Credentials
According to what I'm hearing, the United Methodist Church convicted Elizabeth Stroud, a lesbian "pastor" in the Philly area, of violating church law for living with a lesbian partner and it seems likely that she will lose her credentials as a pastor.
I'm amazed that this is even a debated subject. Of course she should be removed from her pulpit. Frankly, I don't believe she should have occupied that pulpit to begin with, but that's another issue.
This whole debate comes back to one thing....our view of the Scripture. When churches deviate from accepting the Bible as God's inspired Word - the rule for our faith and practice, ...issues like this arise.
I'm sure that Elizabeth Stroud is a fine person. In fact, I just read the entire text of her "coming out" sermon and she seems, from her writing, to be rather pleasant. The mistake so many are making is that instead of embracing Elizabeth, they are embracing her brazenly sinful lifestyle and treating it as a non-issue.
My greatest concern as I read her sermon related to her mention of counseling sessions or other such meetings with young people. It disturbs me greatly to think that she could be influencing impressionable teens into thinking that her manner of living is perfectly fine and should be welcomed and smiled upon.
As is the case with all sin, the culture of brazen homesexuality ultimately leads to three things; depression, disease and death. If we want to spare Elizabeth and others like her of that kind of self-destruction, we ought to avoid watering down the truth of God's Word and we must share the truth of the loving law of Christ in word and deed.
posted by Pastor John @ 10:57 PM
3 Comments:
God has chosen far worse "sinners" than Elizabeth Stroud to deliver His message.
Moses, Noah, David, Saul. None of these men would pass your "virtue" test either, would they. Maybe you should cast their teaching aside as well.
Do you not see the plank in your own eye?
None of us will ever be as pure as the Saviour. Besides, God commands us to leave judgement to Him. I'm sure you knew that. Or maybe you only pay attention to God when He's talking about someone else's sins?
Self-righteousness weakens Christianity. So, please, try to conduct yourself accordingly. A good rule of thumb is to remember that all men are sinners and fall short of the glory of God. That means Elizabeth Stroud, and me, and you, too.
Judgement will come for all men. No need to hurry it along. Anyway, God will take care of it, start to finish, all by Himself. He won't need your help.
Dear Anonymous,
I appreciate your thoughts regarding the issue I raised with Elizabeth Stroud although I believe you missed the point of my post.
My problem isn't with Elizabeth as a person. My problem is with the embracing of sin (in this case, lesbianism) and treating it as if it isn't sin at all.
You mentioned several individuals from Scripture including David whom we all know was involved in adultery. The difference between someone like David and Elizabeth Stroud is that when David was confronted about his sinful behavior by Nathan, David repented. He didn't continue trying to justify sinful behavior. Because David had such a humble attitude the Lord referred to him as a "man after his own heart."
Lastly, I would like to say one more thing. I am very aware that I am a sinful person, as we all are. I struggle in many areas. But I pray, by God's grace, that I will have victory over my struggles and will never embrace them or condone them as healthy or preferential.
Hi Pastor John!
This is Alan Atchison from HCMC. Love the site! I've actually been knocked out by the flu bug, and reading your site was the first I've laughed in the past 2 days.
Anyway, I know this post is like 2+ months old, but I just wanted to say that I think it's very commendable that you're striving to keep Christians accountable in this very sensitive issue. I agree with you 100% that it's a case of "love the sinner, hate the sin" and we can't go around sugarcoating the truth of God's word. The Elizabeth Stroud case actually hits home for me a bit because as you may know, she was found guilty by a vote of 12 to 1. The 1 not-guilty vote was actually from my former pastor, from a United Methodist Church I grew up in. My family and I (as well as half the congregation) left the church in 1999 over this issue, as the pastor made clear his acceptance of the homosexual lifestyle, and was (and probably still is) in support of instituting gay marriages in our church. I'm not trying to trash talk my former pastor. He was a very nice man, and I was also friends with his kids. But his understanding and preaching of God's instructions for marriage were totally wrong and it's important that we, as Christians, speak the truth in love, even though it may ruffle some feathers. At the same time, as "anonymous" said, we need to be mindful of the planks in our own eyes as we speak the truths of God's word.
By the way, have you listened to Dee Snyder's radio show on 93WMMR? If you grew up a Twisted Sister fan, you'll wanna check it out!
Hope to catch up with you soon!
-Alan
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