Away From Sin Into Freedom

The power of the Church is grounded in the truth of the gospel and our devotion and effectiveness in living according to the Word. Ephesians 2 describes the powerful work of the Spirit in the lives of His people:
19 Now, therefore, you are no longer strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God,
20 having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ Himself being the chief corner stone,
21 in whom the whole building, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord,
22 in whom you also are being built together for a dwelling place of God in the Spirit.

When the body is functioning as a body, united by Christ and empowered by His Spirit, we can see the Lord do incredible things.  However, when we attempt to look more like the world than like Christ, our influence is weakened and the fulfillment of our mission is reduced.  We can seek each day to be open to the work of the Lord in our hearts and allow His love to encourage us and flow through us, so that the power of Christ can be seen in us. 

+++++

Paul wrote to Timothy about the preservation and power of the Church and as members of the body, we are called to partner with the Holy Spirit to uphold its witness. 1st Timothy 3 states:
14 These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly;
15 but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth.
16 And without controversy great is the mystery of godliness: God was manifested in the flesh, Justified in the Spirit, Seen by angels, Preached among the Gentiles, Believed on in the world, Received up in glory.

The Church of the living God has the potential to be a tremendous force in this world, but our witness is stained and restricted if we are not walking in the personal and corporate holiness that God desires for us and has made possible through Christ.

Yet, there is a narrative that has permeated the Church, a narrative of permissiveness that seeks to paint local churches as being intolerant.  An agenda-pursuing ReligionNews.com story started off with the story of a gay man who had his sin pointed out to him and was removed from leadership.  The article says that this instance is...

... one shared by thousands of LGBTQ young people who grew up in evangelical churches that deny them full participation. LGBTQ people are typically excluded from serving on church boards and from leading worship or other church groups. They are not ordained or allowed to marry same-sex partners in the church. That’s causing many younger evangelicals — gay and straight — to question the integrity of their church’s theology and the consistency of its biblical interpretation.

The story cited a PRRI study that shows 51% of white evangelicals ages 18-49 favor same-sex marriage, while a-third over age 50 do.  Julie Rodgers, who was a staff member at Wheaton College and who could have been described as a "Side B" "gay Christian," possessing desires but not acting on them, is quoted in the article: "Most people know and love someone who’s openly gay....It causes them to wrestle with the implication of teachings that say, ‘We’re bad and wrong and sinful.’

As the article notes, Rodgers was featured in a Netflix documentary called "Pray Away."  Apparently, the film attempts to discredit what has come to be known as "conversion therapy."  The Religion News article claims:

Conversion therapy, the discredited practice of attempting to change someone’s sexual orientation or gender identity, has increasingly come under fire, as the documentary “Pray Away” reveals. At least 20 states have banned the practice among minors. 

Who says it has been discredited?  This is a case where an attempt to help someone break free of sexual sin has been isolated and demonized, and given a label.  Stephen Black of First Stone Ministries isn't buying it. He posted on Facebook:

Dear Friends, this documentary is an anti-Christian, anti-Biblical pathetic opining of whining victim-mentality failed-fallen-former Exodus leaders who are in love with themselves, and who are FILLED with UNBELIEF! I like how Andrew Comiskey put it, they are the "BRAY AWAY" - meaning that they are The Little Whiny Lamenters of loving self. Deceptively, they have a hatred of God's holy standards for human-sexuality.

The reference to Exodus is about a failed organization which at one time was helping people to walk away from the homosexual lifestyle. 

Apparently, according to Movieguide.org, the documentary features a story of someone who did make the transition. His name is Jeffrey McCall, and the article states:

“PRAY AWAY has a clear agenda to stop conversion therapy practices,” McCall says. “They believe that trying to change one’s sexuality can be harmful. My ministry is quite different from previous former LGBTQ ministries in that the focus is on relationship with Jesus. I don’t focus on behavioral changes, I focus on wanting to see people cleaned from the inside out. I believe obedience to God follows an internal cleanse of the Holy Spirit.”

McCall lived as a transgender woman named Scarlet for several years before he had a radical encounter with Jesus Christ.

While McCall was performing drag, he was secretly listening to sermons from Pastor Jentzen Franklin and the Holy Spirit began to convict him.

“I cried out to God and He spoke to me,” McCall tells Movieguide®. “It was just a few months later I threw my life as Scarlet in a dumpster.”

The article says, "McCall saw the opportunity to participate in PRAY AWAY as a chance to share his story of redemption with a larger audience."

The tolerance of sin is a forfeiture of power.  We need a powerful Church today, yet when we compromise truth in the name of acceptance, we weaken our influence, because the power of God does not reside in a Church that has abandoned truth. 

We also restate, for the record, that the power of God is available to change lives.  We are not called to accommodate sin of any type - and once we are convicted of our sinful attitudes and behavior, we don't identify with that sin, we seek to eliminate it from our lives.  It is a redemptive work of the Holy Spirit that produces freedom - the freedom that Jeffrey McCall celebrates through his movement, the Freedom March, and the initiative of Stephen Black called, Freedom Realized.  Rather than find ways to accommodate sin, these men and like-minded individuals are boldly stating that the power to change is present and available.

The Church is full of sinners, correct - flawed individuals who have been redeemed by a flawless Savior. We can celebrate our new life in Christ, and when we blow it, we can come into the loving arms of a Savior and confess our sins in order to receive His forgiveness.  And, if we have offended someone, we can ask to be forgiven.  If we have bitterness and unforgiveness, unconfessed sin in the Lord's house, we inhibit the work that He wants to do.