The Danger of "Side B Theology"

Hello, and thank you for listening to the Testing the Spirits podcast. In this episode, we're going to be talking about Side B Theology. There's a good chance you've never heard about this, but you need to know what it's about because let me just tell you this little story.

How a Church Moves from Anti-Gay to Fully Affirming

There used to be a church in our area, probably the largest Baptist church in the county. They were very much anti-gay, like totally anti-gay back in the 1980s, 1990s. They were preaching that AIDS is the judgment of God and just, yeah, that's the kind of stuff you heard from the pulpit back then.

That same church today, they dropped the label Baptist, and now they are fully affirming, and they're posting rainbow flags on their Facebook page. How does a church go from one end of the spectrum to the exact opposite end?

Well, they are able to do that. People are able to shift a church and change a church like that because of Side B, this Side B doctrine. Let me just read the definition. By the way, Side A, just think of A and affirming.

Side A is fully affirming, fly the rainbow flag. Side B is, here's the position, the definition, believers, Side B are believers who hold that homosexual orientation is not a sin. So you can identify as LGBTQ, and that's totally fine, totally fine, because it's not a sin.

They say it's only a sin if you act on it. Side B takes the position that sexual relationships between people of the same sex are wrong. So if you actually commit the act, that's wrong. But romantic relationships are different.

So basically, you can pretty much cuddle and do, and I hate to even talk about this because it is, you know, I don't want to talk about this, but whether you like it or not, this is the, if it's not the main issue the church is facing today, it's one of the main issues.

So more people and more churches have gone apostate because of this issue more than anything else that I've seen. So it's just something we have to deal with. But Side B theology says that homosexual orientation is not a sin.

It's only a sin if you act on it. So same-sex relationships are okay as long as you don't do the act. So you can be romantically involved, you can cuddle, you can hold hands, you can live together, you can identify as gay, you can identify as trans, you can do all that as long as you don't commit the act.

Proponents of Side B theology say that this view teaches that homosexuality is no different than any other sin. So let's say you're a little overweight. Well, they'll say, well, you know, gluttony is a sin too.

So what you're doing and what, you know, some gay guy who's having, you know, hundreds of partners a year, same thing. All sin is equal. One is not any worse than the other. Now, listen, when you read this stuff, automatically verses should be coming to mind.

It's like, okay, that's not right because of this. That's not right because of that. Obviously, not all sin is equal. Now, any one sin is enough to make someone a sinner. Adam ate a piece of fruit that God told him not to eat.

In that sense, any sin is serious in that big picture sense. But I just did a study yesterday on Sodom and Gomorrah, and the reason why God destroyed the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah is because they were exceedingly wicked and sinful.

So it's not just that they were sinful. They were wicked and sinful, not just wicked and sinful. They were exceedingly wicked and sinful. That's what the Bible says. So you really shouldn't have to try to argue with somebody.

Everyone should know that murder is worse than, you know, let's say there's some guy out there and he steals a bag of chips from the convenience store. He steals a soda from the local 7-Eleven. Stealing is wrong.

I mean, that's a sin. It's wrong. No question about it. Murder is much, much worse. Torturing somebody is much worse. Homosexuality is worse than many. I'm not saying it is the worst sin, but it is worse than others.

So side B theology says it's no different than if you're 20 pounds overweight, you're just as sinful. Or you know, whatever sin you might have, you know, you might really want a new car and that's coveting and you're just as bad as they are.

So what they do is they basically make all sin equal. That's the first error with side B theology. So if your church is already accepting that, you're set up for failure. So they say all sin is equal.

Therefore, homosexuality is no different than any other sin and we all have sinful desires,.

Which is true.

I mean, we are, we all face temptations, so they face temptations. Therefore, you know, this is the argument that leads to as long as they're not engaged in the lifestyle, then it's, it's no different than anything else.

So as long as you can identify, and here's the thing, I don't know any Christian that is identifying as a thieving Christian. You know, I'm, I'm just, I'm a Christian, but I'm a lying Christian. I'm a Christian, but I'm an adulterous Christian.

I'm a Christian, but I'm a murdering Christian. You'd say, no, that's, that's not the way it works. You don't identify, put that sin in front of your Christian identity. But these people do. They will say it's perfectly okay to identify as, you know, a trans Christian.

Again, as long as you're not acting on the desire, there's nothing wrong with that. You can even be in a relationship with somebody as long as you guys aren't actually doing.

The act.

I mean, how does that work? I mean, really, I mean, let's say there was a young straight couple, boyfriend and girlfriend. They're in a relationship, but they say, well, we're not going to do anything.

We're going to live together, but we're never going to actually commit the act. I mean, most people would be like, yeah, right. You say you're not, and maybe you haven't yet, but you will, and you're just setting yourself up to do it if you're living together.

I mean, all of this should be obvious what the problem is. Another thing that I would say, Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew chapter five, Jesus said, if you lust for a woman in your heart, you have committed adultery in your.

Heart.

That doesn't mean it's just as bad as actually committing adultery, but it still is sinful. Like these desires, if you have the thought, the temptation, and you're dwelling on it and you're lusting after whoever it is, that lust is sin.

So homosexual desire is sin, but side B theology says it's not.

Okay.

I realize I'm throwing a lot of information at you, but let me just kind of recap what.

I said.

Side A, Side B, and the Drift into Apostasy

Side A theology is full affirmation. These are churches. I call them rainbow churches. They're flying the rainbow flag. Side B, they're not saying that they affirm the lifestyle. They may even say that it's wrong if they're pushed in a corner, but they're very inclusive of it all.

If you listen to them, they sound very pro-homosexual. It just came out in the news that CREW, formerly Campus Crusade for Christ, one of their training videos got leaked a couple of weeks ago. They clearly have adopted side B theology, and some say it sounds like they're almost side A.

I mean, it really does sound like that. You can check out the podcast, Conversations That Matter. Evangelical Dark Web did a podcast on that where they played some of the clips, and yeah,.

It's bad.

Here's the problem. Here's what I noticed. I was at a pastor's meeting recently, and this subject came up. There's a group of pastors. A lot of the pastors are older, in their 70s, maybe even 80s. It's more of an older group.

One of the pastors brought up side B theology, and Preston Sprinkle is one of the main guys pushing this. By the way, Rosaria Butterfield, if you know who she is, she called CREW heretical. She said, CREW has been teaching heresy.

Campus Crusade has been teaching heresy. Rosaria Butterfield used to work for the Gospel Coalition, so she isn't some right-wing fundamentalist. I mean, she's conservative, but she's someone who is very, in the past, many have seen her as pretty moderate and would consider her reasonable, I guess.

Some thought she was even a little too left-leaning at times, but even Rosaria Butterfield, formerly of TGC, she called CREW's teachings, some of them at least, heretical because they've kind of bought into the whole LGBT agenda to a degree.

Anyways, I was at this pastor's group, and somebody brought up side B theology, and Preston Sprinkle, and his gender and sexuality commission, or some organization he has. I thought it was really interesting.

The pastors at the meeting, they started laughing, and they're like, Preston Sprinkle? His last name is Sprinkle, haha? And they're all giggling. I realize Sprinkle is kind of a funny last name, but this is a serious topic.

It's really not funny. It's brought up that some churches, like I said, even in our area, have gone apostate. Christians are abandoning the faith over this issue, and side B is how they get you, because they get you to accept this, and it's only a matter of time.

If you stay on that road, you will collapse and just go fully affirming. So anyways, the pastors, they all started laughing. They thought it was a big joke. And then one of the pastors, he seemed visibly irritated that we would even have to talk about this, and he tried to shut down the whole conversation.

And I realized at that moment, first of all, and I'm not saying all the pastors at this meeting think this way or do this, but there's not really much of a will to fight. There are some serious issues going on in the church right now.

We are facing challenges that Christians never had to face before. This is serious stuff, and people just don't take it seriously, or I think a lot of them, they just don't have the will to fight. The fire has sort of gone out.

They want to talk about the good old days and how much bacon they like on their sandwich. They want to talk about this and that, and small talk and reminiscing is all fine and good, but these are serious issues, and when this other pastor brought it up, it just wasn't taken seriously.

As a matter of fact, he was kind of seen as, I don't know, I'm not sure. I don't know what's going on in their mind, but you're being divisive. You're stirring up trouble. We don't want to talk about this.

Well, whether you like it or not, this is happening. This is all around us. I did a study yesterday about Sodom and Gomorrah, and Lot, living in Sodom, Lot was a believer in the Lord, but because he was immersed in this stuff, and it was just all around him every day, it rubbed off on him, and he started to get worldly.

If we're not aware of what's happening, and if we're not fighting against it, if we don't understand the challenges, and if we're not actively opposing it, we're going to get swept.

Along.

If you're not swimming against the current, you're going to get swept away. I just don't see a whole lot of people, again, taking this seriously or willing to fight against it. Going back to that church that went from being completely against all this stuff to being for it, how did that happen?

Side B theology. This is what happens. Someone will creep into the church, or there'll be people there, and this is true in probably most churches. There are a few members, and maybe they're quiet now.

Maybe this isn't the case for your church, and I pray it's not the case for mine, but there's probably always a handful of members who secretly, they would like the church to change its position on all of this stuff.

So they wait, and they wait. And when an opportunity comes up, and this Side B issue is brought up, should we accept it, should we not? They're going to push for it. So they'll say all sin is equal, identifying as LGBT is totally fine, as long as you don't commit the act, but they'll start sounding like Revoice and Preston Sprinkle and Crew, and they'll take that position, and all of a sudden, within a year or two, it's like, what I'm hearing from the pulpit, it almost sounds affirming of homosexuality.

Now if you ask the pastor, he'll say, no, we don't support that. But it sort of sounds like he's sympathetic to it, and that's how they do it. They chip away slowly, slowly, slowly. You can't go from a Bible-believing church to a rainbow church overnight.

There has to be a step in between, and Side B is that step. So if your church was biblical years ago, and now you've adopted, your pastor has adopted Side B, if you keep going in that direction, five years from now, ten years from now, your church likely will be open and affirming.

I mean, that's what's happening. More and more church, I've seen it happen too many times. So again, this is a real danger, and I don't like talking about this any more than probably you like hearing about it.

So Side B theology, one more time, remember, Side A is full affirmation. Side B, technically, when you pin them down, they'll say it's wrong, but then they go on and on for 20 minutes of why it's really not that bad, and it's all sin is equal, and you're sinful too, and everyone, so it's no big deal.

Well, if that's true, then if it's no big deal, then God owes Sodom and Gomorrah an apology, and guess what? God doesn't apologize. So all you have to do is look at the passages in the Bible that are very clear.

Romans 1, very, very clear. 1 Corinthians 6, 9 -11, very, very clear. Leviticus, I mean, obviously Moses didn't buy into Side B theology. Can you imagine? I just want to challenge, let's say there's somebody right now, you're Side B, your church is Side B.

Yes, you say it's wrong, but you say it's not really any worse. Read these passages from Leviticus, Leviticus 18, 22, and then another passage in Leviticus.

20.

Read what Moses wrote, and ask yourself, if there was a guy like Moses today who said these things from the pulpit, what would your church do with a guy like that? You'd probably send him packing. You'd probably run him out of town.

You say, well, Moses was a little too harsh, or we're not under the law, or whatever you have to tell yourself. Well, just remember, it wasn't Moses. Moses didn't come up with this. This is the Word of God.

This is the Word of God. So, if you hate Moses for that, or if you hate what is said, well, you probably know better than to say, well, I hate God's Word, or I hate what's being said. But based on what I'm hearing, a lot of people are kind of in this position where if you said what Moses said, they would think you're a horrible person, and yet God is the one.

Who said it.

So, how do you deal with that? So, I hope this has been helpful to you, and let me just end with this about that passage in 1 Corinthians, lest anyone say that I'm singling people out, or I'm making a big deal.

About this.

I'm not the one making a big deal about it. This is the month of June. We're not the ones making a big deal about it.

They are.

They're the ones pushing this agenda. I'm just responding to it. And of the 1 ,200 videos I have on YouTube, I'm probably talking about this subject in about 0 .5 of those videos, so I don't actually talk about it that much.

But we do need to handle it. We do need to deal with it. So, if you're a pastor, I'm not saying criticize your pastor. You should support your pastor. If your pastor's side B, you should tell him, listen, here's why this is wrong.

And I would just give you my advice. If I was in a church and my pastor was side B, I'd talk to him, and if he dug in his heels and was advocating for side B, I'd leave the church. I mean, there's no question about that.

But encourage your pastor. Support your pastor. But ask him, you know, if, if, if he never mentions homosexuality, if he never preaches on it, if he hasn't brought it up in years, you can't remember the last time it was brought up, go to him and just ask why.

Just ask why. Be respectful. But ask, how come you don't preach on it? This is like, pastor, this is like the biggest issue we're facing in the culture right now. Again, more, this is, I've seen this personally, and I've heard it from many other people, and I've seen the news stories, Christian news stories, more people have gone apostate.

More people have left the faith over this issue than anything else in modern times. More churches are going apostate over this issue. So if your pastor never preaches on it, if he's not fighting that fight, go to him and say, how come?

How come you don't talk about it? How come you're not preaching about it? Just see what he says. And if he's side B, share this video with him. But my intention is to hopefully turn the ship around. And then those churches that are solid, let's kind of fortify things, keep those churches.

Solid.

Those churches that are sort of going wobbly, let's turn that around and pray for people that are even in this lifestyle. Because 1 Corinthians 6, you know, Paul says, they shall not inherit the kingdom of God.

Now he says that about other sins as well. People who live a habitual lifestyle of open sin, they shall not inherit the kingdom. But you remember what Paul says, of such were some of you. And this is where I do want to include the gospel, because it's true.

You may not struggle with this, and you might not like hearing about this, and I sympathize.

With you.

But you were once a sinner as well. As a matter of fact, in our human condition, in our flesh, we still are. And hopefully we're trying to mortify the flesh. We're trying to get victory over our sin. But homosexuals can be saved.

In Corinth, there were former homosexuals that were saved. There are people that used to deal with alcoholism who can be saved. Anyone can be saved. As far as I know, I realize there are people who maybe commit the unpardonable sin of the.

Past.

That was an issue that Jesus talked about. And there are probably people, based on other teachings of Jesus, who do cross a line. But as far as I know, anybody can be saved. It doesn't matter. You think, well, you're saying that these people are just beyond the pale and they can't.

Be saved.

I am not saying that. I've never said that. So, if somebody's watching, and you don't know Christ, or you are favorable in defending this lifestyle, and you have a rainbow flag out in front of your house or whatever, you know, Christians don't hate you.

I know Christians get labeled as haters. You say, yeah, but you guys make such a big deal about this. Again, no we don't. The world is making a big thing. They have a whole month of celebration. The world is making a big deal about this.

We're simply reacting. And I would react if there was a month, let's say the month of September was a bank robber's.

Month.

I mean, just pick another sin, because we think this is a sin. So if the month of November was pride month for adultery, that all the adulterers are going to be celebrated in November, we'd be against that too.

If there was a flag, and I know this all sounds ridiculous, but this is kind of what's happening with this other thing. If there was a flag that advocated for lying, let's say there were pulpits and churches that we think lying is great.

We're going to celebrate lying. We would be against that too. So in all fairness, any celebration of sin we would be against. So in conclusion, I hope this has been helpful. Side B theology, if you don't know what it is, hopefully you know by now.

If you still don't know, I guess you haven't been listening. But it is a danger, and churches that adopt Side B, I'll say it one more time, if they continue down that road of compromising and just kind of buying into the zeitgeist, the spirit of the age, little by little, it's only a matter of time before those churches collapse and go full affirming and put up the flag and all the rest.

So it's happening. It's happening every day, more and more every day. And that's why we need to understand the issue. We need to face it head on. And if you talk to other Christians about it and they laugh at you, or they mock and they think it's ridiculous, or maybe they just don't have the will to fight and they've sort of given up, and they just don't want to deal with any of it anymore, surround yourself with people that will encourage you.

Surround yourself with people who understand what time it is. They understand the moment we're living in, because we're going to have to give an account.

One day.

We're going to stand before the Lord, and He's going to say, you know, you were right in the middle of this. You had to deal with this. You had to deal with it. And what did you do? How did you respond?

And you know, I need to do better. And I think if I need to do better, probably a lot of other people need to do better. Because we don't want to be like Lot. Living in Sodom, and it just all becomes normal to us, and we're just kind of sticking our head in the sand, and it just, it is what it is, and what can I do?

And eventually, before you know it, it all just seems normal. It's not normal, and we can never accept it as normal. And there's no, I'll end with this. There is no more clear evidence that you have been conformed to this world, than if you think homosexuality is just normal, it's no big deal.

If you think that, that's proof you're conformed to this world. So don't be like that. Thanks for listening, and until next time, may the Lord be with you. Have a great day.