THIS Pastor Says “Queerness” Is A “Gift” From God!

Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where the Bible and critical thinking meet to give you real

Christian commentary about the things that matter. Thanks so much for watching, let's get into the video. So Kevin Slusher is the pastor of Reformed Church of Port Ewan in New York.

In the video you're about to see, Kevin is speaking for an organization called Revoice, which according to their website, quote, exists to support and encourage

Christians who are sexual minorities so that they can flourish in historic Christian traditions, end quote.

This organization is meant to help shepherd Christians who struggle with homosexuality as they seek to avoid sin and submit their lives to God.

And I think that is a fantastic, wonderful, and biblical thing to do, but it would be even better without the kind of pandering that they participate in.

You will see, while speaking for this organization Revoice, Kevin Slusher had some very interesting things to say about homosexuality.

On the surface, these comments seem very carefully crafted, very diplomatic, but when you really compare them to scripture, you can see how far off the mark they truly are.

It isn't just the Christians who approve of homosexuality who are wrong, but also those who ultimately condemn it while still handling the rest of the issues unbiblically.

Even if you call homosexuality a sin, which I believe Revoice and this pastor do, which they should be commended for, it is also very important that these

Christians deal with the issues in a way that reflects the Bible, rather than in a way that seems to seek to please the world.

So with that said, let's analyze these comments in three biblical points. Number one, here's the first clip of Kevin where he talked about homosexuality and the

Christian worldview. Watch this. But I find myself at times feeling like I'm on the outside looking in, trying to discern how and when to buy into gay culture, how to faithfully and fittingly interact with and respond to gay culture in light of my faith.

And maybe you find yourself asking that same question here this afternoon. Now, this is a very important remark.

He says that he finds it difficult to know when to quote buy into gay culture. Now I can tell him what the

Bible's answer is. It's just one word. Never. I'm going to show you in this video, a simple way to refute all of the pandering that goes on in Christian circles with regards to homosexuality.

All you've got to do is compare it with any other sin. When someone speaks about the sin of homosexuality, simply compare their comments about that to their comments about murder, rape, theft, lying, adultery, etc.

And that will show you if they have honest scales or if they're making exceptions. Take this statement for instance.

He doesn't know when a Christian should quote buy into gay culture. Perhaps I could rephrase a different version of the question.

Suppose I said, I don't know when a Christian should buy into murder culture or porn culture or bestiality culture.

The answer to all these questions is never. We should never buy into any kind of sinful or sexually immoral subculture.

We speak truth in love to these sinful cultures and we call them what they are so that they can repent and turn to the truth of the gospel.

John 15 19 says, quote, if you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. But because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.

The Bible says that we are not of the sinful culture in any way. We don't stand for their sin and we don't buy into anything they do or any of their unbiblical tactics.

We exhort the sinful culture to repent and trust in God. That is the way we operate.

Remember in Matthew 4 17, Jesus says, quote, repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. That should fundamentally be our message to this sinful subculture.

We don't pander. We speak the truth in love to our neighbors and we call them out of their sin and into the gospel.

This brings me to point number two. Here's the second clip of Kevin where he talks about those who are Christians, but who come from backgrounds of homosexuality.

Watch this. But that that being sexual minorities and Christians who submit to traditional teachings, a

Christian, a traditional Christian sexual ethic that that is a particular gift given to us.

Now, it's worth noting that I do believe Kevin thinks homosexuality is a sin and that homosexual activity should be avoided.

And so he's not supporting homosexuality when he says this. My problem here is the language he uses doesn't seem to match up with the

Bible, and it seems to inconsistently treat different sexual sins. Let me explain what I mean. He defines his audience as, quote, sexual minorities who submit to the traditional

Christian sexual ethic. Nowhere in scripture does the Bible refer to those who practice homosexuality as some sort of special endangered group of sexual minorities.

Their behavior is called sinful, unrighteous, or unbiblical, but they're never called sexual minorities or anything like that.

I'm wondering if this kind of pandering language, though, can be found when we talk about other kinds of sins. Do we call those who steal unconventional shoppers?

Do we call those who lie selective truth tellers? Do we call angry people emotionally cavalier?

No, the Bible calls these things stealing, lying, and harboring sinful anger against your neighbor, period.

First Corinthians 6, 9 through 10 says, quote, Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

Do not be deceived. Neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.

I will link a commentary for this verse in the description to prevent any kind of confusion that might be caused. This verse should be taken in context.

My overall point here is this. There is a reason that the Bible refers to these sins with their proper names, and it does so without pulling any punches, because there is a truth and a freedom that comes with calling things what they are.

When we call lying, stretching the truth, or when we call stealing, borrowing without permission, we're making these sins appear smaller.

We're trying to soothe our consciences. And the same thing is happening here with this Reformed pastor as he refers to homosexuals as sexual minorities.

Surely this man wouldn't call those who commit adultery sexual minorities. So why does he refer to homosexual people as such?

Well, using this phrase is meant to make them sound like a special, unique, endangered class of people.

It's a phrase that clearly attempts to soften the blow of calling their behavior sinful. It's a secular, worldly term, and it isn't doing these people any favors.

My problem here is not that he uses a word that isn't found in Scripture. Christians have the freedom to do that.

Rather, the issue here is that there is not consistent language being applied to homosexuality and other sexual sins.

This brings me to point number three. Here's the third clip of Kevin where he talks about why he thinks being gay is apparently a gift from God.

Watch this. I think the gift of being queer, of being gay, of being a sexual minority, is that we are a minority.

We're culturally dislocated. It makes us aware of the fact that we don't belong. And this is a source of deep pain, but it can also be in the tender and healing love of God, a gift that we can offer to God's people.

And so our being saved from being a part of the establishment, our very real lived experience of being...

Now, many of you may be sympathetic to this comment here. Many of you are going to say, I know where he's going with this. Come on,

Colin, you're being too harsh. And again, I'm sorry to burst your bubble, but this is really an unbiblical statement, and there's no excuse for it at all, especially for a pastor.

The problem here is that nowhere in the Bible does it say that sin or sinful temptations are a gift from God.

That would make them sound almost good. Rather, the Bible only talks about these things in a negative light.

First Corinthians 10 13 says this, quote, no temptation has overtaken you. That is not common to man.

God is faithful and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability. But with the temptation, he will also provide the way of escape that you may be able to endure it.

End quote. This passage talks about escaping from the temptation that one is faced with.

So I just have one question. If the temptation here is a gift, why should we try to escape it?

Why would we escape something that's a gift? Well, maybe because it's not a gift to be homosexual or to have those sexual temptations, and that's why the

Bible never calls it that. In Genesis 4 7, God tells Cain, quote, if you do well, will you not be accepted?

And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door. Its desire is contrary to you, but you must rule over it.

You know what God doesn't say? He doesn't say, now, come on, Cain, you know that your temptation to sin is actually a gift from me, right?

It's a nice Christmas present from me to you. So receive it with gladness and cheer up, buddy. You're a chip off the old block.

No, he says that sin is like a hungry beast waiting outside of Cain's house, trying to attack him.

It's not a gift. It's an all -consuming evil that must be rebuked at all costs. Nowhere does the

Bible tell us to quote, buy into gay culture. It says to be utterly separate from the sinful culture.

Nowhere does the Bible tell us that homosexuals are just sexual minorities, just people who, you know, they do stuff sexually that most of us aren't really into.

No, rather it calls their behavior sinful and wrong. And it doesn't try to soften that blow by using fancy politically correct terms.

And again, nowhere does the Bible tell us that homosexual urges are a gift from God. Instead, we are told to flee from all forms of sexual immorality and treat them like the sins that they are.

So in conclusion, Revoice is the organization that this man is speaking for. And I really think that him and Revoice have the best of intentions for the most part.

But we have serious problem here. Because what happens when the very organization who says they exist to help these people start deceiving them, intentionally or unintentionally, it doesn't matter.

Their speaker, Kevin Slusher, is a perfect example of this, as he offers his unbiblical perspective on homosexuality and unbiblical language surrounding it.

And despite their best intentions, they begin to hurt and confuse the very people that they were trying to help and offer guidance to.

So let this be a lesson to all of us Christians. When we speak about these things, let our language mirror that of the

Bible. Let's not try to adjust the biblical worldview in order to make it more palatable. That is both very dangerous and very unhelpful.

And Kevin, if you happen to be watching this, please know this is not an attack on you. You can always repent of this behavior and confess it to Christ, who is full of mercy and full of grace.

So let's pray for Kevin and for other teachers like him that they would repent of this falsehood and turn to the truth of God's Word.

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