My Church Has Become LGBTQ Affirming. What Should I Do?

Hi, this is Bill Meyer. Up next, it's a special best of edition of CORE Christianity. The leadership in my church is affirming of those who practice homosexuality.

What should I do? That's just one of the questions we'll be answering on today's edition of CORE Christianity. Hi, this is Bill Meyer along with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and this is the radio program where we answer your questions about the Bible and the Christian life every day. You can call us right now with your question at 833-THE-CORE.

That's 1-833-843-2673. You can also post your question on our Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter accounts, and you can email us with your question at questions at COREChristianity.com. Well, Pastor Adriel, how was your church service yesterday? I think it went well, Bill. Thank you for asking. We actually had a baptism, which was really wonderful. That was a wonderful thing. How about for you, Bill?

Didn't have any baptisms at our church. We're doing missions week, talking about all the different missions projects and interviewing missionaries and the pastors up there wearing interesting garbs. So it's been a neat couple of weeks. Let's get to our first call. This is Peter from Syracuse, New York, who has a question for us. Peter, welcome to COREChristianity. Thanks for calling us today.

What's your question? And I have a question about the Azuzu revival, which happened out in Los Angeles in 1906, and how the Assemblies of God churches were started out of that because of all the miracles experienced and how people today in the church should see that in light of what the Bible says and stuff. An example like continuationism versus cessationism.

Thank you very much. Thank you for that question. You drop in some good theological terms there. Continuationism, that is the belief that the miraculous gifts of the Holy Spirit continue in the life of the church today, and cessationism, which is the belief that those sign gifts, that they were really associated with the time of the apostles, and that as the history of the church progressed, especially after that early stage when the gospel was getting sort of jump-started into the world, that those gifts began to die out. Once we had now the canon of scripture, the word of God in this form that we have it, we didn't need those miracles in the same way, and they didn't function in the same way.

How do we look at some of these movements that have happened over the history of the church? Well, we examine them on the basis of Holy Scripture. At the end of the day, God has spoken very clearly in his word, and finally in his son Jesus. In fact, the author to the Hebrew says in the very beginning of Hebrews, in Hebrews chapter one, God spoke in various ways to our fathers by the prophets and so on and so forth, but in these last days has spoken in his son. Jesus is the final and ultimate revelation of the father for us, and God has given us his word in scripture. I think we go to the scriptures and we examine these revivals, whichever one we're talking about.

You're referring to the, quote unquote, Azusa Street revival in the early 1900s. We examine them on the basis of scripture. Now, my take is that there can be real revivals that take place in the church today, but that those revivals happen primarily through the faithful preaching of the word of God. How do churches that are, quote unquote, dead and struggling become renewed, how does new life get breathed into them? It happens through the preaching of the word. I think of that wonderful image that we're given in Ezekiel 37, the prophecy of the dry bones, where Ezekiel is given this vision from the Lord of these dry bones, this valley of dry bones, and the Lord asks him, you know, can these bones live?

And he begins to tell the prophet to speak the word of the Lord to the dry bones, and it's the word of God that begins to bring the dry bones back to life. And in the church today, when the church has gone astray historically, whether it was in the medieval church or even in recent days, churches that have abandoned the right understanding of the gospel, the pure preaching of God's word, the way in which we get back on track is not necessarily, I would say, through signs and wonders, it's through faithful Bible teaching, Peter. And so I'm generally suspicious of movements that say, oh, there's this wonderful work that's happening, and the focus is on the sort of miraculous and not on the gospel, because actually in the gospels that were given in the New Testament, the miraculous was always meant to point to something else, namely the ability of Jesus Christ to forgive our sins, the heart of the gospel. That's what you see, for example, when Jesus healed the paralytic in Mark's gospel. He says, I'm gonna do this miracle so that you might know that I have authority on earth to forgive sins. And so my question is, when we're thinking about these different revivals, is, is the word of God being preached, and is Jesus and the forgiveness of sins being magnified?

If that's not happening, well, then I think we should view them suspiciously, because the Spirit of God, the primary work of the Spirit of God today is to fix our eyes on Jesus. Thank you for your question. Amen. Some great counsel there, Adriel. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez. Here's the phone number if you have a question. It's 1-833-843-2673.

That's 833-THE-CORE. Let's go to Kyle calling in from Salem, Oregon. Kyle, welcome to Core Christianity. Hello. Hey, Kyle, thanks for calling us today. What's your question?

Thank you. So I was raised in the prosperity gospel and the word of faith movement, and I've just kind of recently discovered that there, you know, was a historical Christianity, because that's not taught there. And we're always, you know, declaring things to sickness and demanding God deal with sickness. And I was wondering, now that I'm just kind of learning and a baby Christian, what is the correct way to approach sickness and prayer for and expectations?

Yeah. Yeah, that's an excellent question, because Kyle, as you said, you know, in some movements, like the prosperity gospel movement, the sort of theology is God's will is for you never to be sick. There is a problem with you if you are sick. You don't have enough faith. You're not really trusting in the promises of God or laying hold of that which the Lord has for you. And I'm so grateful to hear that the Lord has brought you out of that, because that is a devastating theology. It puts this huge burden on individuals, especially individuals who are suffering, and they feel like, well, it must be my fault.

I don't have enough faith. It can't be God's will that I'm sick. Well, the reality is, is scripture tells us very clearly that the Lord can and does use even sickness in the lives of his people, suffering, persecution. I mean, Paul told Timothy, you know, take a little bit of wine every day because of your frequent stomach ailments.

He didn't just say, you know, name it and claim it. No, even Timothy struggled with sickness. And so we as believers will too, but we can still be encouraged to pray that the Lord would heal. We just don't want to be presumptuous. We don't want to assume that it's always God's will to do this or to think that, you know, God is sort of this genie in a bottle that we can just wish whatever we want and he'll give it to us, that kind of a thing.

And I go to James chapter five, because I think James gives us the proper prescription here for how we should approach this issue. He says in verse 13, is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.

Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. And so right there, you know, James is encouraging if someone is sick, let them call for the elders of the church and let them gather together and lay hands on the sick brother or sister and pray for the Lord's healing. Now, does that mean that God is always going to heal?

No, but God can. We believe that we believe that God is absolutely able to heal miraculously and that he does. And so we pray for it, but ultimately we trust in him and say, Lord, we're confident in you, in your will for us. We're praying for this. This is something that we want, but we can't be presumptuous and we can't command God to do things for us as if he worked for us. We are servants of the living God. And so we go to him in humility and we pray for each other and we pray for each other when we're sick.

And that's what James says we should do there. Kyle, thank you for your question. May the Lord bless you. Thanks so much, Kyle, and thanks for listening to CORE Christianity. By the way, if you are a regular listener to this program, we want to tell you about something that you can be involved in, and that is joining our inner CORE. Our inner CORE team are people that really believe in this ministry and want to support us on a regular basis.

We have some special resources we'll send you, so you can check that out at our website, which is COREChristianity.com. Let's go to Brian, who's calling in from Junction City, Kansas. Brian, welcome to CORE Christianity. Well, thank you. Brian, welcome to the broadcast.

So good to have you today. What's your question, brother? Let's just say I'm a back-flooding Christian and I want to get back into the church, and my wife is, like, really against it. Let's say a couple years ago I brought the idea of going to church, and she basically started bawling, and I don't want to say begging, but this kind of was, like, begging us not to get into the church, and I was just looking for some guidance on how to get back into the church and to bring it up to my wife, I guess. Well, Brian, I definitely want to want to pray for you, but first let me just let me just get to your question. Jesus is the Good Shepherd, and he pursues us when we wander.

He pursues you. The very fact that you're calling right now into this broadcast, I mean, in my mind is a sign of the fact that Jesus the Good Shepherd is pursuing you, and even when we fail, when we fall, when we've been quote-unquote backslidden for a long period of time, that doesn't mean we're beyond the grace of God. I mean, I just think of Peter after he had denied Jesus and what Jesus does for him at the end of John's gospel, how Jesus cooked him breakfast, restored him on the shore of the beach. I would encourage you to read that story at the very end of John's gospel, how Jesus treats Peter, and when we go to the Father after having backslid for a period of time, I just want you to know that when we go to him, humbly, repentant, he welcomes us.

You think of the parable of the prodigal son in Luke chapter 15. He welcomes us. He welcomes you, and that might be a scary thing. It sounds like it's a scary thing for your wife, but there is no better place to be than in the arms of Jesus, than cared for by him, experiencing his grace, his forgiveness. What it should do is it should make us into more loving people, more loving husbands, and so I'm not sure why it is that your wife is scared or concerned about this, but I think first and foremost it sounds to me like you are sensing the call of the Lord, that you just don't know what it is that you're saying, that you know you need to be back in the church, and so I would say taking steps in that direction, and as you take steps in that direction, because it's what the Lord calls us to, to walk in the light, to be a part of local churches where the word of God is faithfully taught, that you're also praying for your wife and encouraging her and hopefully showing her that this is a wonderful thing, that this is a good thing for you, for your marriage, for the both of you, because as I said, there's no better place to be than in the arms of Jesus, and so as the Lord is calling you to himself, heed the call, go, continue to pursue him.

You calling in is even a sign of you pursuing him right now. I would say open up the word, study the scriptures, get plugged into a good church, and as you're doing all of those things, be praying for your wife, that her heart would also be softened as well, and so Brian, I want to pray for you right now as the Lord is working in your heart and in your wife as well. Father, I thank you for Brian and for his willingness to call and open up on this broadcast, and I pray for him, and I know many others as they listen right now are also praying for him, that you would give him a sense of your love, of your grace, of your forgiveness, Lord, toward all those who call upon your name, the name of your son, Jesus Christ, that you would fill him with your Holy Spirit, that you would give him wisdom, Lord, to know what steps he needs to take now in getting plugged into a good church where your word is faithfully taught, where he's going to hear the gospel and be encouraged, and I pray also for his wife, that you would give her a sense of your presence, of your love, of your goodness.

Be with them, Lord, in this time of transition and change, so be with them, protect them from the evil one, and bless them, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen.

Thanks, Brian, so much for your call. We will continue to pray for you and your wife, and as Adriel said, that you find a church where you are she and you both feel welcomed and cared for and that truly preaches the gospel. That would be the prayer for all of us. Amen. This is Core Christianity with Pastor Adriel Sanchez, and you know, on this program we do receive a lot of calls from people who are wrestling with tough questions.

If you listen very often, you know that's the case. People even call concern that they've done something so bad that they've jeopardized their standing before God, that they've lost their salvation. Well, here at Core Christianity, our mission is to help answer those tough questions, but we can't do it without your support.

That's exactly right. You know, we also hear from people who want to share their faith with family members and friends, but fear that they won't have answers to the tough questions that they're asked. Our work gives people confidence in their faith and comforts with the truth of the gospel. We take your questions and respond with biblical answers every day on the radio, through our web articles and bible studies. All of our efforts aim to help people dig deep into the scriptures, showing them how the gospel of Jesus Christ has the power to equip believers with confidence and wisdom as they live out their Christian faith before a watching world. So if you've benefited from Core Christianity, please consider giving a gift of twenty dollars or more now, and as a special thank you, we'll send you our new bible study on the book of Philippians. What guides our life?

What motivates us? What does the Christian life look like in practice? As you hear on the show, that's what people have questions about, and we find so many of the answers to those questions in the book of Philippians. And that's exactly why we wrote this bible study. It's really a great way to help you or somebody you know build confidence in understanding the bible. And as Adriel mentioned, with a gift of twenty dollars or more to help support this ministry, we'll send you a copy of the brand new Philippians bible study. To pick up your copy, just head over to corechristianity.com forward slash new study. That's corechristianity.com forward slash new study.

Well, let's go to a voicemail question that came in from one of our listeners last week. I've been worshiping in a tradition in the United States since 96. I have always been aware of a homosexual bishop in England. We just kind of ignore it because both of the churches that I have attended are conservative and preach a clear gospel and don't fool around about you know trying to say something is not sin when it clearly is. I just wonder if that if we can't afford that compromise anymore. But anyway, as long as Jesus has held up his Lord, I'm comfortable there. I'm not trying to be picky and rebellious, but I just wonder what you think of that kind of compromise.

Do you think it trickles down? Stand at the top. Thank you so much.

Bye. Yeah, thank you for that question. And you know compromise in the Christian life and in the church is never a good thing. And it's really important that we understand what is it that makes the church a church, a true church. What are the marks of the true church of Jesus Christ on earth today? Well we would say number one is the faithful preaching of the word of God. So is God's word being taught faithfully? Is the gospel being clearly communicated?

That's key. If you don't have the faithful preaching of the word of God, you don't have the church because the church is created by the word. God speaks the church into existence through his holy gospel. It's beautiful.

It's amazing. And so you have to have the word for there to be the church, the true church. You also have to have the right administration of the worship that Jesus gave us, the ordinances that he talked about, baptism and the Lord's Supper, these signs and seals that Jesus himself instituted for us and for the church to observe. Is the church doing these things?

I think it's very important for us to ask that question. And thirdly, is there discipline? Is there fellowship? You know people growing together in the Christian life, encouraging one another, exhorting one another day by day like the author of the Hebrews said in Hebrews chapter 3. And then church discipline like Jesus articulated in Matthew 18. These are the marks, the signs of the true church of our Lord Jesus Christ. And where these things are happening, Jesus is present according to his word, according to his promise. Now a lot of churches are abandoning the faithful preaching of the word of God. There are even quote-unquote churches that say the Bible isn't God's word.

And what you begin to have there are all sorts of very serious problems. Now it sounds to me like you're in a local congregation that is faithful to preaching the word of God but is a part of a bigger denomination that is maybe beginning to go astray. And where they're going astray it sounds like is on issues related to sexuality and in particular gay and lesbian relationships. Well this is something that the Bible speaks very clearly to. First Corinthians chapter 6 verses 9 through 11, listen to what Paul said, or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived, neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who practice homosexuality nor thieves nor greedy nor drunkards nor revilers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you Paul said, but you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the spirit of our God. And so churches I think that that take the position that homosexuality is okay, gay and lesbian relationships are okay, that they're in the eyes of God, it's not a sin issue.

They've gone astray, they've gone astray. What they're teaching is not what the Bible teaches and it's a serious thing. And Jesus I think made this clear, right, that actually leadership in the church does begin to trickle down as you said. Jesus said in Matthew chapter 15 verse 14, blind guides if they lead cause the people that they lead to fall into a pit. Now again I know that there are faithful pastors and godly men who are leading churches and denominations that are going astray and have gone astray.

I recognize that and that's a, I mean there's a real tension there. There's a battle there that I know some of these churches are trying to fight, trying to reform things from the inside. And the question is do we want to fight that battle?

Are we able to? Can we really bring about change or is it better maybe to separate? And I think that's where you are going to need wisdom. If you're in a church though that is faithfully preaching the gospel, a local congregation that is calling sin sin, that is administering the ordinances that Jesus gave according to his word, then I would say you don't necessarily have to leave that church. I wouldn't say you have to because other churches around or maybe in the proximity aren't as faithful as they should be. It sounds like maybe the church you're a part of is trying to bring about reformation and that's a really good thing. And so I would say pray and ask God to give you wisdom about which decision you should make. And again we need to realize that a little leaven leavens the whole lump like Paul said in 1 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 6. And so sometimes maybe the better decision is to say look this stuff is spreading, these beliefs, these ideologies are spreading, we need to get out of here. But I don't know that I can tell you one way or another if the church that you're in presently, the local congregation, is being faithful to the word of God, talk to your pastor about it and share your concerns and pray.

And may the Lord bless you as you make this decision. By the way we have an excellent resource here at Core Christianity which you can find on our website or in today's show notes. It's called 10 Things You Need to Know About the Bible and Homosexuality. So when you go to the website just check for that resource on today's show notes page. We have time for one quick question. Here's an email that came in, Adriel, it's from Jason. He says, how should we understand the gates of hell not prevailing against the church in Matthew 16 18?

What does that look like? Yeah, a really important question. I mean, Jesus said to Peter, I'm going to build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against her. And I think fundamentally what that means is that the gospel that was preached by Jesus delivered to the apostles which they handed down to the elders in local churches that they planted, they were sort of passing it down, that that gospel would never be lost in the history of the church. That despite the fact that over time in church history we've had all sorts of corruption, abuse, false gospels that have been preached, the true gospel would always be on earth. And there are cults like the Mormons and the Jehovah's Witnesses that say, no, the gospel was lost for a long time and we had to restore it.

That kind of a thing. Well, no, the gospel, the forgiveness of sins by grace through faith in the name of Jesus Christ, that is always going to be preached and would be preached. And at the end of the day, God's kingdom is going to advance and has advanced for the last 2000 years.

And so in difficult days like these, you know, it's easy to be discouraged. We have to remember that promise that Jesus gave. The gates of hell will never prevail against my church because my gospel is going to be preached. Thanks for listening to Core Christianity. To request your copy of today's special offer, visit us at CoreChristianity.com and click on offers in the menu bar or call us at 1-833-843-2673. That's 833-The-Core. When you contact us, please let us know how you've been encouraged by this program and be sure to join us next time as we explore the truth of God's word together.