Testaments.
2. Christ being punished by the government for preaching freedom and moral subversion benefits no one.
Liberal theology isolates Christ’s crucifixion to a social justice narrative. One of the chief problems is that such a view renders justification by faith useless and Jesus as a non-sovereign victim of the state. Preaching the overturn of government for the license of sexual freedom would either put the government in greater power and infringe upon personal freedoms, or it would make Jesus a powerless victim in the fight for personal freedoms. Either way, the victor is the greatest loser. When your gospel is only victimhood, what do you preach when the oppressors are gone?
3. The expectations of those in the LGBTQ+ ministry are subjective and miss the point entirely when held against Scripture’s standard.
Ministries, such as the one in this article, assume they are making strides for their cause when, in actuality, they are performing bizarre pageants. Preaching sexual freedom stands in contrast to the book called the living manual. As the apostle Paul said, “Woe to me if I do not preach the gospel.” I can talk all day, inviting a multitude of people to share, but it is preposterous to claim I am preaching anything biblical. Christ spoke of gender quite clearly, and, as He was incarnate God, He identified His pronouns and those of biological males and females. When you receive the call to gospel ministry, you do not set the standard for God’s teaching; He has completed that standard far before you were born: it is Scripture, and it does not change.
The most significant issue, even beyond those noted above, is the problem of using the language of “faith” without providing the biblical object of faith: Jesus as both Savior and Lord. Faith is used as the soft, subjective butter for trending social justice bread. A cheap, nutritionless sandwich provides no value or purpose. Absent is the conviction to be a living sacrifice for the gospel (Romans 12:1-2), let alone personal sanctification. Instead, Jesus is simply a savior for better feelings, and acceptance of all opinions but His own. Where is the Lord who dictates my spiritual submission?
A random person in the pew stands, unaccountably preaching whatever subjective faith they please, and the cherubic pastor further heaps burning coals into the damnable practice of heresy, leading her flock to stray.
End the pageantry.