Aaron Edwards (bio is at the end of the article being reviewed) might feel like one of the first victims in a losing cause. He was fired from his job of lecturer and program lead in a Methodist college in England. He was dismissed from his job because of a tweet he posted about homosexuality. Because of progressivism and the LGBT movement that he has seen in the churches, he believes that the world is encroaching, or invading in his words, the Church and causing it to compromise its biblical standards on sexuality. In particular, he sees the Church giving in to the world on the issue of homosexuality. At least that is what he reported in a recent article of his posted on the American Reformer website (click here for the article).
What did he write in his tweet? The article includes a quote of that tweet:
“Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals no longer see the severity of this because they’re busy apologising for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it’s true. This is a ‘Gospel issue’, by the way. If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need a Saviour.”
His tweet triggered a number of complaints from stating that the tweet is homophobic to some from those in the LGBT community who now feel threatened by his presence.
After briefly describing the ordeal he went through with his employers, Edwards goes on to make some other charges about the Church being 'invaded' by the world on the beachhead of homosexuality. He starts with the Church of England. While not fully endorsing same-sex marriages, that denomination has decided to pray for the blessing of same-sex couples. Edwards attributes this new view of homosexuality by the Church of England to cultural pressures and accuses those officials in the Church of England who look favorably on same-sex couples as being in denial of having surrendered to cultural pressures.
Edwards then goes on to say that his tweet was aimed at those in the Church who feel it necessary to apologize for opposing homosexuality. The cause for the apology revolves around how the Church, in the past during the what is known as Christendom, has persecuted and harmed those in the LGBT community. While discussing that harm, Edwards says the following:
"I am not saying there is never a reason to repent of sinful discrimination against homosexuals, if warranted."
Edwards goes on to talk about how Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) ideology has found their way into Christian universities. That the LGBT beachhead is a problem for both Church and college officials. So that the damage being done to the churches by this ideological invasion is also being done to Christian colleges.
Edwards then goes on to say that even the employment of himself with his views at his particular college has caused some higher officials in the Methodist Church to question the denomination's relationship with that college. He goes on to talk about how the Methodist Church tried to keep both the LGBT community and evangelicals who opposed same-sex marriages in the denomination. They did that by voting to affirm same-sex marriages while claiming that there is freedom to hold to the traditional view of marriage. He then mentioned a movement in the Methodist Church that both affirms same-sex marriage and claims that opposition to same-sex marriage means that one does not believe that homosexuals deserve respect.
Edwards then cites Rod Dreher who compares the relationship between the Church and state in the old Soviet Union with what is now happening in the West over the issue of homosexuality. He then mentions the 'Progressive Inquisition' where what was ok to say one one day will lead to persecution the next. Edwards sees progressivism as a key enemy that is infiltrating the Church. As a result of the shifting standards from the inquisition, that Christians will be free in the Church to believe one thing as long as they are silent.
Edwards continues by saying that 'suppressed speech' will lead to 'suppressed beliefs.' And so we must be wise in how we state our beliefs but that that should not be confused with being silent. We need to take risks in sharing what the Scriptures say. That we might even need to become missionaries in our own churches. For here we must remember that the Church did not spread because its members were silent.
To properly react to this article, one must look again at the tweet that triggered Edwards's dismissal from the college in the light of the context of the times. Edwards may not know much about how the LGBT community has been regarded and treated in the US. However, homosexual acts were treated as crimes punishable by incarceration in England where Edwards is from. How even when those acts were decriminalized by a SCOTUS decision, employees in the majority of states could be harassed and even fired from their jobs for being homosexual. Some homosexuals were discriminated against in other ways and even beaten or killed because of their homosexuality. And of course same-sex marriage could have been seen as the impossible dream during those days. And many of those who maintained and wanted to keep that treatment of homosexuals in society were Church leaders, influencers, or just ordinary members.
And so being from England, Edwards may not have know how, for centuries, homosexuals were so marginalized and persecuted in the America. But he certainly should know what happened to his fellow countryman, Alan Turing, when he was caught engaging in a homosexual acts.
We should first note that Turing will always stand as a giant in the field of computer science. In addition, he did important work in breaking the German code during WW II for England. When convicted of having engaged in homosexual acts, Turing was given a choice between spending time in prison or undergoing chemical castration--taking chemicals that eliminated his body's production of testosterone. Around two years after being prosecuted, Turing died from cyanide poisoning. It is still unknown whether that poisoning was a suicide or accidental poisoning. So Edwards should know how, for centuries, homosexuals were regarded and treated in England. And again, for centuries the position of the Church supported this marginalization of homosexuals in England.
All of that is why Edwards's tweet is a bit unsettling. Again, he tweeted:
“Homosexuality is invading the Church. Evangelicals no longer see the severity of this because they’re busy apologising for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not it’s true. This is a ‘Gospel issue’, by the way. If sin is no longer sin, we no longer need a Saviour.”
And so when Edwards mentions that Evangelicals were preoccupied with 'apologizing for their apparently barbaric homophobia, whether or not that is true,' why does he use the word 'apparently' and the phrase 'whether or not that is true.' We are talking about centuries of well documented Church supported abusive marginalization of homosexuals. While Edwards merely lost his job, homosexuals were incarcerated in part because of the views of the Church.
We might also want to look again at another Edwards quote from the article that says:
"I am not saying there is never a reason to repent of sinful discrimination against homosexuals, if warranted."
Here, we should note the ending of the quote that says: 'if warranted." Again, there is ample documentation of Church supported discrimination and even abusive treatment of homosexuals in England and he adds that ending?
It would interesting to learn what Edwards believes should society's treatment of homosexuals. It would help us understand his perspective. His possible views on that are hinted at by the phrases 'possibly barbaric homophobia,' 'whether or not that is true,' and 'if warranted.' But we shouldn't jump to conclusions even though those phrases suggest that Edwards is partially in favor of some degree of marginalization of homosexuals by society. What is often suggested is shown to be false. And in saying that, I've used the same approach toward Edwards as he has taken toward homosexuals with the use of those phrases.
While Edwards complains about society and the culture invading the churches with the churches's changing stand on homosexuality and same-sex marriage, shouldn't we also conclude that Christendom itself was an invasion into society and its culture by the Church. After all, laws that were based on the Bible were imposed on all in society regardless of their affiliation with the Church. That the Church used at least power to make rules for people who didn't accept what the Church preaches.
And if Christendom was an invasion by the Church into society and culture, then what are we to think of those who want to reimpose some of those Church laws and standards onto society and in the culture such as the prohibiting same-sex marriage? Is the Church trying to mount a counterattack on society and its culture? Is that what our culture wars are about? Are our culture wars this ongoing attack and counterattack between the culture and the Church--at least the conservative portion of the Church?
As pointed out by this blog over decade ago in an article about how whether Christians support same-sex marriage or not depends on one's location (click here for the article). If by one's location, we are talking about the Church, then Christians cannot accept same-sex marriage by its members. But if by location, we are referring to society, then we put many of our fellow believers in a bind when we attempt to legally prohibit same-sex marriages because many of them have rightly learned from Post Modernism that marginalizing those in the LGBT community is wrong. And the Scriptures back that point.
In addition, trying to deny equality for the LGBT community unnecessarily hurts the credibility of the Gospel--hurting the credibility of the Gospel is something all of us Christians do anyway because, as James says, we all stumble in many ways. If we can support freedom of religion in society though believing the Gospel requires us to see all other religious faiths as being false and leading people to hell, why is it that we can't support same-sex marriage in society in order to promote the full equality of the LGBT community in society and yet prohibit such marriages in the Church?
By now we should see that we, that is those of us in the Church, have unnecessarily been treating those from the LGBT community horrifically for centuries. And it's high time that we change and repent from mistreating the LGBT community so horribly. At the same time, we must hold to biblical sexual morals for those in the Church.
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