An entity leader of a Baptist denomination in the United States has now officially come out in support of full inclusion for the LGTBQ among Christian churches.
The Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, a split from the Southern Baptist Convention during the days of the Conservative Resurgence, has an entity known as the Baptist Center for Ethics. Mitch Randall is the director of the BCE, and his counterpart at the slightly more conservative SBC is Russell Moore at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. The two ethicists seem to be only about two decades apart in their thinking.
Randall wrote a post at the entity’s website, Ethics Daily, that “the church should not hinder LGBTQ Christians from full inclusion into the body as God made them.”
This is a reversal of positions for Randall, who previously held a more conservative (but waffling) position, much like that espoused by Russell Moore at the SBC now, affirming those with Same-Sex Attraction so long as they do not indulge in the practice. Now, Randall wants those who practice sodomy (not just those who desire it) to be a part of the church. The Baptist Center for Ethics founder, Robert Parham, was gay-friendly but refused to go so far as to argue that being homosexual was no sin at all.
In an article entitled, “My Journey to Full Inclusion of LGBTQ Christians,” Randall gave his defense for his changing views.
At seminary, Randall said, he learned that “while the Bible is sacred and authoritative for Christians, human interpretation must never be canonized over the living Word of God.”
“Humans have a tendency to interpret the Bible through anthropocentric lenses, which perpetuate previously codified orthodoxies established by the powerful. In other words, we interpret the Bible in ways that favor the powerful establishment.”
He continues:
If one is careful, they will note the Cultural Marxism term, “powerful establishment,” a worldview grid that he shares in common with Russell Moore and those at the ERLC. Where Randall is now, Moore will eventually be.
If God was calling more and more LGBTQ disciples into the church, who am I to prevent it? Did they have to convert to a certain interpretation like the Gentiles were forced to do? Was the church going to force yet another group of people to wear a ‘mark on the body’ to enter into their community? Was not a ‘mark on the heart’ enough?
This, of course, is gobbledygook nonsense.
Believers are discipled by “teaching all that [Christ] commanded” (Matthew 28:19) and to “obey [his] commands,” (John 14:15). So, frankly there’s no such thing as “LGBTQ disciples” because there’s no LGBTQ Christians. There’s only formerly-LGBTQ Christians (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
Randall added, “In the end, I decided I was going to stop fighting with God about God’s LGBTQ children.”
