Local Option means the PCUSA no longer proclaims the true Gospel

When a Self-Acknowledged Practitioner of Homosexual Acts (SAPHA) seeks ordination, he or she is not just unqualified. He or she is by definition stating that homosexual acts are not sinful. Another way of saying this is that he or she is proclaiming wickedness to be righteous. Isaiah took a very dim view of such statements: “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and shrewd in their own sight!” (Isaiah 5:20-21)

But the SAPHA’s proclamation of a false gospel doesn’t end with his or her ordination. Each SAPHA by actions if not by words continues to proclaim that perversion is not perverse, and that sin is not sin. At the very least, by claiming to be unable to control his or her sexual behavior, the SAPHA casts doubt on all Biblical regulations concerning such behavior, including the most fundamental of all: “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Since impressionable young people are most likely to believe such spoken and unspoken messages, and thereby to be led into sexual sin themselves, ordained SAPHAs should pay special attention to these words of Jesus: “Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were hung round his neck and he were thrown into the sea.” (Mark 9:42)

But Jesus’ warning isn’t just for the SAPHAs who are ordained – it extends to every governing body that ordains a SAPHA. This is because the act of ordination is also a form of communication. By laying hands on someone, the ordaining body is saying, “We approve of this person and his or her ministry. This person speaks for us.” And so, by ordaining a SAPHA, a session or presbytery is agreeing with him or her that it is not necessary for the SAPHA to repent of sin. The ordaining body is thus agreeing that sin is not sin.

Moreover, given that homosexual acts are in fact sinful, and given that the ordaining body is not in fact requiring the SAPHA to repent of them, the ordaining body is by its action stating that repentance is not required for sin. And if the ordaining body fails to require the SAPHA to repent because the ordaining body believes that “homosexuality” is an innate human characteristic, the ordaining body is also denying the real possibility of sanctification, of the power of the Holy Spirit to transform lives, bringing real change and growth in holiness.

Any governing body that ordains SAPHAs or approves of their ordination thus proclaims wickedness to be righteous. It denies the need for repentance. It denies the possibility of sanctification and belittles the Holy Spirit. Such an ordaining body therefore must cease to be part of the true church because it can no longer be said to demonstrate one of the essential marks of the church – the true preaching of the Word of God. In short, ordaining SAPHAs doesn’t just change the qualifications of those who are allowed to preach the gospel – it changes the content of the gospel itself.