The Sam Allberry Scandal was one of the more predictable outcomes as a church hired a gay pastor who taught Side B Theology and expected gay things not to happen, and that if they did happen, he would be honest about it. Immanuel Church in Nashville was intentionally unwise. But far be the flagship Big Eva church from being alone.
The rise of Sam Allberry involved many names endorsing his seminal work, “Is God Anti-Gay?” which spent a lot of pages answering ‘no.’ It comes with the story of Allberry professing that he is “same-sex attracted,” and his testimony was used to bolster his credibility on issues of theology, as he made a name for himself in Evangelical markets, coming from the Church of England.
Allberry argues that same-sex attraction is a consequence of the fall, rather than sin itself which is compatible with Side B Theology and oft overlooked. He was endorsed by a myriad of names.
Ravi Zacharias International Ministries, the namesake apologetics ministry of false teacher Ravi Zacharias. Apologists are typically bad at discernment, and the elevation of Allberry was no acception.
But Allberry had a compelling testimony in a time when the church, broadly, was in retreat on the issue of homosexuality. Conversion/Change Therapy was being banned by state legislatures, and Big Eva was not defending the ex-gay movement. Enter Allberry, who is a repudiation of what came before, to be the mascot of an alternative path advocating celibacy as a Trojan horse.
Thus, Sam Allberry became the model that less presentable characters, like Greg Coles, Wesley Hill, and Greg Johnson, aspired to. But as Side B Theology expanded, so did it’s glaring theological issues. The debate over celibate gay relationships would ultimately lead to Allberry’s undoing. This, of course, was foreseeable as he taught that the attractions weren’t sinful, therefore indulging in unnatural desires already.
Sam Allberry was promoted because Big Eva was in retreat and did not want to hold the line on sexuality. His testimony gave cover for bad theology that some of his backers were completely on board with. But since Evangelicals have been exposed to the schemes of men within the church, Allberry gained increased scrutiny, and the church has begun to reclaim lost ground on sexuality. Big Eva saw Allberry as a palatable vessel for gay theology, when the unpalatable Bible for saving grace was more than sufficient.
Powered by RedCircle
