It is time to comment on another author, another book, another perspective on LGBTQ+ inclusion in the church.

It is time to go from an LGBTQ+ friendly author to an author who espouses the traditional view of marriage, that marriage is only one man and one woman. Homosexual behavior is a sin. Kevin DeYoung writes in his introduction* “I believe same sex sexual intimacy is a sin….I believe the Bible places homosexual behavior–no matter the level of commitment or mutual affection–in the category of sexual immorality” [17].

He continues his discussion of traditional Biblical values in Chapter 2 of his book entitled “Those Infamous Cities.”

I was raised in The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) and one of the posters I saw on the wall of my Sunday school class was a depiction of Lot’s wife turning into a pillar of salt. As I look back at that now, I think that was strange, a harsh thing for a kid to see every Sunday morning. But it did make me have questions about the story so I knew that God told the woman [not named] to have faith in His mercy and not look back at her city as He destroyed it. Of course she did look back and met a bizarre fate; God turned her into a pillar of salt. Angels warned Lot that this was going to happen and she knew the danger, but she disobeyed the command anyway.

Let me tell you what my Sunday school teacher did not tell me about as a kid: that Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of sexual sin, homosexual sin in particular.

That is exactly what Kevin DeYoung will spend a chapter on, the idea that Sodom and Gomorrah suffered that fate and God wanted to destroy those cities.

Sodom and Gomorrah would not be the focus of Peter Gomes but definitely something that a pastor with a traditional view of marriage and human sexuality should comment on. In the next day of so, we will consider Sodom and Gomorrah.

Does DeYoung keep an open mind on this topic? There is a lot of revisionist interpretation on this subject.

We shall see…

*What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?