Page 12 - Push Back

"This isn't a change in the church's teaching," said Rev. James Bretzke, a theology professor at
Boston College. "What's important is the change in style and emphasis..."
[Source:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324354704578635401320888608.html]

Do you think it coincidental that the Pope and one of America’s most well known evangelical
broadcasters both are in the news on the same day making statements that will lead to a greater
acceptance of homosexual behavior among Christians? Very cunning are the words of these men
as they make it appear that judging is an evil thing to be avoided.

Pat Robertson
"It's not for you to decide or to judge."

Pope Francis
"Who am I to judge a gay person of goodwill who seeks the Lord?"

In the recent video I posted, I shared that judging is not restricted to declaring something to be
evil. We are also judging when we say something is acceptable. Pat Robertson was making a
judgment when he said that God created some men who are in women’s bodies, and some
women who are in men’s bodies. The absence of any Scriptural justification for this astonishing
comment is clearly noted.

There is also a fallacy in the statements of both of these men as it pertains to judging. A Christian
is NOT initiating a judgment on their own, they are not “deciding” a matter in their own soul,
when they express agreement with Yahweh’s words recorded in the Bible. The Christian is not
judging the issue. They are only judging that what Yahweh has declared is authoritative and
correct. Yahweh is the One who is judging. As Christians, it is our responsibility to accurately
share the thoughts, judgments, and reasoning of God with others. Paul stated that we are Christ’s
“ambassadors.” An ambassador does not make policy decisions on his own initiative. He merely
represents that policy of the one whom he is representing.

Notice also that the Pope uses the word “gay” rather than “homosexual,” or the Biblical term
“Sodomite,” when speaking. With such subtleties, the abomination of homosexual behavior is
diminished. At the same time Christians are encouraged to not “judge” those who are
homosexuals, which is a giant step forward to the goal of accepting homosexual behavior as
normal.

Perhaps by now, you are feeling somewhat oppressed by the massed weight of opinion, both
within and without the church. There is a constant pressure being exerted for mankind, and
Christians in particular, to accept homosexuality. At the very least, Satan would silence those
who have stood in agreement with Yahweh’s condemnation of homosexual activity. This was
accomplished to a large degree when the President of Chick-fil-a made some pro-heterosexual
statements in an obscure Baptist periodical a few months back. The firestorm in the media was so
intense, and the corporation came under such intense threat, frightening many franchisees, that all
Christian executives and leaders of Christian businesses, will hesitate to speak out against