Moderator Joan S. Gray has written a letter to denounce what she calls “a deeply pernicious heresy.” This perceived heresy is the attitude of some Presbyterians who say that gays and lesbians are not Christians and should not be allowed Presbyterian Christians, nor should they be seen as our brothers and sisters in Christ. Moderator Gray is a wonderful servant of the church and a delightful person trying to make a difference in our denomination. Here she is trying to be compassionate for some in the church who feel marginalized due to their non-traditional sexual orientations. The arguments she offers are kind, compassionate and well-reasoned. They may also be wrong. At best they represent only one side of the issue. This issue, like many in the Christian life, has an opposite perspective that must be counterbalanced with the one given. It is only then that a real determination can be made about effective church practice.

First of all it must be said that if this doubt or outright rejection of gays and lesbians as believers is delivered in a malicious manner that rejects the value of the person involved, then it is heresy. It breaks the law of Christian love. However, if it is delivered pastorally, out of biblical concern for the state of the person’s soul, then it is not heresy at all. It is legitimate spiritual leadership with ample biblical justification.

The view opposite to Moderator Gray’s on this issue is best summed up in I Corinthians 6:9-10. In this controversial passage the Apostle Paul states, “Do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived! Fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, male prostitutes, sodomites, thieves, the greedy, drunkards, revilers, robbers – none of these will inherit the kingdom of God.” (NRSV) Of course this passage does not speak of those who commit one-time or occasional transgressions and then confess their guilt, but of those who persist in lives of constant sinful activity. It is saying that some patterns of behavior are inherently destructive to one’s relationship with God and affect one’s eternal destiny. These behaviors are not to be taken lightly, especially at the pastoral level. Most of all, they strongly imply that persistent unrepentant homosexual activity (as well as many other behaviors, sexual and otherwise) may preclude a person from inclusion in God’s kingdom and eternal life. This is regardless of any supposed profession of faith in Christ.

If this is the case, then Moderator Gray’s arguments amount to what Bonhoeffer in his classic work The Cost Of Discipleship called “cheap grace.” Yes, it is true that our Book Of Order makes profession of faith in Jesus Christ the only requirement for church membership. But pastorally speaking, not everyone who comes to a pastor seeking membership is actually a legitimate candidate for that role, even if they claim to profess faith in Jesus as their Savior. When, for example, active criminals, bigots, or abusers say to a pastor, “I believe in Jesus. Can I join your church?” the truly effective pastor has to say, “There are some issues you need to get right with Lord about before you can stand up and claim to be a follower of Christ.” Though we have weakened the membership vows that are in our Book Of Order, there is still a call to discipleship involved in Church membership. Joining the church is not an exercise in therapeutic inclusion. It is an exercise in submission to the Lordship of Jesus, even if that process has just begun.

Some years ago I was bemused when a neighboring pastor friend had the owner of a local notorious strip club start attending his church on a casual basis. This was an excellent opportunity for evangelism, but this pastor was vexed by the question, “What if this person wants to join the church and stay in this business that exploits women, rips people off, and is probably host to many other unsavory activities?” This prospective member saw nothing wrong with his very lucrative business. Does profession of faith in Jesus alone entitle such a person to numbered with the children of God? I think not. Ultimately this person decided that church life was not for him and faded away.

Bonhoeffer defines cheap grace this way. “Cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline, Communion without confession, absolution without personal confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate.” I am afraid this is what Moderator Gray is risking without addressing the depth of Paul’s concern for those who engage in homosexual activity. At the least she seems to be excluding proper church discipline as part of the Christian life.

One of the sexual issues Paul had to deal with in Corinth was incest in the church. When milder means did not bring about repentance by the guilty party, Paul ordered that he be expelled from the body of believers and “handed over to Satan.” A healthy body expels from itself the things that pollute its life and witness and worship of God. A healthy spiritual body also should not accept into membership those whose lives are out of conformity with basic Christian practice. Profession of faith in Jesus was not enough to maintain this person’s inclusion in the body of believers. Repentance and a new direction of behavior were. Fortunately this later happened, and reconciliation with the church took place.

Jesus, in the Sermon On The Mount, likewise sets high standards for those who claim to be His followers. “Enter by the narrow gate, for the gate is wide and the road is easy that leads to destruction, and there are many who take it. For the gate is narrow and the road is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few….Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven.” Finding eternal life is more than a quick confession of belief in Jesus. It is the assumption of a new life and rejection of the old. As Bonhoeffer says in the phrase that sums up his book, “When Christ calls a man, he bids him come and die.” If any man or woman wants to follow Jesus, they must deny themselves, take up their cross, and go with Jesus on the path of suffering and rejection.

Jesus also warns us that, “whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” Doesn’t this describe the current state of the PCUSA? We have declined in size and spiritual power because we have set aside the basic standards of the Christian life just so we don’t hurt the feelings of people with good manners. We include anyone who professes to believe in Jesus often regardless of whether there is a behavioral conformity with biblical standards of life. In my opinion that is the heresy that is currently killing the church.

So if I Corinthians 6 and similar passages are still the inspired Word of God, and our Confessions illumine us as to what is acceptable behavior for members of the church, then there is plenty of warrant questioning whether persistent adulterers, fornicators, and homosexuals (among others) are Christians, regardless of whether they have made a profession of faith in Jesus. They may be. They also may not be. When it comes to one’s eternal salvation, is this an area one wants to risk?