Guest editorial: Why a ‘standard’ must be set

At this year’s annual meeting of the Baptist General Convention of Texas, I made a motion which included the following statement:

I am a sinner saved by grace. The Bible makes it clear that “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Therefore, the motion I’m about to make is offered with the sincerest possible humility because we are no better than anyone else. We are simply saved by the blood of Jesus. Our desire is for Texas Baptist churches to be loving, respectful and welcoming to all people. However, our position on biblical marriage has not changed.

Therefore, I move that because of the historic and biblical positions of the BGCT as stated in multiple resolutions, motions and actions, that any church which affirms any sexual relationship outside the bonds of a marriage between one man and one woman be considered out of harmonious cooperation with the Baptist General Convention of Texas.

Codify a standard

The purpose of this motion was to codify what already had become a standard for harmonious cooperation—namely, a church’s endorsement of sexual relationships outside of a one-man, one-woman marriage—and to support the courageous leadership of our executive director, David Hardage. Before explaining why this action was necessary, allow me to reiterate two points mentioned in my statement above.

First, one of the greatest challenges I face as a pastor-preacher is to speak or write about someone else’s sin. I have my own struggles with sin, and I am far from the perfect standard of righteousness towards which we strive in our journey of being conformed to the image of Christ. I am a fellow struggler on this journey with other fellow strugglers. So I am sensitive to the fact that it is always easier to talk about someone else’s sin rather than my own.

Second, my true desire is for our churches to be “loving, respectful and welcoming to all people.” We have church members who either struggle with same-sex attraction, or they have family members who do. On one occasion, two grandparents asked my advice about a granddaughter and her partner coming to the house for Thanksgiving. Should they let them into the house? Was that condoning their relationship? I said they should absolutely welcome them with open arms. We must love people to Jesus, not turn them away. Jesus was accused of being a “friend of sinners” (Matthew 11:19). Praise God! The Pharisees meant that as an insult, but it was his highest compliment. Jesus’ example is to go out, build relationships and love all people to him. We must do the same by reaching out to all people and welcoming all people into the house of God.

Why this motion?

So why this motion? The most loving and courageous way we, as Baptists, can respond to the cultural challenges of our day is to speak the truth in love, not to change the message. It is to share the reality that we are all sinners in desperate need of forgiveness from our God and Savior Jesus Christ. Jesus loved all people and was a friend of sinners, but he did not water down the truth to suit their appetites. He rescued the woman caught in adultery, but told her to “go now and leave your life of sin” (John 8:11).

Marriage is the first institution ordained by God through the union of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. God the Father said, “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh” (Genesis 2:24). Jesus repeated this statement and added, “Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate” (Mark 10:7-9). The Apostle Paul repeats it again in Ephesians 5:31 and reveals the “profound mystery” of how this union between husband and wife is symbolic of the union between Christ and his bride, the church. The meaning is beautifully insightful, and an explanation would be beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say that a blood covenant is made the first time a husband and wife are joined together, just like a blood covenant is made when we receive Jesus as Lord through his sacrificial death on the cross.

Furthermore, there is not even a hint in the New Testament that God’s ideal in marriage can be defined any other way than one man, one woman. To the contrary, a tidal wave of evidence describes sex outside of heterosexual marriage as offensive to God, including premarital sex, adultery and the practice of homosexuality. Instead, we are to “flee from sexual immorality,” for our bodies are a temple for the Holy Spirit, which means “you are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore, honor God with your bodies” (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).

Orthodoxy and marriage

Two thousand years of Christian orthodoxy has defined marriage as a sacred union between one man and one woman. Now, a few churches have chosen to rebel against the clear teaching of God’s word to accommodate those struggling with sexual sin. They have made these decisions on the basis of being “loving.” They accuse those who disagree as being intolerant and say we are “drawing the circle smaller.” In fact, “they have exchanged the truth about God for a lie” (Romans 1:25) in order to say “what itching ears want to hear” (1 Timothy 4:3). The circle has not changed for 2,000 years. They have chosen to step outside the circle.

I affirm the autonomy of the local church to make whatever decision they choose. But to compromise on the definition of marriage is to compromise the definition of sin and our covenant with God through Christ. Jesus suffered and died for the sins they now claim are acceptable. Jesus wants to forgive and transform us. To redefine marriage is to cheapen the grace of God the Father, the sacrificial death of Jesus the Son, and the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit. In effect, it is to change the gospel.

The 20th century German pastor-theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote in The Cost of Discipleship: “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, communion without confession. … Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” It is a grave injustice to offer cheap grace by affirming people in their sin, rather than join with them as fellow sinners helping one another to grow into the fullness of Christ.

Defining issue

The issue is not about welcoming homosexuals or unmarried heterosexuals into the church. We lead people to Christ, baptize them and then lovingly and gently disciple them by “teaching them to obey everything” Jesus has commanded us (Matthew 28:20). We do not expect new Christians to get everything right from day one. We give them time to learn and grow. In our church, we have seen several young, heterosexual couples cohabitating who eventually come to faith in Christ and, in time, choose to be married.

Biblical marriage has become the defining issue in 21st century ecclesiology because the gospel itself is at stake. We cooperate as BGCT churches of like faith and practice in order to share the gospel and make disciples. Churches that redefine marriage have chosen to corrupt the first, God-ordained institution, to cheapen the blood of Jesus, to preach a false gospel and to short-change people struggling with sin. The BGCT should be a big tent, but that stretches it too far.

Craig Christina is pastor of Shiloh Terrace Baptist Church in Dallas.