A week ago, Beth Moore made a comment during her TBN program, Staying Afloat on the Fellow Ship — Part 4, that subtly offers a clue that she leans toward the idea of homosexual attractions being morally neutral unless they result in sexual activity. I don’t choose to put the actual video in this article (lest it distract you from my main point), but you can watch it here, beginning at the 15.27 mark.
Elizabeth Prata wrote an excellent analysis of the clip in her essay yesterday, which I will also feature on this week’s Saturday Sampler. Elizabeth decoded Moore’s handy Social Justice buzz words to help clarify that Moore indeed walks in the Gay Christian mindset.
Of course, she’s still vague enough to appease her more conservative followers, just as one familiar with how she operates would expect. But I agree that Moore has departed from the Biblical stand that desires for homosexual liaisons, just like immoral heterosexual desires, must be put to death.
5 Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. ~~Colossians 3:5-7 (ESV)
As a married woman, for example, I have no right to entertain any thoughts or attractions to any man but John. If I become widowed, God will expect me to continue putting such thoughts or attractions to death unless a Christian man pursues me (which is highly unlikely given my age and disability). Such obedience is not a noble sacrifice. It’s not a sacrifice at all! The Lord expects purity from His children.
Why, then, should same sex attracted people receive particular admiration and applause simply for being celibate? I remained a virgin for almost 49 years before I married, and I never believed I did anything beyond the call of duty.
Beth Moore’s gushing commendation of so-called Gay Christians who make the “sacrifice” of remaining celibate should call Bible-believing Christians to reexamine our own attitudes toward whatever pet sin we are tempted to coddle. Perhaps we delude ourselves into believing that we please God by limiting our attractions to mere fantasy, ignoring Matthew 5:27-30, but Scripture doesn’t allow any such compromise. We can affirm neither our own sinful desires nor the sinful desires of people with homosexual attractions.
It’s one thing to actively struggle against sinful desires, as Paul did in Romans 7. But make the necessary distinction: struggling against sinful desires negates the possibility of having those desires as long as we don’t physically act on them. Beth Moore’s compromising remarks mustn’t encourage us to soften our position on homosexuality. Instead, they should strengthen our resolve to put our sins to death.
The Outspoken TULIP 
Mortification of the flesh is non-negotiable for the believer. At the same time, we must hold everyone to that same standard and not chisel out sinful homosexual desires (not lifestyle) as especially deserving of condemnation before God and/or proof that one is not saved. We are all drawn away by our own lusts….(James 1:14) and those don’t all look the same.
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Precisely. That’s the point I thought I made, actually. did I fail?
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The last part is something I have been seeing around the conversation a lot from some believers: that having that temptation ALONE precludes salvation and that those who are truly saved will no longer struggle. Yet struggling against our own flesh is something we all face daily. Following that logic, we would either all be sinless or in Hell. I know that’s not your point, but it is something I’m seeing from many professing Christians online, which I find unBiblical (and I know you do as well).
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Thank you for clarifying your point.
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“Why, then, should same sex attracted people receive particular admiration and applause simply for being celibate? I remained a virgin for almost 49 years before I married, and I never believed I did anything beyond the call of duty.”
You mean you actually obeyed Luke 17:7-10? What a novel idea! This is glaringly missing from BM’s comments…
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One other comment about BM’s “tremendous sacrifice”…it’s wrong all sorts of ways since Sunday. Her fundamental error is the view that it’s some kind of a horrible sacrifice to obey God…that’s just plain disgusting and totally self-centered. It’s not that we “have” to obey God…it’s that once God converts us, we GET to obey God for the first time in our lives!
It’s a privilege and a relief to be able to do right and honor the Lord, not a hardship!
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What a marvelous perspective! I quite agree!
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This is all really interesting… I can’t help but think it’s all going to come to a head very soon, Culture is going to push and put pressure on “Christians” so much that they are going to be forced to either abandon Christ or stand up. The Beth Moore’s of the world are going to have to make some declarative statements. It’s no longer ok to be wishy washy, culture demands that we not only accept the new rules but that we promote them as well.
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Thank you for discussing this, my heart sunk when I heard her comments. How many will be confused by this? How many who are unrepentant will now pat themselves on the back for not acting on their sinful lust? It was the Biblical preaching on lust that assured me I was a false convert. I didn’t hate my sin, I loved my secret sin. In this statement BM has clearly stated where she stands and it is sadly not on Scripture.
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“Why, then, should same sex attracted people receive particular admiration and applause simply for being celibate? I remained a virgin for almost 49 years before I married, and I never believed I did anything beyond the call of duty.”
I think it’s a lot more difficult for someone who has some hope for marriage someday than for someone who knows they will never ever have that. There’s nothing wrong with acknowledging the difficulty.
As CS Lewis said “If a neurotic who has a pathological horror of cats forces himself to pick up a cat for some good reason, it is quite possible that in God’s eyes he has shown more courage than a healthy man may have shown in winning the V.C.”
“As a married woman, for example, I have no right to entertain any thoughts or attractions to any man but John.”
And you never had any attraction or desire for him whatsoever, until all that stuff instantly went from 0 to 100 the moment you said your vows?
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Of course I desired John. I also desired several men, prior to meeting John, that the Lord didn’t have for me. I absolutely should not have cultivated those desires.
Twisting my words doesn’t exonerate Beth Moore, nor does it excuse the sin of lust. Same sex attraction must, like any sin, be put to death rather than celebrated and accommodated. And quoting someone as theologically questionable as CS Lewis does little to help me take your objections seriously. Can you make your case from Scripture quoted in context?
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