The story of this pastor's anti-homosexual sermon has gone viral and caused a storm of protest:
As bad as this is I have to say that I find these comments equally disgusting from a man who claims to be a minister of the Christian Gospel:
Think about these two videos for a moment. On face value they seem poles apart. But in reality they have the same problem - they focus on the behavior rather than the Savior!
As Pastor Worley ranted about how to get rid of the homosexual population he missed the main point altogether of what his job is in the pulpit - to point sinners to the Savior! Has he forgotten the unbelievable grace of God needed to pardon his own massive list of sinful crimes against a Holy God? Christian preachers should point out sin, not to call for ostracizing, but to call for reconciliation.
Paul lays out the problem clearly in his first letter to the church at Corinth:
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. (1 Corinthians 6:9-10)
Campolo's abject failure to be honest about what the Scripture teaches displays his equal incompetence (with Pastor Worley) as a minister of the Gospel, his failure to say anything helpful to homosexuals trapped in their sinful lifestyle, and his lack of true Christian love for people who are bound for eternal condemnation. Of course, this is nothing new for Campolo as he is a sociologist who has now spent many years masquerading as a theologian. His theological insights have all the usefulness of an ashtray on a motorcycle.
But the huge point in all of this is that both Pastor Worley and Tony Campolo both have an elephant in their living rooms - and it is the same elephant. An elephant that places them both on the same team! An elephant that screams "1 Corinthians 6 does not end at verse 10":
And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians 6:11)
The Christian church is entirely composed of sinners who have been transformed by the regenerating work of God's Holy Spirit, because of the penal substitutionary atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. The church of Corinth included people who were once idolaters, adulterers, thieves, and yes - homosexuals! But this was all past tense for those who had their sins borne by Christ and His righteousness credited to their account. They were new creatures transformed by the Spirit of Almighty God. This serves as a reminder of our own evil former lives, the kindness of God in saving us out of that, and the Christian duty to call all sinners (and that includes homosexuals) to repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. That they too might become new creatures that bring glory to God because of so great a salvation.
Worley and Campolo may sound different to each other, but in reality they are both peddlers of the same useless religion of human morality. True Christians should take Pastor Worley's idea about building a fence, and put one around their pulpits so that the gospel-less morality of people like Worley and Campolo can be kept out permanently.
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To any closeted LGBT folks out there:
There is nothing wrong with your sexuality, any shame you feel is just a cultural thing, you can let it go and be loved for who you are.
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