Ephesians 5:11 tells us to have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove/expose them. Exposing error and immorality is no fun; I’d rather not have to address and expose the immorality so common in our world today. But, from time to time, it is necessary to talk about things that we’d rather not even think about. Ephesians 5:12 tells us that it’s a shameful thing to speak of such things, and yet we have to confront these issues because they are so prominent in our world today. And these issues constitute a threat to the church, so my responsibility is to issue a warning.

On June 26, 2015, the SCOTUS decided in the Obergefell v. Hodges case that the constitution of the US guarantees same-sex couples the fundamental right to marry. They found this right in the 14^th amendment to the constitution, under the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause. In reality, the constitution makes no such guarantees. The bare majority of the court decided on their own whim that same-sex couples deserve the same privileges of marriage as heterosexual couples. Their decision legalized same-sex marriage. I consider it to be one of the worst, most unconstitutional decisions the court has ever made.

This victory for the LGBT movement, which was a defeat for traditional Christian values and morals, is one of the most recent examples of how our world is changing for the worse. We are at the tail end of a moral revolution which started in the 1960s and continues today. Western civilization has been throwing off the constraints of Christian morals and values for many decades now.

The LGBT agenda presents the church with a dividing line. I.e., the church has to decide which way it’s going to go on this issue. We can’t be both for and against the LGBT agenda; we either have to be for it or against it. We can’t really be neutral on or not take a position. Churches must either embrace it or oppose it. We either welcome and affirm L… people into the church as they are or we tell them to repent of their sin and get saved.

Unfortunately, many churches have capitulated/caved in to the cultural pressure of accepting the L… agenda. Such churches have become “welcoming and affirming” to homosexuals and their behavior. For example, the Episcopal Church in America welcomes sodomites into its church and even allows them to attain positions of leadership. A recent bishop of the Episcopal Church, Gene Robinson, was an open, practicing homosexual. Episcopals approve same-sex marriage. So they have fully adopted and endorsed the L… movement.

The United Methodist Church is in a battle right now to determine which way the denomination will go on the issue. Some want to ordain sodomite clergy and affirm same-sex marriage. Others want to maintain the traditional prohibitions against that kind of behavior. Given the fact that in 2016, over 100 UM pastors came out of the closet to declare that they were homosexual and wanted to practice their orientation openly within the UMC, I imagine that the denomination will soon become “welcoming and affirming” to sodomites at all levels of the church.

Even supposedly evangelical churches are caving in to the pressure of the L… movement. There is a lot of pressure within evangelicalism to take a soft position on the issue, to allow sodomites as regular members within the church. Writers and scholars are promoting the idea that churches should welcome homosexuals and not preach against that sin. Recent polling (by the Public Religion Research Institute) shows 43 percent of white evangelical millennials (born 1981-1996 [22-37 years old]) support same-sex marriage.[1] Dozens of formerly evangelical churches have made the decision to accept the L… movement and support same-sex marriage.

Later this month (July 26-28), a Presbyterian church in St. Louis will be hosting The ReVoice Conference. It is billed as “Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.” Good luck with that. It sounds like a blatant contradiction to me.

I believe that the L… movement is a significant threat to the Christian church for several reasons.

[1] Heidi Hall, Religion News Service, “As one evangelical church ’comes out’ for LGBT rights, others cast a wary eye.” March 3, 2015. https://www.washingtonpost.com