Die Kerkbode, the official newspaper of the Dutch Reformed Church in South Africa (DRC/NGK), published an article on 18 February 2019 entitled, “Congregation chooses ‘love instead of fear’ with the appointing of gay minister”.
The article’s title is terribly misleading.
1. God loves LGBTQ people
John 3:16 remains true. God loved the world so much that he gave his Son to save whoever would believe in him.
God loves all kinds of people, from princes to priests, from millionaires to those struggling to make ends meet, from those who practice archery to those who practice homosexuality. God loves those who struggle with gambling and those who struggle with same-sex attraction.
God loves all kinds of people. God’s love compelled him to send Jesus.
Jesus was born king. He died to save. He rose to rule. He will return to judge.
The reason God sent Jesus to save us is because our sin condemn us before a holy God.
2. God calls LGBTQ people to repent of sin
The call to follow Jesus is a call to repentance and faith.
Jesus said,
“The time promised by God has come at last!…The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!”
Mark 1:14015 (NLT)
J I Packer sums it up well,
“Repentance is a change of mind issuing in a change of life. Since practical atheism, which disregards God, is natural to fallen human beings, godliness has to be founded on repentance from the start. Repentance means a right-face turn and a quick march in the direction opposite to that in which we were going before.”
(In ‘A Passion for Faithfulness’)
The call of the gospel is a call to turn daily from sin and self-rule and to turn towards Jesus as King.
The proud person should stop boasting. The glutton should stop over-indulging. The corrupt politician should stop accepting bribes. The greedy businessperson should stop offering bribes. The adulterer should be faithful. The heterosexual couple living together should move out or get married. The person with same-sex attraction should remain celibate. The single, heterosexual person should also remain celibate. The short-tempered person should learn self-control.
Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to, “Go and sin no more.” (John 8:11)
Faith and repentance must go together.
Christians will never be perfect in their repentance, but they certainly will be progressing.
3. God’s people seek to imitate Him
The gospel is wonderful news for all people, including those who view themselves as LGBTQ.
In Jesus, there is freedom from the power of sin, death and Satan! In Jesus, there is adoption into God’s family and life forever! In Jesus, we become what God intends us to be.
If we really love LGBTQ people, we will call them (like everyone else) to turn from sin and follow Jesus. Stated conversely, how much must we hate LGTBQ people not to warn them of the eternal wrath of God on their sin?
Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. Some of you were once like that. But you were cleansed; you were made holy; you were made right with God by calling on the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.
1 Corinthians 6:9-11
God commands all his people, “Be holy as I am Holy’. (1 Peter 1:16)
4. Being a Christian is a call to humility
Once we repent of sin and self-rule and follow Jesus as King, we humble ourselves before God.
We realign our thoughts, lifestyles and worldviews to what God says in his Word. We re-adjust our definitions of love and marriage to what our Creator knows to be true. We constantly seek to re-calibrate our fallen minds (and feelings) to what the Infinite Mind has revealed. Cf. Romans 12:1-2
We must, of course, demonstrate Christ’s love and care to all people, including those in the LGBTQ movement.
However, embracing and normalizing sin is not honouring to God, nor loving to the sinner.
The Puritan, John Owen, rightly said,
“Be killing sin or it will be killing you.”
(In ‘The Mortification of Sin’)
The leaders of this particular DRC/ NGK congregation have not been loving or humble. They have been extremely unloving and arrogant.
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Here is an article by the newly-appointed DRC minister.
Here is the testimony of God’s grace from a young lady who was part of the LGBTQ movement.
I commend this and this book for further reading.
Here is what I believe the Bible teaches about sexuality.