I’ve been asked in the comments section of recent posts why I’m linking the gay Christian activist movement in the conservative church and complementarians. These would seem to be entirely separate issues. But there is astonishing overlap between the two movements. The big players using deception to promote feminism in the conservative church are by and large the same big players using deception to push the gay agenda in the conservative church.
Today’s topic is Tim and Kathy Keller and their promotion of Pastor Sam Allberry and his Living Out ministry. Allberry is an editor at Tim Keller’s The Gospel Coalition (TGC), which along with the CBMW* is one of the twin flagship complementarian organizations.
Allberry promotes what he calls The Living Out Church Audit, which answers the question “How biblically inclusive is your Church?” By biblically he means “LGBTQ”. Allberry explains that Tim and Kathy Keller were instrumental in launching the audit (all emphasis mine):
At our Identity in Christ conference with Tim & Kathy Keller in June 2018 we launched our Living Out Church Audit – a tool to help church leadership teams answer this key question: how biblically inclusive is your church? Unsurprisingly our focus is on those who might identify as LGBTQ+/ same-sex attracted: Jesus included all in a counter-cultural way and we hope this audit will help our churches follow his lead.
While it is presented as an “audit” to see if a church is biblical, really it is a list of demands by and for gay Christians. I’ll only cover some of the demands, but you can check out the full list here.
The first demand is that every church include LGTB members, reading from the SJW diversity is our strength script. Homosexuality is to my knowledge the only sin that ostensibly makes a church better, the only sin that a congregation would be embarrassed if they couldn’t show proof of. I certainly can’t imagine a group of gambling addicts demanding that every congregation contain compulsive gamblers:
1) Your church family meetings include people who could be labelled LGBTQI+/ are same-sex attracted.
Readers might be tempted to assume that Allbery and the Kellers are merely demanding that every congregation include repentant homosexuals. But not only does the audit remain silent in this regard, the Living Out what we believe page clarifies that it expects churches to include unrepentant homosexuals:
All those who contribute to Living Out are asked to assent to the Evangelical Alliance’s Basis of Faith (see below) and their Affirmations – found in their 2012 report Biblical and pastoral responses to homosexuality and best understood in that full context.
Item 10 in the Affirmations list is:
10. We encourage evangelical congregations to welcome and accept sexually active lesbians and gay men. However, they should do so in the expectation that they, like all of us who are living outside God’s purposes, will come in due course to see the need to be transformed and live in accordance with biblical revelation and orthodox church teaching. We urge gentleness, patience and ongoing pastoral care during this process and after a person renounces same-sex sexual relations.
Getting back to the audit, demand number 4 is a restriction on how pastors are permitted to preach on homosexuality:
Same-sex sexual relationships are never mentioned in isolation from other sinful patterns of behaviour, or from the forgiveness offered to all through faith in Christ crucified.
Demand number 7 is to put gays into all leadership positions:
A godly Christian’s sexual orientation would never prevent them from exercising their spiritual gifts or serving in leadership in your church.
Demand number 8 is to not promote marriage over singleness:
God’s gifts of either singleness or marriage are equally promoted, valued and practically supported in your church family’s life together.
Demand number 9 is to provide gays access to the homes of of the congregation:
Church family members instinctively share meals, homes, holidays, festivals, money, family life with others from different backgrounds and life situations to them.
Living Out provides more detail on this in The Church and Same-Sex Attraction. The demand is access to the congregation’s children:
Nuclear families within the church need the input and involvement of the wider church family; they are not designed to be self-contained. Those that open up their family life to others find that it is a great two-way blessing. Single people get to experience some of the joys of family life, children get to benefit from the influence of other older Christians, parents get to have the encouragement of others supporting them, and families as a whole get to learn something of what it means to serve and be outward-looking as a family.
Allbery goes into more detail into what he is demanding in a speech he gave to ERLC 2018 titled The Church as the Family of God: Singleness, Same-sex Attraction, and the Hope of Hospitality**. He explains that Jesus promises gay men that if they leave their partners they will receive access to the church’s children in return. As examples of how this should work, Allbery describes driving congregants’ children to and from school and putting their children to bed at night. Keep in mind this isn’t gays offering hospitality to families with children, it is gays demanding hospitality from families with children. Allbery isn’t saying these are nice things gays might be able to do for families who are interested, he is demanding that gays be provided this kind of access to children and accusing those families who don’t comply of being unchristian.
Demand number 10 is that churches won’t ever pressure gays to attempt to change their sexual orientation:
No-one would be pressurised into expecting or seeking any “healing” or change that God has not promised any of us until the renewal of all things
*The CBMW promotes one of Allbery’s books here.
**H/T Thirty Pieces of Silver.
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