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Court Orders Church to apologise to Sodomite, Microsoft Word format
Court Orders Church to apologise to Sodomite, Rich Text format

A few years ago a Dutch Reformed church in Moreleta Park, South Africa, hired a man to be its music teacher.  But it fired him when it discovered that he was a sodomite, and involved in a sodomite relationship.

We do not hold the now highly compromised, far from biblical Dutch Reformed institution in South Africa to be a true Christian church.  But this entire matter has far-reaching implications for true Christians, and true Christian churches, in South Africa.  And certainly, at least in this matter, this Dutch Reformed church was absolutely correct.  The Bible is crystal-clear that sodomy is an abomination before God (e.g. Rom. 1:24-27; Gen. 19; Lev. 18:22).   In 2 Kings 23:7 King Josiah “brake down the houses of the sodomites, that were by the house of the Lord“.  The Church (the New Testament “house of the Lord”) and sodomy are incompatible, sodomites have no place in the Lord’s house, and the New Testament response is not to physically break down their property, but to remove them from membership if they have managed to creep in.  Ex-sodomites – those converted to Christ – are welcome as members in a true church, for they have forsaken their sinful lifestyle (1 Cor. 6:9,10); but practising sodomites are to be excluded.  Moreover, in better times the law itself would have supported the prerogative of any employer to fire a man in such a case.  But alas, we are living in very different times now.

The sodomite took legal action.  The case was heard in the Pretoria High Court.

The church argued that it had to ensure that people in leadership positions within the church did not set a bad example.  It contended that it could not be seen to condone the sin of living in a  homosexual relationship.  In this it was absolutely correct.  As the Bible is so clear about it, churches have always condemned sodomy for the sinful abomination it is – at least up until recent times.  Today, more and more institutions calling themselves churches are bowing to pressure and tossing aside the Bible in favour of the current trend within society to view sodomy as a normal, alternative lifestyle.  Those few churches which actually take a stand against this evil are viewed as anachronisms of a bygone age.  And increasingly, militant sodomite activists are using the courts to bring immense pressure to bear on such churches, to force them to back down and change their stance.

The judge was most definitely on the side of the sodomite.  He said there was no evidence that the church’s “discrimination” against the man had been fair or justified; and he said it would be out of order to employ the sentiments of some as a guide to the constitutional rights of others.[1] He was simply applying the SA constitution’s own words about itself, which says: “This Constitution is the supreme law of the Republic; law or conduct inconsistent with it is invalid” (Ch.1, Para.2).  Thus, any biblical conduct is invalid conduct if it contradicts the constitution.  But for the true Christian, the Bible is the supreme authority, not some man-made, deeply flawed constitution.

The judge said that the man’s contract was terminated on the basis that he was involved in a homosexual relationship.  That is correct; and the church did right in doing so.  If a sodomite applies for a job at a place where his filthy lifestyle is not permitted, and then flaunts his lifestyle by living in a sodomite relationship, then if the world wasn’t so upside-down and morally rudderless, any reasonable man would see that he was the one in the wrong.  But we are living in topsy-turvy times, where common sense and reason do not prevail, and where wicked men can get their own way by wailing about their supposed “rights” being violated.  Tom Paine would be so proud.

The judge said that the church had not proved the man’s job entailed religious instruction – that there was no evidence that he had to teach doctrine as a music teacher.  So it seems that the church might have had a case if the sodomite had been employed as a teacher of doctrine; but as he was only employed as a music teacher, it did not!  Here we see the courts now dictating to churches under what circumstances they can hire and fire people: only if they are actually teaching, can the church insist on them subscribing to its doctrines and practices!  But biblically, even if a person is just a member of a church, he or she is to subscribe to what the church holds and stands for.

He said discrimination on the grounds of the man’s “sexual orientation” had an enormous impact on his “right” to equality and dignity.  The judge claimed the man suffered from depression as a result, was unemployed due to the publicity surrounding the case, and had to sell his piano and his house.  In this way sympathy was created for the sodomite, when all the sympathy should have been for the church.  The sodomite did very wrong in even applying for the job, let alone living in a manner utterly opposed to  the church’s doctrine and practice.  He surely knew the church’s position, so why was he “depressed” when he was found out and fired because of his filthy lifestyle?  His “depression” was a typical psychobabble tactic, of course, designed to get more money out of the church, as courts now foolishly award damages for supposed “mental pain and suffering”, which is all so much hogwash.   As for having to sell his piano and house, and being unemployed as a result of the publicity, he should have thought of all that before he decided to deliberately shove his sinful lifestyle right in the faces of the church members.

And so, in August 2008 the judge ruled that the Dutch Reformed church had unfairly discriminated against the sodomite when it fired him; and the Moreleta Park congregation was ordered to pay the man damages of R87 000, and to apologise unconditionally for its conduct!

If this happened to a true church of God, the duty of the pastor and the church would be to refuse to pay, and refuse to apologise!  Yes, this would in all likelihood result in imprisonment or some other form of punishment; but the Christian’s duty is to obey God rather than man.  When the apostles were forbidden by the authorities to preach the Gospel, the angel of the Lord himself instructed them to continue doing so – and they did.  And when they were asked, “Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name?” they replied, “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:17-29).  To apologise for doing what the Bible commands, and then to take the Lord’s money and give it to a sodomite, would be as sinful as stopping the preaching of the Gospel if commanded to do so by the authorities.  For we are to obey God, not only in the preaching of His Word, but in the stand we take, and the way we live, and the way we govern our churches.  The world has no jurisdiction over the church of God, and we are not to permit the world to dictate to us how we are to live, or to preach.  We are to obey the secular authorities in all lawful matters, but not when we are commanded to act contrary to the Word of God.  It is part of the Christian’s witness before the world to take a stand against evil.  What kind of witness is it when a Christian, or a church, says in effect, “We believe this is sinful; but we apologise for saying so, and here is money to show how sorry we are”?  This would be hypocritical, and cowardly.  It would be obeying  men instead of God.

And, not surprisingly, it did not take militant sodomite activists long to go on the offensive after this judgment.  Emboldened by the court decision, they sent threatening letters to various professedly Christian community radio stations, seeking to silence all criticism of sodomy on the air.  We do not recommend or support the organisation known as “Focus on the Family”, headed by psychologist James Dobson, for it is not biblically sound.  It is an ecumenical organisation, devoted to applying the worldly principles of “Christian psychology” (an oxymoron, for there is no such thing) to family matters above the teaching of Holy Scripture.[2] But after the court judgment the sodomite militants focused on Focus on the Family, probably because of its size and influence; and they will in time widen their assault to include all who oppose them, lumping true Christians, churches and ministries together with the false ones.  This is the letter sent to radio stations by the South African Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation:

“We appeal to your radio station today to stop supporting the Focus on the Family foundation and to immediately quit playing their material on your station…. Note that you are promoting and spreading religious intolerance and anti-LGBT [Lesbian-Gay-Bisexual-Transgender] terrorism…. As you should know, the Constitution prohibits any discrimination including discrimination based on sexual orientation.  Note also the recent GLBT victory against the NG [Dutch Reformed] Moreleta Park Church which once again proved that no church is above the law.  We sincerely hope you heed our appeal, otherwise we have no other recourse as to institute formal complaints at the BCCSA [Broadcasting Complaints Commission of SA] and the SA Human Rights Commission.”[3]

This shows the arrogance and triumphalism of the sodomite movement in South Africa in the wake of the court decision.  Reeking of hypocrisy, they, in the name of “tolerance”, most intolerantly call those who oppose them intolerant, and threaten them!  This is ever the way of liberals and leftists of all stripes.  They have declared themselves to be the tolerant ones, but they will not tolerate anyone who opposes them!

Christians in South Africa must expect to see such rabid intolerance grow throughout society, unless the Lord intervenes and grants repentance to multitudes.  All true pastors, and indeed all true believers must stand firm, being “set for the defence of the Gospel” (Phil. 1:17), “holding fast the faithful Word” (Tit. 1:9), and “holding forth the Word of life” (Phil. 2:16) to the lost, that they might be saved.  These are dangerous times; but the Lord Jesus Christ is with His Church, and will never leave it!

December 2008

Shaun Willcock is a minister of the Gospel and lives in South Africa.  He runs Bible Based Ministries.  For other news articles (which may be downloaded and printed), as well as details about his books, audio messages, pamphlets, etc., please visit the Bible Based Ministries website, or write to the address below.  If you would like to be on Bible Based Ministries’ electronic mailing list, to receive all future articles, please send your details.

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ENDNOTES:

[2].Prophets of PsychoHeresy II, by Martin and Deidre Bobgan.  EastGate Publishers, Santa Barbara, California, 1990.

[3].Homosexual Activists Threaten Christian Radio, 2 September 2008. tuisonderwys@yahoogroups.com on behalf of Leendert van Oostrum [leendert@oostrum.org].

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