When LGBT Families Come to Church: We Can't Choose Between Truth and Love

Christian Post ^ | 09/13/2018 | John Stonestreet And G. Shane Morris

[cuban leaf]

You can love them like you love someone with anorexia. Don’t enable their illness.

[I want the USA back]

You can go to church. But don’t act in opposition to your human nature and claim that it is because God made you that way.

[Biggirl]

Heads up to my Evangelical brothers and and sisters in Christ, the LGBT folks are coming!

[Bob434]

The bible tells the church to confront the sinners living in open rebellion to God, and tell them to repent, and if they will not to excommunicate them

Church discipline is a matter of Christian love- it is meant ot get hte open rebellion sinners to repent and become right with God- for their own good- if they refuse to accept htis, then God commands they be ousted

“And if your brother sins, go and reprove him in private” (Matt. 18:15)

“If he doesn’t listen to you, take one or two more with you” (Matt. 18:16)

Matthew 18:17: “And if he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church.”

the fourth step, the last half of Matthew 18:17, must be implemented: “And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax-gatherer.” That means the person is cut off from all association with the local Body of Christ

The emphasis on severing ties to the person continues in 1 Corinthians 5:13: “Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.”

The Goal Is Restoration. It often happens when a person is cut off from all association with believers that the seriousness of the sin is recognized. The person may have nowhere to turn except back to God. If the person repents, the Church is to welcome the believer back immediately.

http://www.biblebb.com/files/CHDISCIP.HTM

The reason for the excommunication is to try to get the open rebellion sinners to recognize they are living in open rebellion to God and get them to repent for their own good BECAUSE if they do not, God will bring sickness as a consequence, and then ultimately death to the person or persons. Excommunication is NOT done out of anything but love for those who are excommunicated- The world sees it as unloving, but it’s not- it’s for the good of the people involved in the open rebellion

[Wonder Warthog]

I don't see the problem. No matter what the status of the parents, the child is innocent. The only answer is the the child should be baptized.

[Biggirl]

Tell them to REPENT and BELIEVE in the Gospel!

[Leep]

My feeble understanding of repent involves turning away from sin.
If you are not turning away you are still sinning.

[Albion Wilde]

"Unrepentant sin of any kind is a problem... of course, this requires a correct understanding of sin, of the church, and of Christ's sacraments. To simply try to love people into the Kingdom without truth isn't love at all, it's sentimentality. "

So true. The Church of Nice might as well be a denomination. (A false one.)

[tbw2]

Yes, you can. We love you, we offer ministry to you, and we disagree with your “lifestyle”, whether homosexual, swinging heterosexual or drug abuse.

[MyKidsDad73]

"I don't see the problem. No matter what the status of the parents, the child is innocent. The only answer is the the child should be baptized."

From the article:
"The church had theological convictions about sex and marriage, as well as about how, in their theological tradition, infant baptism was offered based on the faith and obedience of parents. The pastor, however, chose to go through with the baptism, in order to 'show love to the child and her parents.'"

In full disclosure, I do not believe in infant baptism but rather believer's baptism. You simply can't point to a scenario in The Bible in which an infant was baptized.

With that said, and in accordance with this specific belief, I would argue that the only answer is to decline infant baptism based on the parents' disobedience.

[PCPOET7]

at least in the Lutheran church there is a second couple that stands with the couple who is getting the child baptized. there responsibility is to the spiritual welfare of the child. you allow the baptism and explain the problem insisting that the god parents not be anyone involved in the sin that is in the way of the child being baptized. the child is innocent but the parent and there partner are not... I am guessing that the lesbian or gay couple would feel so self righties about it not being a sin that in most cases the baptism would not happen.

[G Larry]

Baptism is a poor example.

It is for the benefit of the child, without regard for the state of the souls of the "parents".

[Albion Wilde]

This is a tough one. If the church believes in infant baptism, then they could offer to baptise the child privately, but not as a public display in front of the congregation.

During the last century, one of my relatives had parents in a religiously mixed marriage. The parent who claimed religious “ownership” of the child never went through with taking the child to church. So the other parent just started taking the child to the other denomination, and when it was time to be confirmed, the child and her faithful parent had to skulk into the church office to have the 12-year-old baptized. The church was not fooling around, and did not want to encourage neglectful parenting, since they believed that baptism brought God’s protection to the infant.

These requests for special accomodations by gay couples are often a direct attempt to denounce the church, and by extension, the Word of God, and lay the groundwork for lawsuits. So the churches need to address these matters in their by-laws in advance of such requests being made, to remove a legal ground for discrimination against individuals (as distinct from a long-standing, clearly stated policy).

[Freedom_Is_Not_Free]

Hate the sin, love the sinner. I will never accept homosex-trasvestitism.

[BlessedBeGod]

You don't use a baby's soul to teach someone a lesson. It's of eternal/infinte importance to that baby and to God.

Instruct the couple as best can be done and hope it made an impression (and even follow up on it), but do not use that baby's soul as a bribe/cudgel/punishment for the sins of the parents/"parents."

[AppyPappy]

Can you give Communion to someone who hates homosexuals?

Ooooh...my head.

[Buckeye McFrog]

The loving thing IS to tell them the truth.

[chesley]

Not believing that infant baptism has any validity, that question doesn’t bother me at all. However, how is the child responsible for the sins of the parents?

If one believes that baptism is necessary for salvation even for infants, how is it loving to put the child in danger of hellfire because the parents are in a state of unrepentant sin?

That said, it is different with adults. Blatant, public sinners should not be encouraged with lies.

[sarge83]

They would not be voted in as members as they are openly in defiance of God. There would be lots of no votes and they would not like the messages from our pastor. He doesn’t breath fire and brimstone towards gays but he makes it very clear God didn’t just change his mind in the last ten years about this abomination in his eyes. He would say we will love you but we will condemn the sin and not look the other way because you are showing no attempt at repentance.