The recent acceptance of homosexuality and transgenderism is an element of American life that has impacted virtually every institution, from school systems and sports leagues to government agencies and major corporations. Yet evangelical churches and denominations, even those broadly considered to be conservative, have not been exempt from this phenomenon.
Beyond the apostate progressive churches which make headlines for inviting drag queens into their pulpits, one central controversy in conservative evangelical circles surrounds the issue of same-sex attraction. Many popular leaders and ministries to varying degrees endorse the idea that physical attraction to members of the same sex is not inherently sinful.
Dr. Jared Moore, who serves as a pastor at Homestead Baptist Church in Tennessee, recently wrote a book called The Lust of the Flesh to demonstrate how biblical and historic Christian doctrine on temptation condemns the notion that disordered attractions are not themselves sin. He said in an interview with The Sentinel that “we’ve already begun to sin at the first evil inclination or desire” since sin starts with “desiring something evil from within our hearts.”
“Because the flesh and all that it produces is sin, we must turn from it and walk in the Spirit instead. When we turn from the lusts of the flesh and walk in the Spirit, we should rejoice,” Moore remarked. “And we should also repent for having had desires for sin in our hearts. The goal is to let the flesh burn to no purpose, and thus, to burn itself out.”
Moore distinguished between temptation “for a good thing offered through an evil means” and temptation “for an evil thing.” In the former case, Moore noted that Jesus desired food, protection, and his rightful ascent as King of kings during his temptation in the wilderness, but that he rejected such offers from Satan even after forty days of fasting (Matthew 4:1-17) since God would provide all three during his ministry and after his crucifixion. In the latter case, Moore said fallen humans are tempted “by our own lusts from within” and not by God (James 1:13-15).
“We tempt ourselves. That does not describe Jesus’ temptation, only the temptation of sinners,” he contended. “Since our flesh is desiring something evil from within our hearts, we’ve already begun to sin at the first evil inclination or desire.”
The teaching of evangelical figureheads and organizations with respect to same-sex attraction, according to Moore, is broadly discouraging as many downplay the biblical description of sin even at the level of desire proceeding from the fallen nature of man (Matthew 5:27-30).
The prominent campus ministry Cru, formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ, generated controversy by using a curriculum for their staff last year that was largely sourced from the ministry of Preston Sprinkle, the president of the Center for Faith, Sexuality, and Gender. He says in resources publicly available on his website that “many trans people are already following Jesus more faithfully, more passionately, more consistently, more boldly than other non-trans Christians,” and that “many of the elements that draw people to polyamory, deep relationships, care for others, hospitality, and community, are good things.”
David Prince, who taught for seventeen years as a preaching professor at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, the flagship school for the Southern Baptist Convention, until his exit last year, wrote that some evangelicals falsely argue same-sex attraction “is sinful, even if the Christian remains chaste, and in obedience to Christ never yields to the temptation.” Patrick Schreiner, a professor of New Testament at Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, likewise wrote that “orientation” and “inclination” should not be “considered sinful in of itself, while lust would obviously put someone into the category of sin giving birth.” Schreiner more recently endorsed a sermon from pastor Jon Tyson which made similar points.
Ministers with otherwise robust reputations among conservative evangelicals have also downplayed the notion that same-sex attraction is sin. John Piper, the chancellor of Bethlehem College and Seminary in Minnesota, said in a 2012 sermon that “to be caused by sin and rooted in sin does not make a sinful desire equal to sinning.” Kevin DeYoung, a prominent Presbyterian minister in North Carolina and a council member of The Gospel Coalition, used to teach that same-sex attraction is not sin, while at least one 2015 resource with the teaching remains available through the publisher Crossway. Douglas Wilson, a pastor and author in Idaho, teaches that same-sex attraction comes from sin and leads to sin but is not inherently a sin, and is instead temptation, as he previously debated with Moore.
Moore added to The Sentinel that the reception to The Lust of the Flesh has been “very polarizing” in the evangelical world. He nevertheless noted that Jesus freely offers forgiveness from sin, power to resist temptation, and strength to kill sin in thought, word, and deed for the Christian who repents and turns toward Christ in faith.
“The more we reject it, the more it’s mortified,” he said. “Christ is worth the fight against our evil flesh. He is why we fight. He is why we do not give up. And where we fall short, we rest in his finished work. He has taken our guilt away and given us his righteousness, through faith.”
