Can Christians Agree to Disagree About Same-Sex Union? A Resource for Congregations
From Gold Ave CRC
Since we began our website a few years ago, The Abide Project has provided several articles addressing (directly and indirectly) why we believe that the body of Christ cannot simply agree to disagree on questions of what constitutes ethical sexual behavior. We’re grateful that the decisions of the Christian Reformed Church at the past three Synods have been consistent with this conviction. For many members of the CRC, this insistence has felt like an unnecessarily disruptive and even harsh stance to take. Even more so, many have wondered if Synod's actions have offended the God whose word pleads for us to live in unity with one another. We recognize that these kinds of conversations are ongoing in many of our congregations. Maybe you've found yourself wondering along the same lines, or maybe you've wondered what to say to someone asking these questions.
With gratitude to our brothers and sisters at Gold Avenue CRC in Grand Rapids, we offer the following resource that may be helpful to you and to others in your congregation. The leadership of Gold Avenue adopted a document written by Rev. David Westra as a way of pastorally leading their congregation through these important questions about unity.  Since it's been a helpful resource for Gold Avenue, we offer it with the hope it might be of similar benefit to other congregations.
- The Abide Project
Thanks for sharing this resources with us.
This quote was especially significant: "We cannot both call people to follow Jesus as Lord and promote rebellion against Him. Agreeing to disagree would essentially welcome rebellion against Christ within Christ’s church."
The above 2 comments scoffing at this article on unity and the importance of unity surrounding God’s truth is, I believe, evidence and confirmation of how far the Church has fallen into deception.
The fact that the Church has not righteously disciplined their flocks for decades has made 2 things clear -
First, the time has come for Christ’s Church to regain the marks of a true Church. The 3rd mark of a true Church is discipline. Love is at the center of discipline. If you love someone, you tell them the truth. The fact that most of our churches have not disciplined those involved in acts or lifestyles of sexual impurity, including homosexuality, should correctly be called out, and done so in the spirit of true love. However, not having correctly called out other forms of sexual impurity is a very poor reason to argue for the acceptance of any other form of sexual impurity.
Secondly, at the risk of becoming like the German church in WWII and being mostly silent while the world suffered, we need to take a stand against the spiritual forces of evil that are so prevalent in our world’s culture.
Pray for God’s strength, and His truths to be revealed, and that it would lead to repentance and revival in the land.