By Apprising Ministries correspondent pastor Rob Willmann of Rendering Truth.com

For those of you who don’t know who he is, Jay Bakker is the son of Jim Bakker and Tammy Faye Bakker. He has a church that he founded called ‘Revolution Church’, which has a branch in Brooklyn, NY. Jay is also known from the documentary called “One Punk Under God”, which was aired on the Sundance Channel.

Why am I blogging about Jay Bakker and Homosexuality? Well, Scripture tells us the following:

“For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but wanting to have their ears tickled, they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Tim. 4:3-4)

How can you put Jay Bakker in any category other than the ‘teachers in accordance to their own desires’?

In particular when it comes to the current hot-button issue of homosexuality, Jay Bakker (also a member of the group known as the Outlaw Preachers) said the following in his interview on the Larry King Live show:

KING: Would you say that you’re part of the liberal sect of Christianity?

JAY BAKKER: Well, I definitely say I’m a little bit more liberal than probably most, yes.

KING: You, for example, in your church would you marry gays?

JAY BAKKER: If the laws passed, yes.

KING: You favor there being a law, though?

JAY BAKKER: Yes, I do. I think they deserve equal rights just as much as anybody else does. And I think it’s — it’s such a big social issue right now, it’s something that really needs to be looked at and I think passed.

You see, here’s where Jay is wrong. Scripture says something completely different:

“Genesis 2:23-24 The man said, “This is now bone of my bones, And flesh of my flesh; She shall be called Woman, Because she was taken out of Man.” (24) For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother, and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.”

You see, God specifically talks about marriage being between two people of the opposite sex. So when Jay says that he would marry gays in his church, he is specifically standing in opposition to what God has decreed in His Word.

A little later in the same interview Jay Bakker says this:

KING: Do you feel withdrawn from the standard church?

JAY BAKKER: A little bit. When — I came out as a gay affirming pastor all of my speaking engagements were pretty much canceled right away. And we lost a lot of support. And that was really hard because I feel as Christians we’re called to love each other as ourselves. You know, Jesus say love god with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. And it’s strange to me that we can’t agree to disagree on certain issues and that we cut each other off and, you know, to me it’s like we’re supposed to be the ones who are tolerant and loving of one another but instead we have kind of devoured one another. And I think we’ve got to get back to the point where we can start to have discussion, you know, at least talk and be civil to one another rather than saying, well, if you don’t believe exactly the way I do, then I’m done with you.

See, here’s the issue that I have. Imagine how that last part of the interview with Jay would have sounded if the word gay was replaced with “rapist”, or “murderer”, or “pedophile”. Wouldn’t you be offended if Jay said he was a pedophile affirming pastor? Sure you would!

But here’s the catch: As homosexuality gains ground in the secular media and in humanistic circles, pastors like Jay Bakker try to ‘re-interpret’ the Bible to make it fit the culture.

It doesn’t work that way. Instead, Scripture has this to say of itself:

Hebrews 4:12-13 For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (13) And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.

See, God’s word is eternal in nature because GOD is eternal in nature. When God decrees these things, they are simply wrong because He is the standard of righteousness. We as His creation don’t get to re-interpret what our Creator said. So if God said that homosexuality is wrong, then it’s wrong. Just like all sexual sins are wrong. Heterosexual extra-marital sex is wrong, affairs, homosexuality, bisexuality – it’s all sin in God’s eyes.

But what Bakker is doing here is exactly what is explained in this Scripture:

“…they will accumulate for themselves teachers in accordance to their own desires, and will turn away their ears from the truth and will turn aside to myths.” (2 Tim 4:3)

Jay Bakker in his sinful stance on homosexuality is actively rejecting the truth of God’s word, and instead is substituting a ‘myth’ of his own making. By doing so, Jay Bakker is essentially committing spiritual idolatry, by worshiping a God that doesn’t exist.

In the end, where does it stop? Just because homosexuality is ok today doesn’t mean that the line is drawn in the sand with this particular sin. What happens if 20 years go by and pedophelia becomes acceptable? Will Jay Bakker then be a pedophile affirming pastor?

Yes, I know the question sounds absurd, but think about it: the reason it sounds ridiculous is because according to Jay, the line in the sand as to what’s ‘right’ and what’s ‘wrong’ isn’t ultimately built on the authority of God’s word, but instead is built on Jay Bakker’s interpretation of what’s right or wrong.

My recommendation is that we actively pray for Jay Bakker, so that he will see that God is God, and Jay is not. Maybe Jay will come to realize that God’s Word says what it says regardless of how Jay interprets it.

Soli Deo Gloria.

The original appears complete with a comments section here.

See also:

JAY BAKKER CRITIQUES KEN SILVA AT RELIGION DISPATCHES

HOMOPRESSIVE AS JAY BAKKER

JAY BAKKER AND NADIA BOLZ-WEBER IN GRACE FAIL