I have always had a fascination with debate, argument and persuasion.  When I was a community college professor, I had classes in speaking and I coached a speech team.  I had a graduate class in debate and more than one class in persuasion.  I am always looking for situations on television where reasoning is applied [not just political debates but even commercials where “pitch men and women” are trying to sell products to the consumer].   I even turn to Facebook for examples of persuasion as people feel emboldened to express their opinions [with evidence “sometimes”].  I have enjoyed reading the defense of the truth of Christianity over the years [reasoning applied to the truth of the Christian faith].

But what happens when reasoning is turned against the church by people who feel they have been wronged by the church?  I continue my discussion of answering objections that same-sex advocates have against non-affirming Christians.  Kevin DeYoung* [a staunch non-confirming pastor] tries to address the issues of gluttony and divorce.

How does the line of reasoning against the church run?  Detractors within the LGBTQ+ community like to say, “Look at all the overweight Christians who attend church; look at all the obese pastors.  What right do you have in singling out homosexuals for persecution when the Bible prosecutes all of us who love food to excess?”   Regarding divorce, the dissolution of marriage is common in our culture and sadly, statistics in the church for dissolved marriage and remarriage closely reflect cultural statistics.  “Is this not a more important sin that same-sex marriage?  Why do you attack homosexuals and excuse divorced church members?”

Logicians may cry foul; you cannot indulge in false analogy [commonly referred to “comparing an apple to an orange”].  But the LGBTQ+ community does not see it that way.  Winking at gluttony and divorce seems hypocritical [the old plank in the eye example].  DeYoung also says that detractors of the church may say that this is a prime example of inconsistency.  “You get your own house in order and then we will talk” [DeYoung, 89].  Last is the effort to “dial down” the response to same-sex relationships.  “No one lives up to God’s ideal so let’s call off the inquisition”[89]; the church is far from perfect so let’s all cool off.

What is DeYoung’s response to these lines of attack?  He admits that the church has problems in these areas.  He admits that Christian Bible readers take the clobber passages** of the Bible literally when it comes to homosexuality but they get “loose and free” when it comes to their belly.  Critics of Christian traditional marriage love to cite that the Bible contains three times as many exhortations against gluttony as against homosexuality.  DeYoung entitles the section of his book on gluttony “Their God is Their Belly.”  Gluttony is one of the seven deadly sins, and one of the sins that most all of us commit.***  Theologians have understood gluttony in different ways.  For some it is immoderate desire and for others it is just eating more than we need [literally].  The basic idea is that gluttony (as many other sins) dulls our spirituality and distracts us from God. 

DeYoung continues that the word gluttony does not appear on any New Testament vice list.  For the most part, the New Testament is positive about the need for food [feasts abound and Jesus chose to leave this earth with the celebration of a last supper].  The word glutton appears four times in the English Standard version of the Bible and is always paired with the word drunkard.  What I think DeYoung is trying to say is that gluttony is a trait that is paired with other failings: loafing, partying, high society indulgence and drunkenness.  Should the church take a stand on gluttony?  Yes, but DeYoung won’t admit that gluttony is on par with homosexuality.

The more contentious of the two issues is divorce; “What God has Joined Together” is the title of the section that DeYoung devotes to divorce.  He admits that the no-fault divorce attitude has crept into the church as many believers have ended their marriages at a similar rate as people outside of church.

Why is this issue so contentious?  Pastors are too scared to preach against divorce because there are too many divorced couples in church.  Elders in the church don’t practice any discipline against divorcing church members, because this area of discipline is too volatile.  Christian counselors can help but too many Christian couples bypass that route.  Christian lawyers do not encourage reconciliation enough [financial loss?].  Church leaders have not helped people understand God’s teaching on marriage and have not practiced forgiveness for past mistakes. 

Where does the church stand on divorce.  It does not really stand.  Where does it stand on homosexuality?  Many churches take a hard line stand against homosexuality.  When the church has expressed a position on divorce it is usually along the lines of divorce is sometimes acceptable (cases of infidelity or desertion by an unbelieving spouse).  DeYoung sums up this position with the words, “Simply put, homosexuality and divorce are not identical because according to the Bible the former is always wrong while the latter is not.  Every divorce is the result of sin, but not every divorce is sinful” [94].

Is the church record on the handling of divorce without fault? Of course not; it is too high.  Marriage sanctity should be upheld but it is often not.  Churches would rather ignore this issue than anger members to the point that they leave the church. 

DeYoung states that new members of his church are asked about the nature of their divorce upon joining the church.  His church has had to discipline elders who have made “questionable” decisions about divorce.  His church has offered counseling for struggling couples and the majority of pastoral care crisis situations have involved failed marriage situations.  He states “Our church, like many others, takes seriously all kinds of sins, including illegitimate divorce” [95].

Is this a courageous stand in support of the sanctity of marriage?  It is.  Has it resulted in people leaving his church?  It has.

It hurts when someone points out the plank in your eye.  DeYoung admits that the evangelical church has lots of “plank-eyed Christians.”  Many churches, church leaders and pastors have given up on topics like gluttony and divorce much to their detriment.  “The remedy for this negligence is not more negligence” [95].  It must be corrected, even if the cure is slow.  He cites the need for “biblical exposition, more active pastoral care, more consistent discipline, more Word-saturated counseling and more prayer.”  I find the last sentence of his chapter to be very interesting; all these cures need to be applied for “illegitimate divorce, same sex behavior and for the other sins that are more easily condoned than confronted” [95].

*What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?

**Genesis 19: 1-9; Leviticus 18: 22; Leviticus 20: 13; Romans 1: 26-27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1: 10.

***List was formed by Evagrius of Pontus, a desert monk.

****Statistics report that one out of three marriages end in divorce for nonbelievers.  Christian couples fare a bit better: 33% vs 26%.