Loving Them to Hell

So the Christian Reformed train continues down this track towards dissolution...

We've had about an article every other month in our denominational magazine pushing for a redefinition of sin so that it no longer includes homosexual sex.  The basic argument seems to be that, because God is gracious, forgiving, forbearing, and merciful, whatever I do must be OK with him - so I guess that means I don't need his grace, forgiveness, forbearance, or mercy.  God loves me and wants me to be happy, so I can poke whatever hole makes me happy.  And if you disagree, you hate gay people and are a judgmental hypocrite who will never receive God's grace, forgiveness, forbearance, or mercy.  Meanie!  If you truly loved me, you'd never tell me I'm wrong.

And now we have an article in that same 'zine telling us that, while it's OK to be reticent about your kid (or parent or sibling) living with someone in a sexual relationship outside of marriage, you shouldn't really express that disapproval in any meaningful way because, well, they won't like you and might go away from the church.  This is how it starts.  Let's not make any demands on them because they might leave.  From here, we will shortly - 5-10 years, if that - proceed to full acceptance of cohabitation apart from marriage, and then it will proceed to whatever 2 or more consenting adults wish to do will be fine with us.  But we really don't think the goat can give informed consent, so you'll have to leave him alone.

Enough.  Let them leave for a "church" that reasons away all need for grace, defines sin solely as daring to define sin (which, by the way, is unforgivable in their sorry creed), and builds up their self-esteem all the way along the road to perdition.  If the only way to survive as a church is to exchange the Bible for Oprah, then let's just give it up all together.  I for one am tired of being told that I have to modify the Gospel and its presentation in order to accommodate the sickness of our present cultural malaise.

The Gospel came to a world in which it was considered foolishness to Gentiles and a stumbling block to Jews.  Not one of the apostles felt called to alter the Gospel to accommodate the culture of either Jew or Gentile, whether it be Greek, Roman, Scythian, Celtic, Anglo-Saxon, Gothic, Frankish, or any of the others.  Instead, by steadily and patiently presenting the Gospel, they transformed those cultures.  Or as Paul says, do not conform to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

But that's too much to ask, I guess.