“Acceptable” Sins in the Church
In the denomination that I belong to, there is some debate about who should be allowed into the membership of individual congregations. The group that is being targeted is the LGBTQ community. Some are arguing that LGBTQ people should be excluded from church membership.
I am not going to discuss here whether or not homosexuality is a sin.
I think we can all agree that a big part of this debate is based on the presence of words related to homosexuality that are found in some of the sin lists in the New Testament. These are often called the “clobber passages.”
Again, I’m not going to discuss here whether the words used in those passages include the idea of a committed same-sex relationship.
The idea is that if homosexuality is found in those sin lists, then LGBTQ people are excluded from church membership. But before we jump to that conclusion, we should take a closer look at some sin lists in the New Testament.
Here are a sample:
For it is from within, from the human heart, that evil intentions come: fornication, theft, murder, adultery, avarice, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, folly. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” (Mark 7:21-23)
Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers—none of these will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Now the works of the flesh are obvious: fornication, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, envy, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these. I am warning you, as I warned you before: those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Galatians 5:19-21)
You must understand this, that in the last days distressing times will come. For people will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, inhuman, implacable, slanderers, profligates, brutes, haters of good, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, holding to the outward form of godliness but denying its power. Avoid them!(2 Timothy 3:1-5)
I want you to notice something about these lists. While there are some sins that definitely concern us, there are many that are found and tolerated in all of our churches⏤not just among members but leaders as well.
These would include: envy, slander, pride, folly, greedy, enmities, strife, jealousy, anger, quarrels, dissensions, factions, lovers of money, boasters, arrogant, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, and lovers of pleasure. Notice how often envy appears in these lists.
I have never heard of anyone barred from or removed from membership because of any of these things. In fact they may be seen as signs of an entrepreneurial spirit and the person might be placed in an important place of leadership. I can testify that many pastors admit that they are envious of the success of other churches but none of them express concern that envy disqualifies them from pastoral ministry, muchless church membership.
As we consider the role of LGBTQ, we cannot ignore Romans 1. Again, I am not debating what Paul is describing there in the exchange of the natural. But I do want to point you to what he says just a few verses later as part of the same argument.
They were filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, covetousness, malice. Full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, craftiness, they are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, rebellious toward parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. (Romans 1:29-31)
Here too we have list of things that are regularly accepted in the church. How much gossip and slander go on in churches? Read what Christians put on social media about each other. What are the chances that someone would be barred from membership because they were boastful or rebellious toward parents?
Should LGBTQ be fully included into the membership of a congregation? If there is a negative answer based on certain sin lists, then at least admit that you are not being consistent. Admit that certain items in these sin lists are acceptable and certain items need strong measures. Admit that you are choosing things that bother you and that you are not treating all behaviours the same.
