Christianity Today Promotes Preston Sprinkle On Homosexuality

Christianity Today has been theologically liberals for a long time. One of the inspirations for Evangelical Dark Web was their treatment of Pete Buttigieg as a Christian, despite being a homosexual. So the fact that this outlet hired Russell Moore out of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission who once wrote that Jesus has AIDS should come as no surprise.

Last week they published a gay affirming article I’m an Evangelical Parent of Adult LGBTQ Children. Now What? The author, Victor Clemente states, “My theology is squarely orthodox. Now I need fellow Christians to help me work out a sustainable vision of day-to-day life with my children.” Yet he would go on to endorse many heretics. The first is Andy Stanley.

This is the context that produces high turnout for events that try to help Christian parents find responses, beyond fight or flight, to their LGBTQ children—events like last year’s Unconditional Conference hosted by the church of influential pastor Andy Stanley.

Though criticism of the Unconditional Conference is mentioned, Clemente never definitively denounces the conference. Rather he contrasts the controversy with this and Alistair Begg.

As an evangelical parent of adult LGBTQ children myself, I followed both controversies with interest. I share some of the detractors’ concerns, but I also believe that we American evangelicals who hold fast to Christianity’s historical doctrines on sex and gender—the traditional or “non-affirming” position, per current lexical shorthand—need more, not less, conversation about the intensely practical questions of how to be good neighbors to the LGBTQ people in our lives, be they in our homes, workplaces, or congregations.

This is a tepid allowance for Andy Stanley’s gay affirming ministry. However, it’s a prelude to endorsing a threat far more dangerous.

There are some resources available for Christians in my circumstance, like Allberry’s Is God Anti-Gay? and the course for parents from The Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender. But beyond books or online courses, we need real-life conversations about specific circumstances. Christian parents of LGBTQ kids, like me, thirst for a sustainable vision of day-to-day life with our children. There’s certainly grounds to criticize the vision offered by Stanley and Begg, but simply restating right doctrine, while necessary, isn’t alone enough to answer those questions of practice, of how to live with our children.

Sam Allberry is the founder of Living Out, a British gay affirming ministry. Preston Sprinkle is the founder of the Center For Faith, Sexuality, and Gender, a ministry that affirms homosexual desire and identity as not sinful. This ministry was prominently featured in Cru’s gay affirming curriculum.

But ignoring the reality that discernment is necessary is not an option. The presence of risk does not exempt us from doing the work of loving our neighbors. People need help, and decisions need to be made: Should Christians use preferred pronouns? Should we attend the same-sex weddings of our children or coworkers? Should we allow our adult children in same-sex marriages to sleep in the same bed when they come to visit?

For many of us, these are not mere academic exercises but real situations with real people demanding answers, often without much lead time. These are the circumstances in which we must practice discernment, applying what we know from God’s Word to the best of our ability, with great care and humility. These are the kinds of questions Christian parents like me (and grandparents, as in the case Begg addressed) long to have in-person help answering in conversations with our pastors and friends at church.

The article ends with an ironic call to discernment after treating slam dunk issues like they are esoteric theories. The fact that Christianity Today is promoting Preston Sprinkle should be a wake-up call to his effectiveness in subverting clear doctrine in making the church gay.