Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God.
(1 Corinthians 6:9-10, NASB)

Rob Bell Rings True To The Emerging Postmodern Non-Stance

In this opening piece here at Apprising Ministries we set the backdrop for this look at what Emergent Church icon Rob Bell doesn’t say about the important issue of homosexuality. The following is from an article called “Getting to the Root of Religion” by David Crumm in the Detroit Free Press (03-06-2005) we read the following:

Homosexuality? Bell tells gay people the same thing he tells everyone who walks through the door. It’s a powerfully affirming line that he repeated in his sermon on Sunday: “God loves you exactly as you are. Period.” (Online source)

Since that Free Press article itself is no longer available online I have also included a second witness where the article is also quoted in a post at Midwest Church Planting:

In Bell’s envisioning of Christianity, he’s also trying to bypass some of the feuds that have left many denominations deadlocked.

Women’s ordination? No problem at Mars Hill. A third of the 15 associate pastors who work with Bell are women.

Homosexuality? Bell tells gay people the same thing he tells everyone who walks through the door. It’s a powerfully affirming line that he repeated in his sermon on Sunday: “God loves you exactly as you are. Period.” (Online source)

Then in an article by Trevin Wax called “Is Rob Bell Going Soft on Homosexuality?” he brings out that:

Ben Witherington, author and New Testament scholar, writes about his recent visit to a Question & Answer session with Rob Bell. Despite his affinity for Rob, Witherington critiques Bell’s answer to the question of homosexuality as “evasive… disturbing… and unbiblical.” In fact, it was Rob’s reluctance to make any pronouncement on this issue that seems to have disturbed Witherington the most. (Online source)

Now before we get to what Witherington wrote next time we need back up a step and see the bigger picture concerning this emerging issue of homosexuality and the neo-liberal cult of the Emergent Church itself. The following from Dr. John MacArthur sums it up nicely:

One of the big issues is homosexuality in the emerging church; they don’t want to take a position on homosexuality. The Bible is not vague, or obscure, or oblique about homosexuality–it couldn’t be more clear. A homosexual will not inherit the Kingdom of God; that’s pretty clear. Homosexuality in Romans, chapter one, is a perversion that is manifestly–when it happen in a culture–when it begins to dominate a culture, an evidence of Divine wrath and Divine judgment. So the Bible is clear,… (What’s So Dangerous About the Emerging Church, GTY107, CD Rom)

I’ve also written on this in Tony Jones and the Emergent Church: “Christian” Gay is A-Ok and in my phone conversation with Jones he told me that he’s sees no reason to separate from anyone who claims to love Jesus. While he was on the phone with me Tony was also nice enough to confirm what he tells Relevant magazine below, which I also quote in that above article:

We have everything you could imagine. We have Texas Baptists who don’t let women preach, and we have lesbian mainline pastors in New England… As a follower of Christ and a theologian, I have no qualms speaking out about things that I don’t agree with (transcript on file at AM).

So obviously, if Jones has “no qualms speaking out about things” that he doesn’t agree with, and since he does not speak out about practicing lesbian pastors, he at the very least has no disagreement with this. Emergent Guru Brian McLaren is already on record with his well known suggestion that we take a five year moratorium on discussing homosexuality in order to see what the Holy Spirit might have to say. Well, He’s already spoken in Scripture so maybe Brian can talk to Emerging Church Pastor Dan Kimball who has now also found this out after his own exhaustive study:

I want to clarify where I stand… I have read just about every single book there is out there on this topic, written from both the conservative [read: Biblical] and pro-gay theological perspectives, and I have read the various studies and opinions on each of the Scriptures that mention homosexuality or that have been seen as addressing homosexuality.

I have wrestled with the Scriptures and difficult viewpoints. I studied this issue not being afraid to reexamine all I had ever been taught before and to approach it with an open mind and heart. However, after much prayer and study of the sexual ethics and themes presented overall in Scripture, I have found that I just can’t dismiss that in the Bible homosexual practice is considered a sin (They like Jesus But Not The Church, 137, emphasis his).

That’s right Emergent Church, this is pretty hard to miss: “If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act” (Leviticus 20:13). And yet Witherington tells us from a question and answer session, which he personally attended, that Bell was “evasive” when asked about homosexuality and sounded like “some other leaders in the Emergent Church.” Well maybe Dan Kimball should stop following me around in the blogosphere long enough to show fellow Emerging Church author of Sex God Rob Bell “that in the Bible homosexual practice is considered a sin.”

O, but that would require making an actual stand now, wouldn’t it…

See also:

ROB BELL SINGS THE SIREN SONG OF THE SELF

BRIAN MCLAREN, THE EMERGING CHURCH, AND HOMOSEXUALITY: WHAT’S SO HARD ABOUT THAT?

EMERGENT CHURCH OPENLY ACCEPTS PRACTICING HOMOSEXUAL “CHRISTIANS”

PRACTICING HOMOSEXUAL BISHOP GENE ROBINSON: “THIS IS WHERE GOD IS LEADING THE WHOLE CHURCH”

CLAY AIKEN: ANOTHER GAY “CHRISTIAN”?

EMERGING CHURCH: “GAY AFFIRMING PASTOR” JAY BAKKER ON A MISSION FROM GOD