“Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest you be like him yourself. Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own eyes.” Proverbs 26:4-5
Author Rosaria Butterfield had the students of Liberty University enthralled in her testimony. It is uplifting to hear someone come out of lesbianism—a pioneer in gay rights no less—and align herself with the teachings we grew up with. Praise God no one is too far gone!
When Rosaria’s testimony culminated with the mentioning of her husband of twenty-two years and their children and grandchildren, the audience erupted in applause—as if a heterosexual marriage marks the end of sin struggles. The crowd then made a habit of clapping, about twice a minute, for the remainder of her time behind the microphone. Save one sentence.
Rosaria identified four statements she’s heard from the believer’s side of the modern sexual revolution. She called them lies and heresies.
“Same-sex attraction is a sinless temptation, and only a sin if you act on it.”
“People who experience same-sex attraction are actually gay-Christians called to life-long celibacy.”
“People who experience same-sex attraction, rarely, if ever, change, and therefore, should never pursue, heterosexual marriage.”
“Sex and gender are different, and God doesn't care if men live as men or if women live as women, because all you need to do is grow in the fruit of the Spirit, as if the fruit of the Holy Spirit can grow from sin.”
In a sudden turn of tone, Rosaria cited and indicted her sources: Revoice, Preston Sprinkle’s Exiles in Babylon Conference and Center for Faith, Sexuality & Gender, and CRU. The crowd murmured…no applause.
Anymore, ‘heretic’ is bandied about like the word ‘toxic,' serving the same purpose: a call to cancel the problematic subject. It is a strong word for secondary theological issues and the wrong word when the disagreement comes down to semantics.
As she continued her talk, the audience resumed the frequent applause. Jared, a pastor in Tennessee, tweeted in support of the strange snippet from Liberty’s convocation. The tweet met much traffic.
Preston Sprinkle makes a habit of ignoring criticism. He says he receives a lot, like any public figure, and more often than not brushes it off. Regarding Jared’s tweet, though, he felt the accusations so misrepresented him he broke his habit. Preston had a nearly two-hour conversation with Jared on his podcast, Theology in the Raw. He is waiting on a response to his invitation to have Rosaria on the show.
Long-time listeners of Preston could tell this was personal. But he said, “I didn’t bring Jared on to debate our differences. That was not the purpose of this conversation…All I wanted to do was to challenge him about lying about what I actually believe.” Still, there was a lot of crosstalk and personal attacks.
Most arguments can be made productive, even useless, at the outset by defining terms. Preston and Jared were unwilling to compromise on the definitions of certain phrases in Rosaria’s claim and Jared’s tweet: “same-sex attraction,” “act on,” “experience,” “gay-Christian,” and “men acting like men.” There was further confusion on the purpose of Preston’s conference and poor faith assumptions from both men. So, the conversation started and ended in a deadlock.
To Preston, these claims are categorically false, things he has never said and would never say. He demanded Jared publicly repent for lying. Jared holds Preston accountable for similar statements he read on Preston’s website by contributing authors and bites he heard from speakers at Preston’s conference. He expected Preston’s repentance for these four heresies, though he later lessened his accusation, tweeting they are, “at best, unclear.”
It was a cringey conversation, no matter whose side you took. But it was a valuable lesson to all to speak carefully, whether in name-calling, accusations, or the beliefs we hold.