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Priority & Practice in Adorning the Gospel

In Titus 2 Paul instructs Titus to help the Cretan believers in a wicked culture live in such a way as to beautify the teaching concerning God our Savior in everything they do. In other words, in all of life we are commanded to seek to “adorn the gospel”—to make it attractive by our lives. This is the priority. How we do this in practical ways takes wisdom, however. 

Our response to homosexuality—its sin and consequences—is one of those areas where we need wisdom. Mark McGinniss, on the faculty at Baptist Bible College, Clarks Summit, Pa., has posted a paper for the faculty forum on the church’s response to homosexuality. He is basically arguing that we need to be careful not to elevate homosexuality as a greater sin than other sins and that we need to love our neighbor “as ourselves.” This adorns the gospel of Jesus Christ by calling sin sin and yet treating the person as redeemable and lovable.

One area that intersects with that is a homosexual agenda to redefine marriage. How should we adorn the gospel in this area? Sometimes it seems like political agendas take over rather than Christians’ attempting to adorn the gospel well. For instance, since this issue is big in Iowa right now, some people are seeking to get pastors to sign a letter opposing gay marriage. I struggle with exactly how we’re adorning the gospel here. (1) This letter ignores the principle of freedom of religion in this country and the freedom of conscience we each have before God. It doesn’t seek to affirm those. This could come home to roost in people ignoring what we believe and seeking to shut out the message of the gospel. (2) I like the prophetic element of pointing out the hindrance of God’s blessing for condoning sin. (3) I don’t like the lack of love and concern for homosexuals. Even if involved in politics, we should conduct ourselves as ambassadors of the King of Kings. Your thoughts?

3 Comments

  • Greg White says:

    Will, I appreciate your post. Thanks as well for the link to the excellent Mark McGinniss article. I especially appreciated the last line of your posting. “Even if involved in politics, we should conduct ourselves as ambassadors of the King of Kings.” The Westboro Baptist Church folks should certainly learn that lesson. Some Christians seem to reserve the right of checking their spirituality at the door when it comes to hot button issues. These things ought not to be!

    I believe that we must take a biblical stand against any sexual sin. Here at First Baptist Church we are currently considering a sexuality and marriage provision in our doctrinal statement that does name homosexuality alongside other Bible-named sexual sins. That statement will also declare our undying belief that marriage is between a man and a woman. However, even with an uncompromising doctrinal statement we cannot forget that we are to “love our neighbor”. Christ’s love in us should compel us to reach out to even the most unreachable of people. (People reached out to me with the gospel while I was very much a repulsive drunk.) I believe and preach that we must be ready to minister to people who are sinners of any degree. We are responsible both personally and corporately to love them and to share the wonderful news that they can be saved and enter into a relationship with the Lord through His Son.

    This leads me to another consideration. I must adorn the gospel with love for all lost individuals even if their sin repels me. Am I uncomfortable around homosexuals and lesbians? Yes, I am. But I am probably not as uncomfortable around them as they are around me and the gospel of Christ that I proclaim!

  • Dick Dayton says:

    Will & Greg, Great comments. Will, thanks for the courage to raise this issue. There are two passages of Scripture that seem to be especially relevant here. John 3:16-18 emphasizes the love of God for fallen mankind. A key principle is in v. 18. There is only one sin that condemns a person to eternity separated from God in hell, and that is not believing in the name of the Son of God. We must remember either what we were before salvation, or what we would have been had God not intervened in our lives.
    It is true that “righteousness exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people.” I find it grievous that our nation is trying to codify as legally acceptable a standard of living that violates Scripture. As we express ourselves on these issues, we must remember the “grace and truth” principle.
    The second passage is I Corinthians 6:9-11. After listing sins, Paul, by God’s direction, writes, “And such were some of you.”
    Greg, a number of years ago we added statements about the sanctity of life and marriage to our doctrinal statement.
    One more thing : Greg Javaux in Silvis, IL has done some excellent work about our ministry to those we disagree with. He uses the phrase “welcoming and redemptive.” Our goal is to see the gospel transform lives for the glory of God.

  • Just a note to put the Iowa clergy statement in context. This pastoral petition was started in response to a group of liberal clergy who were suggesting that the Bible did not teach that marriage must be between a man and a woman.
    I did sign the response petition, which clarifies that the Bible teaches marriage should be between one man and one woman. We live in a largely Biblically illiterate society, so I believe it is important to take a position that clarifies Biblical truth.
    At the same time, I am thankful for the timely reminder that even in a battle against error, we must be careful not to sin ourselves. Please continue to pray for the state of Iowa as well as for those caught up in homosexuality and other sins.
    Let us not just pray that they leave their sin, but that they turn to the Savior. It would be sad if we won this political battle and forgot about the souls of men.

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