On Oct 12, Nobel Laureate and retired Anglican Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa defended the Presbyterian Church (USA) decision to accommodate the ordination of practicing homosexuals. In an open letter to Stated Clerk Rev. Grayde Parsons, Archbishop Tutu wrote: “It is incumbent upon all of God’s children to speak out against injustice. It is sometimes equally important to speak in solidarity when justice has been done. For that reason I am writing to affirm my belief that in making room in your constitution for gay and lesbian Christians to be ordained as church leaders, you have accomplished an act of justice.”
Archbishop Tutu is no stranger to controversy. His willingness to pick sides on every major hot button issue today has won him a host of friends and enemies. Most people perhaps remember him for his courageous and unequivocal fight to end apartheid in South Africa. But he has more recently weighed in on everything from climate change to Arizona’s immigration law. Despite his accomplishments over the last 80 years, he has routinely promoted with the Religious Left ideology whether it be as the vice-director of the Theology Education Fund at the World Council of Churches or as a patron of the anti-IsraelSabeel International. It is, therefore, no surprise to see him supporting the radical LBGT agenda. He is unlike the vast majority of African church leaders who affirm orthodox Christian teachings.
In his most latest book God Is Not a Christian, Tutu argued that he is “by nature a person who dislikes confrontation.” Tutu summons his inspiration for combat from his late mother and in some ways the biblical prophet Jeremiah. Recalling these inspirations, Tutu wrote, “When I see innocent people suffering, pushed around by the rich and powerful…if I try to keep quiet it is as if the word of God burned like a fire in my breast. I feel I am compelled to speak out…” Of course it is not on the issues of the “innocent suffering” that separates Archbishop Tutu from the faithful Christian believer, it is his unwillingness to affirm Scripture’s call to sexual fidelity and holiness.
In May, the Presbyterian Church (USA) voted to remove from its constitution the requirement that ordination be limited to those who hold “fidelity in marriage and chastity in singleness.” It is this change that the Archbishop is now affirming. Tutu wrote, “By making it possible for those in same-gender relationships to be ordained as pastors, preachers, elders, and deacons, you are being a witness to your ecumenical partners that you believe in the wideness of God’s merciful love.” Not only is Tutu rejecting Scripture’s teaching, he is also ignoring the accelerated decline of every denomination that has compromised its teaching about marriage and sexual ethics.
Rather than looking to the authority of Jesus Christ on this issue, Tutu seems to be looking to the authority of Lady Gaga and the host of scientists, medical professionals, and others who have confirmed to him “that being gay is not a choice.” Going further he wrote, “Like skin color or left-handedness, sexual orientation is just another feature of our diversity as a human family.” Of course the science, medical and LGBT community are hardly unanimous on the issue. The prestigious and very LGBT affirming American Psychiatric Association issued a Fact Sheet, “Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual Issues,” which includes this statement: “Currently, there is a renewed interest in searching for biological etiologies for homosexuality. However, to date there are no replicated scientific studies supporting any specific biological etiology for homosexuality.” The “born this way” argument may be appropriate for an eccentric pop star, but is vastly inappropriate for a leader of one of the largest Christian communions in the world.
There is no real mystery as to how Archbishop Tutu could trade sacred for crass authority. In an interview on CNN in 2009, he said that he reads his Bible every day, but argues that some parts should simply be rejected. “You have to understand is that the Bible is really a library of books and it has different categories of material,” he said, adding, “There are certain parts which you have to say no to. The Bible accepted slavery. St Paul said women should not speak in church at all and there are people who have used that to say women should not be ordained. There are many things that you shouldn’t accept.”
The Archbishop has taken a two prong approach to undermining the traditional biblical view on homosexuality. On one hand he dismissively states, “Isn’t it sad, that in a time when we face so many devastating problems — poverty, HIV/AIDS, war and conflict – that in our [Anglican] Communion we should be investing so much time and energy on disagreement about sexual orientation?” On the other hand he berates parents for teaching evil ideas to their children by saying, “A parent who brings up a child to be a racist damages that child, damages the community in which they live, damages our hopes for a better world. A parent who teaches a child that there is only one sexual orientation and that anything else is evil denies our humanity and their own too.”
Sadly, Desmond Tutu concluded his letter to the Presbyterians by affirming the antinomian heresy that the freedom of Christ permits all manner of sexual activity. He claimed: “For freedom Christ has set us free. In Christ we are not bound by old, narrow prejudice, but free to embrace the full humanity of our brothers and sisters in all our glorious differences.” Ironically, the PCUSA decision is already estranging the declining U.S. denomination from more vibrant global Presbyterians.
Finishing well is an important theme throughout Scripture and an important goal of the committed Christian. But is Tutu finishing his earthly race well? For all his courageous accomplishments over 80 years, he should not now, in the sunset of life, trade the eternal word of God for regurgitated worldly fads. Courage and faithfulness should summon him to fidelity to the apostolic faith once given to the saints.
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