I’ve become more and more aware of the prevalence of LGBT-affirming theology in recent days. Our local United Church now proudly and publicly displays that it is fully affirming of the 2SLGBTQIA+ agenda. Movements like Side-A and Side-B are churning out books and online resources. There are many false teachers and deceived Christians who are advancing and receiving various forms of this theology.
SIDE-A AND SIDE-B THEOLOGY
Recently, I took a “research dive” into the pool of the Side-A and Side-B movements. “Side-A” refers to professing Christians who believe that God condones homosexual marriage and behavior. Some influential thinkers pushing this ideology are Matthew Vines and Brandon Robertson.
“Side-B” (or Revoice) refers to professing Christians who believe that God condemns homosexual marriage and behavior, but who also think it is permissible for LGBTQ+ people to identify as such while living a celibate lifestyle. So a person can call themselves a “gay Christian” or “queer Christian.” Side-B people also apparently think it is fine to have homosexual attractions or desires, as long as you don’t act on them. Some even say you should covenant with a same-sex friend to live together while remaining celibate. Some influential writers and thinkers for Side-B are Preston Sprinkle, Nate Collins, and Wesley Hill.1
THE ERROR OF SIDE-A
Most Christians can readily discern why Side-A is wrong. The Bible, while demonstrating that homosexuals can be saved by Christ (1 Corinthians 6:9-11), does clearly call homosexuality sinful and unnatural.
Along with the illustrative story of Sodom and Gomorrah (Genesis 18-19; especially 19:1-11) and the biblical commentary on it (Jude 7; 2 Peter 2:6-8), we have clear verses in Old Testament moral law (Leviticus 18:22) and New Testament epistles (Romans 1:26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:10) which tell us God’s standard on the matter.
Even underneath all that, we have the foundation of God’s creation of heterosexual, monogamous marriage in Genesis 2:24-25: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh. And the man and his wife were both naked and were not ashamed.” This means that all other forms of sexuality are unnatural and immoral (lust, pornography, polygamy, adultery, fornication, homosexuality, bestiality, prostitution, rape, etc.).
Side-A theology rejects or re-interprets these passages in order to permit what was seen as sin by faithful believers for all of biblical history and most of church history.2
THE ERROR OF SIDE-B
The deadly error in Side-B is a little more subtle. It says: “We hold to traditional Christian sexual ethics! We encourage people to take on a life of self-denial. But some people are homosexual and their attractions are not wrong, until they become lust! Isn’t it better to recognize this, and make them feel welcomed and safe to express their identity while they commit to giving up their desired lifestyle?”
The problem with this is that Christ changes a Christian at the level of identity and desire. We have to be changed and sanctified deep within our hearts, because our hearts are the source of sin (Mark 7:20-23). God is now bringing about heart-redemption through the gospel, taking out stubborn hearts and replacing them with responsive hearts (Ezekiel 36:26). People who hear of Christ and believe in him are “born again,” and “new creatures” who are now fundamentally identified with Christ and being changed into his likeness (John 3:3, 7; 1 Peter 1:3, 23; 2 Corinthians 5:17; Colossians 3:10-11). Christians are called, in light of this new identity in Christ, to put off the old self with its practices and evil desires and to put on the new (Colossians 3:5-9; Ephesians 4:22-23). We are to reckon ourselves “dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:11).
The battle against sin is won in the heart and mind, at the level of thoughts and desires. Deceiving people into thinking they can identify with sinful desires and live comfortably with them is a sure way to hinder or destroy them. This is like putting soldiers on a battlefield with no knowledge of the what the enemy looks like or what their tactics are.
To be clear, I am not saying that a real Christian could never struggle with homosexual desires. I am saying that when a Christian struggles with any kind of sinful desire, they need to war against it by God’s grace. They need to know that if they are a believer they are not identified with their sin, but rather they are identified with Christ Jesus, who made an end of all their sin at the cross. They need to know that their indwelling sin is deadly, but that they have the power to mortify it by the Spirit of God who dwells within them (Romans 8:13).
To encourage professing believers to embrace their old identity and desires rather than putting them off and putting them to death is a deadly false teaching. It is such a blatant contradiction to the New Testament teaching of the apostles that it should be apparent to all Christians. The problem is, these errors sometimes come clothed in attractive clothing. They disguise themselves as “the compassion of Christ” and “hospitality.”3 But if we are trying to be more compassionate and hospitable than Christ and his apostles, then we surely got off on the wrong foot.
CONCLUSION
We must warn people of the eternal danger their souls are in if they indulge in sexual immorality. False teachers who push the world’s LGBT agenda are “ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality” (Jude v. 4). The apostles of Christ tell us in the clearest terms that those who live in unrepentant sexual immorality will not inherit the kingdom of God, but rather will be thrown into the lake of fire (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; Ephesians 5:5; Colossians 3:6; Revelation 21:8). If you affirm people in these sins, you are aiding in their deception and damnation.
If you are in sexual sin of any kind, God lovingly calls you to repent and come to Christ for salvation. You must get broken over your sin and confess it to God, resolving to part with it by God’s grace. Christ’s blood shed at the cross is more than sufficient to pardon all your sin. And when you believe in him, he will begin to plant holy desires in your heart and he will strengthen you to gradually put off your old self with its desires.
If you are entertaining Side-A or Side-B theology, you must get back into Scripture and submit your mind and heart to his clear Word. I invite you to go back through this blog and look up and consider all the Scriptures I have referenced. These things are not unclear,4 and they are not secondary or tertiary matters.5 If you are a Christian, the Holy Spirit will guide you into all the truth as you prayerfully study his Word, interpreting Scripture with Scripture.6
If you are a Christian who is struggling with sin, keep fighting, keep struggling, and keep mortifying. Don’t give up, even when the sinful inclinations that dwell within you seem so strong. Don’t give up when you fall into sin. And don’t struggle alone. Confess your sin to a close brother or sister or pastor, and get the help you need in the local church. And remember: there is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, and one day you will be completely free from all your sinful desires, thoughts, and actions.
If you have more questions about this subject, I encourage you to talk to your pastor or an elder. If you would like to read a statement on biblical sexuality, I recommend The Nashville Statement. If you would like to read or listen to a faithful sister who was saved out of this lifestyle, I recommend Rosaria Butterfield.
Pastor Rory St. John
- See a website of their own with a breakdown of views here: The Four Sides | Life on Side B. It should be noted that there are a spectrum of views within this movement. “Revoice” is a prominent conference that is part of this movement. ↩︎
- Side-A often employs complex hermeneutical and historical arguments. For instance, that Paul’s condemnation of homosexuality is actually a condemnation of pederasty, not consensual homosexual relationships. Or that the sin of Sodom was not homosexuality, but gang violence. Or that the Bible gives us a “hermeneutical trajectory,” so its teaching is meant to be developed beyond what is written. Some arguments from Side-A assume a different understanding of Scripture than a historically orthodox view of the Bible as God’s inspired and infallible Word. Often it comes with other elements of higher-critical/liberal theology. Rebecca McLaughlin recently published a succinct book that ably refutes the claims of affirming theology (though I don’t necessarily endorse everyone she endorses or everything she says). Does the Bible Affirm Same-Sex Relationships?: Examining 10 Claims about Scripture and Sexuality ↩︎
- Preston Sprinkle advocates for what is called “Pronoun Hospitality.” He means we should use people’s preferred pronouns rather than ones that correspond to their biological sex, so that we have the ability to talk with them. Should Christians Use Preferred Pronouns? | Preston Sprinkle ↩︎
- The Bible assumes its own clarity or perspicuity. It is not something only pastors or scholars can understand. The Word of God is able to make wise and impart understanding to the simple (Psalm 19:7; 119:130). ↩︎
- Some have argued that this is an issue Christians can agree to disagree on. They might say they hold to the essentials of the faith, while affirming LGBT theology. But issues of Christian morality that are attended by the strongest warnings in the Bible (1 Corinthians 6:9-11; cf. Ephesians 5:3-6) are not light matters. In fact, if we affirm people in these sins, we are aiding their deception and damnation. ↩︎
- The rule of comparing and interpreting Scripture verses/passages with other Scripture verses/passages is very important. It keeps us in tune with God’s mind on a subject and helps us to avoid a skewed understanding based on one passage and our proposed interpretation of it. Historical data and context can help us understand God’s Word. Faithful pastors and teachers can also help us. But the most important thing is to be acquainted with the totality of Scripture. We must also be aware of the fact that there are false teachers who can lead us astray, even if they say they believe the Bible and use the Bible. ↩︎