Come Down, Lord!

  I’ve listened with appreciation to Gavin Ortlund’s discussions surrounding doctrinal triage. Like him, I think it is important to distinguish between primary, secondary, and tertiary differences. But I was surprised when I heard him say that human sexuality is a secondary issue . In fact, he clarified by saying that whether a person affirms the traditional view of marriage as between one man and one woman is not a primary issue but a secondary one—important, but not essential.* I understand the impulse to limit the list of essentials to things like the doctrine of the Trinity, the virgin birth, the atonement, and salvation by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone, for example. But—assuming I have understood him— is he right? If human sexuality is a secondary issue, then it is a difference we can live with , something like baptism. Think about that for a moment. We have Baptist and Presbyterian denominations because the differences between us on baptism—as on other issue...

The following was originally posted on our church blog in 2014 .  It has been edited slightly. Here I offer a review of David Gushee's book followed by a plea, which is directed to those who are LGBT, along with their families and their friends.  A Review Gushee is not the first to  change his mind  on what he calls “the LGBT issue,” and he won’t be the last.    The question is, does he have a case?    Should the rest of the evangelical community follow suit?    Is this a reformation worthy of our participation?    Gushee has concluded it is, and he wants you to carefully reconsider what has been the Church’s consistent (and almost unanimous) teaching for 2000 years.    In fact, his book comes as a plea to the broader community of which Gushee has long been a part.    Should we listen to him?    As I interact with his book I want to examine three of his arguments and show why his book – far from he...