The effort of certain ones to normalize the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender (LGBT) lifestyle within the Seventh-day Adventist Church has become increasingly open and serious. The public acknowledgement of a pastor in Europe as to his bisexual leanings, together with the recent and public comments of a female pastor in North America urging acceptance of this lifestyle within the church, have notably raised consternation among the striving faithful in the denomination as to where such developments will lead and what will be done concerning them.
When considering the implications and outcome of these issues, I believe the following points should be pivotal:
1. While no sin is singled out in Scripture as more egregious in God’s sight than another (James 2:10), the fact remains that the Bible condemns same-gender sexual intimacy without qualification, in both the Old and New Testaments. Regardless of the language used, this is the united testimony of the Biblical record (e.g. Lev. 18:22; 20:13; Rom. 1:26-27; I Cor. 6:9-10; I Tim. 1:10). For those who adhere to the message of Scripture as the sole measure of faith and practice, there can be no tolerance of same-gender sexual relations as a morally acceptable option for members of the faith community.
The fact that other sins may be tolerated at times within the community of believers is no excuse for the tolerance of this or any other sin. Neither two nor a multitude of wrongs make a right.
2. The official Seventh-day Adventist Church stands in full accord with the Biblical prohibition against same-gender sexual relationships. Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief No. 23, “Marriage and the Family,” restricts the definition of marriage as occurring “only between a man and a woman who share a common faith” [##1|Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 2022 edition, p. 176.##]. In its articulation of conduct that warrants church discipline, the Manual likewise states:
Marriage is defined as a public, lawfully binding, monogamous, heterosexual relationship between one man and one woman [##2|Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 2022 edition, p. 68.##].
Among other things, fornication is defined by the Manual as including “homosexual activity” [##3|Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 2022 edition, p. 68.##]. No distinction is made in either the inspired writings or the governing documents of the church between “monogamous” homosexual relationships and other non-heterosexual relationships.
3. The principal goal of church discipline is redemption, not punishment. The word “discipline” comes from the same root as “disciple.” The purpose of discipline within the body of Christ is to enable the offender to rebuild his or her spiritual defenses and to ever after adhere to the written Word as one’s supreme authority and spiritual guide. Truth must ever be spoken in love (Eph. 4:15), whether inside or outside the church. The objective of “gaining” one’s brother or sister is the stated purpose of the conflict resolution formula outlined by Jesus in the eighteenth chapter of Matthew (Matt. 18:15-17).
In describing the need for the godly rebuke of sin and the rightful discipline of sinners, Ellen White offers this beautiful balance between courage and compassion:
Those upon whom rests the burden of this work will not hold their peace when wrong is done, neither will they cover evil with a cloak of false charity. They will remember that God is no respecter of persons, and that severity to a few may prove mercy to many. They will remember also that in the one who rebukes evil the spirit of Christ should ever be revealed [##4|Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 675.##].
4. In dealing with doctrinal and moral error, neither dialogue nor patience can be open-ended. Apostasy and sin operate within the body of Christ in the same way cancer operates within the physical body. If not curtailed, they will metastasize. While it is imperative that offenders clearly understand the teachings of the inspired text relative to faith and conduct, while no one should be removed from church employment or membership without being given ample time to repent of their wrongs, neither conversation nor forbearance should proceed without specific objectives. The Church Manual speaks of the disciplinary course identified as censure as involving anywhere from one to twelve months’ time [##5|Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 2022 edition, p. 69.##], and for the following reasons:
(1) To enable the church to express its disapproval of a grievous offense that has brought disgrace upon the cause of God and (2) to impress offending members of the need for a change of life and reformation of conduct and to give them a period of grace and probation during which to make those changes [##6|Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 2022 edition, p. 69.##].
Endless dialogue and protracted patience can easily devolve into studied neglect of a problem. Such a course is as ruinous to the body of Christ as cancer is to the human body. Measures both decisive and compassionate are imperative in such cases. Nothing less than the fate of souls hangs in the balance.
5. The connection between the campaign for women’s ordination to the gospel ministry and the campaign for LGBT acceptance in the church should be clear to all honest observers. The female pastor noted at the beginning, recently “ordained” to the ministry in defiance of the thrice-voted action of the General Conference in 1990, 1995, and 2015, has made clear her support for acceptance of LGBT relationships by the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This is how the issue of gender relations has progressed in other denominations. The following statement in Time magazine in 2015 bears this out:
For many evangelicals, the marriage debate isn’t really about marriage or families or sex—it is about the Bible itself. And that makes many evangelicals all the more uncompromising. The roots of the conflict are deeply theological. . . .
And there is another, just as fundamental, obstacle. So far no Christian tradition has been able to embrace the LGBT community without first changing its views about women. The same reasoning that concludes that homosexuality is sin is also behind the traditional evangelical view that husbands are the spiritual leaders of marriages and men are the leaders in churches. . . .
“It is not an accident that the women’s-liberation movement preceded the gay-liberation movement,’ [Episcopal Bishop Eugene] Robinson says. “Discriminatory attitudes and treatment of LGBT people is rooted in patriarchy, and in order to embrace and affirm gays, evangelicals will have to address their own patriarchy and sexism, not just their condemnation of LGBT people” [##7|Elizabeth Dias, “A Change of Heart: Inside the evangelical war over gay marriage,” Time, Jan. 26, 2015, pp. 47-48.##].
More recently, in response to the February 2019 decision by the United Methodists to reject gay clergy and same-sex weddings, the following was likewise noted as to the relationship between LGBT acceptance and the granting to women of identical roles in ministry to those of men:
Conservative delegates argued that their position is a matter of biblical fidelity. “Traditional believers regard scripture as being the ultimate authority,’ [Keith] Boyette said. “When it comes to something like our teachings on human sexuality and what the Bible spells out as the boundaries there, those are essentials.” Other delegates, however, argued that conservatives focus on this issue to the exclusion of others, such as divorce, and that conservative Methodists are perfectly willing to interpret the Bible’s teachings on other issues, such as women in ministry [8].
Corrective measures in the Seventh-day Adventist Church must address the unscriptural effort to erase distinctions in spiritual gender authority as surely as it must address efforts to normalize non-heterosexual practice as a legitimate Christian option.
6. To teach that sin is unconquerable is to make sin inevitable. All Seventh-day Adventists should be grateful for the affirmation of the Inter-European Division president at the 2024 Spring Meeting of the General Conference executive committee, when he affirmed “the power of Jesus Christ to overcome all our shortcomings” [9]. Sadly, there are those in the denomination who reject this clear Biblical teaching, who insist that even through the power of Jesus Christ imparted to the believer, the total expulsion of sinful conduct remains out of reach. So long as this unscriptural heresy retains adherents within the church, allowance will invariably be made for whatever our more persistent shortcomings happen to be.
It is time, long past time, for the church to affirm without shame or embarrassment the simple truth of such Bible verses as the following:
Having therefore these promises, dearly beloved, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God (II Cor. 7:1).
7. The removal of open sin from the church and the fulfillment of the church’s mission to the world are inseparable goals. The story of Achan’s sin and punishment dare not be forgotten. After the defeat of the Israelites at Ai, God declared to Joshua:
Up, sanctify the people, and say, Sanctify yourselves against tomorrow: for thus saith the Lord God of Israel, There is an accursed thing in the midst of thee, O Israel: thou canst not stand before thine enemies, until ye take away the accursed thing from among you (Josh 7:13).
In Ellen White’s words:
The history of Achan teaches the solemn lesson that for one man’s sin the displeasure of God will rest upon a people or a nation till the transgression is searched out and punished. Sin is corrupting in its nature. One man infected with its deadly leprosy may communicate the taint to thousands. Those who occupy responsible positions as guardians of the people are false to their trust if they do not faithfully search out and reprove sin. Many dare not condemn iniquity, lest they shall thereby sacrifice position or popularity. And by some it is considered uncharitable to rebuke sin. The servant of God should never allow his own spirit to be mingled with the reproof which he is required to give; but he is under the most solemn obligation to present the Word of God, without fear or favor. He must call sin by its right name. Those who by their carelessness or indifference permit God’s name to be dishonored by His professed people, are numbered with the transgressor—registered in the record of heaven as partakers in their evil deeds [##10|White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 2, p. 996.##].
It is never appropriate to distinguish in the minds of church members the imperative of revival and reformation on the one hand and the fulfillment of the church’s evangelistic mission on the other. They go together. The success of the second depends on the success of the first. Without revival through a return to the Word and reformation through the practical fulfillment of the same, the mission of the church to humanity becomes impossible.
Conclusion
Let us pray for and encourage our leaders to take a decisive though compassionate stand for the teachings of God’s Word relative to gender and sexuality, and to hold all accountable at every level for their adherence to the same. Nothing less is possible for the great end-time movement of whom God will one day soon declare, “Here are they that keep the commandments of God, and the faith of Jesus” (Rev. 14:12).
REFERENCES
1. Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 2022 edition, p. 176.
2. Ibid, p. 68.
3. Ibid.
4. Ellen G. White, Prophets and Kings, p. 675.
5. Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, 2022 edition, p. 69.
6. Ibid.
7. Elizabeth Dias, “A Change of Heart: Inside the evangelical war over gay marriage” Time, Jan. 26, 2015, pp. 47-48.
8. Emma Green, “Conservative Christians Just Retook the United Methodist Church,” The Atlantic, Feb. 26, 2019 https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2019/02/united-methodists-fracture-lgbt-plan-rejected/583693/
9. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6o3IcKV829o
10. White, SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 2, p. 996.
Pastor Kevin Paulson holds a Bachelor’s degree in theology from Pacific Union College, a Master of Arts in systematic theology from Loma Linda University, and a Master of Divinity from the SDA Theological Seminary at Andrews University. He served the Greater New York Conference of Seventh-day Adventists for ten years as a Bible instructor, evangelist, and local pastor. He writes regularly for Liberty magazine and does script writing for various evangelistic ministries within the denomination. He continues to hold evangelistic and revival meetings throughout the North American Division and beyond, and is a sought-after seminar speaker relative to current issues in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. He presently resides in Berrien Springs, Michigan