The Problem With Gay Marriage

The recent story about a Southern Baptist pastor’s son coming out as gay has garnished quite a buzz in Baptist circles and beyond. On first glance this story did not seem especially newsworthy. After all, this is neither the first nor the last Southern Baptist pastor to have a gay child come out. What drew attention in the media and even from the Southern Baptist hierarchy was the way this pastor’s church responded. Rather than calling for the resignation of their pastor for choosing to support his son, the church responded by taking a “third-way” stance toward persons who identify as LGBT.

According to a letter released by pastor Danny Cortez, New Heart Community Church voted “to not dismiss me, and to instead become a Third Way church (agree to disagree and not cast judgment on one another). … This is a huge step for a Southern Baptist church. So now, we will accept the LGBT community even though they may be in a relationship. We will choose to remain the body of Christ and not cast judgment. We will work towards graceful dialogue in the midst of theological differences. We see that this is possible in the same way that our church holds different positions on the issue of divorce and remarriage. In this issue we are able to not cast judgment in our disagreement.”