As I wrote in that 2020 interview: “They’re not concerned with labels like ‘liberal’ or ‘conservative’ because they’re more interested in talking about ‘relationship.’” They are not demons out to destroy the church.” “They are faithful, devoted, loving, kind, exemplary people. They are not demons out to destroy the church. They are faithful, devoted, loving, kind, exemplary people. They are, instead, exactly what they’ve billed the conference to be: Christians who want to love Jesus and love their gay child at the same time. I’ll claim the label “liberal” if you must apply it, but they are not that. The conference is designed and sponsored by Embracing the Journey, a ministry headed by Greg and Lynn McDonald, who are my friends.Ĭaveat here: To say Greg and Lynn are my “friends” is not to say they share all my beliefs. When I read about all this tempest, I decided to reach out to the source of the storm, which is not Andy Stanley or Al Mohler. Right on cue, Focus on the Family also is outraged by the event and considers it unbiblical. Mohler isn’t alone in castigating the “Unconditional” conference. But remember, these are the same folks who want the church to control the state anyway. The church does not get to define what constitutes a legal marriage in the United States. They are not merely “described as” same-sex marriages they are same-sex marriages - legally. The snark of Mohler’s disdain for families with LGBTQ kids comes through in this line: “Biographical background on speakers Justin Lee and Brian Nietzel indicates that both men are in what are now described as ‘same-sex marriages.’” (Emphasis mine.) This conference, he asserts, “is designed as a platform for normalizing the LGBTQ+ revolution.” In an online opinion piece condemning the conference and Stanley both, Mohler replied: “In truth, there is no ‘middle space’ on these issues, and it is no longer plausible to claim that such middle space exists.” It is for them an article of faith.Ĭonference publicity advertises an opportunity to find the “quieter middle space” on this volatile topic. Isn’t that awful?”Īccording to Mohler and those like him, it is indeed awful because one cannot be a “Christian” and not scorn the LGBTQ community. “His church agreed to be the site for a sold-out conference to help parents of LGBTQ kids learn to love their children while maintaining their Christian faith. What is Andy Stanley’s great offense against the created order? His church agreed to be the site for a sold-out conference to help parents of LGBTQ kids learn to love their children while maintaining their Christian faith. Yet what they uphold is a theology of hate and fear and narrowmindedness that would leave queer kids taking their own lives rather than being loved and understood by their families. possess the only version of biblical truth and all things must be measured against their standards. Once again, the baseline assumption is that Mohler & Co. But yeah, if the son of Charles Stanley is charged with seeing the world differently than Al Mohler, he’s definitely guilty as charged. The ultra-conservative Calvinist complementarian crowd has been seeking evidence to convict Andy Stanley of “liberalism” for years, and now they think they’ve found the smoking gun.Įxcept their “evidence” would only hold up if the jury were made up of people who see the world exactly as they do.
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