Cru LGBTQ curriculum misses the mark on truth and love
The battle between love and truth... isn't a battle
“Christians must live in the tension between love and truth.”
So says Justin Giboney, president of a left-leaning political organization called “The AND Campaign” which seeks to “realign Christians to advocate for biblical principles and against political violence.” I think we’re all on board with no “political violence” if by that he means no assassination attempts or burning things down when elections don’t go your way (or storming the capitol, not that we’re sure that really unfolded the way they tell us).
But I’m not here to discuss Justin’s organization. Today I mention his comment because it was part of an LBGTQ+ teaching series for staff of Cru (formerly known as Campus Crusade for Christ). I have a personal interest in Cru, having supported missionaries through their organization for years, including one of my own children. Two of her friends in Cru were fired for publicly questioning the direction Cru is going; our daughter has left the organization as well, and our family is pulling all support. We are deeply disappointed in Cru’s actions.
The training is entitled “Compassionate and Faithful” – but it is actually neither. It is not faithful to God’s Word nor is it compassionate. It also includes misleading information (and some fairly straightforward lies) to support its overall thesis that Christians have been bad and need to start making gays and transgender people “comfortable.”
Podcaster Jon Harris, who initially obtained the training video and posted it on X, recorded a 2-hour podcast where he unpacked much of this troubling teaching (I’ve linked it at the bottom of this article, from YouTube – it also includes additional information and a link to the Cru training materials).
This situation is, unfortunately, a perfect example of the profound misunderstanding of the meaning of Christian love and truth. So let’s do a little unpacking, as well.
Unfaithful to the Word
A glaring omission in the “Compassionate and Faithful” training is any discussion of the need for repentance. Cru staffers were told that the church should seek to make comfortable those who are “same sex attracted” and those with “gender dysphoria.” And to the extent that we are always to model kindness and gentleness (along with all the other fruits of the Spirit), yes. Individually and as a church body, a kind welcome should await anyone who ventures through our church door.
However, if a church is faithfully preaching the Word week in and week out, equipping the saints with the wisdom they need to graciously engage with the world - it won’t be long before the “same sex attracted” or “gender dysphoric” person is not quite as comfortable. Likewise the “adulterous” person. The “lying” person. The “thieving” person. The “gluttonous” person. Really anyone who is not following Jesus should become increasingly uncomfortable in our churches until they come face to face with their sin – and seek repentance as they come to faith.
That process is missing from this training, and that’s further underscored by the lack of understanding about what happens after one comes to faith, which is increasing freedom from one’s sinful inclinations through the power of the Holy Spirit indwelling you. Instead, here with Cru your previous sinful inclinations are not only welcomed, but you are identified by them. Literally. When Cru interviewed certain staffers for this training, they identified them onscreen as “same sex attracted” (and the ones who weren’t – “cisgender”). These inclinations are treated as hardwired, and embraced – so long as nobody acts on them.
And to be clear, Cru does draw the line at their “same sex attracted” staff acting upon that attraction. But Jesus – who indeed does accept us as we are – does not leave us as we are. He calls us to a higher standard than just not acting upon all of our sinful tendencies. In fact – what do you think He meant by this:
You have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery”; but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. But if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell. And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell.
Matthew 5:27-30
We know that Jesus wasn’t advocating self-mutilation – which wouldn’t solve the problem of the sinning heart, anyway. But His language indicates how deadly serious God views the sin of evil desires. He says wanting to sin is basically the same as doing the sin.
So if a man struggles with lusting after another woman, but doesn’t act on it – all is not well. And should he announce that he identifies as “adultery-attracted,” the church should let him know that’s not an acceptable status for a Jesus follower.
Of course, there aren’t a lot of people announcing they’re “adultery-oriented.” And that’s where this situation is so messed up. Cru is treating this particular pattern of sinful desire – the LGBTQ+ spectrum – as something different. Something protected. Something that does not need to be addressed or changed, but rather wholeheartedly accepted. Something “neutral.”
But what if the sinful inclination – being courageously and righteously suppressed, but nevertheless a part of the individual’s identity – was racism? Is that neutral? Would Cru tell this person that as long as he didn’t lynch someone, or call them a hateful slur, then the thoughts in his mind that he wasn’t acting upon were A-OK? Because that is the clear takeaway from this training. I am a thief, but I’m not (currently) stealing. But I’m still attracted to things that don’t belong to me, and that will just always be part of my identity. Why would we want to encourage that kind of thinking? Well, Paul says we don’t:
Therefore, consider the members of your earthly body as dead to sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and greed, which is idolatry.
Colossians 3:5
We all struggle with certain sins more than others – hopefully less and less as we mature in Christ. But until we die, those temptations will still occasionally raise their ugly heads. When they do, they’re not to be embraced or accepted – because for us to embrace or accept them in ourselves or each other is the opposite of compassionate.
Compassion misguided
Is it compassionate to tell someone they cannot change – or more to the point, that God cannot change this particular inclination to sexual sin? So many Christians would beg to differ – Christians now living in God-honoring ways who formerly lived a gay or lesbian lifestyle. (Look up Rosaria Butterfield if you aren’t familiar with her story, for just one example.) But Cru seems to think Rosaria’s story is impossible.
In their training video, Cru interviewed a woman labeled “same sex attracted” who expressed her sadness at giving up on ever having a family of her own, due to her same sex attraction. She went on to complain about the church’s emphasis on marriage, and referred to feelings of guilt she still has, which she seemed to blame on other Christians. I’d guess her feelings of guilt are very real, but probably because she’s guilty (see Jesus’ words, above). That’s very sad – and also sad that Cru’s idea of compassion is agreeing with this woman that she can’t possibly be changed.
Love and truth
I started with this quote: “Christians must live in the tension between love and truth.”
But in fact that statement, again from this Cru training, is itself not truth. It’s a lie. Because love is truth. And truth is love. There is no tension between them. They go hand in hand. You cannot properly have love without truth, and you cannot properly have truth without love. God made them to go together.
Now – it is true that we Christians have been known to do it improperly. Speaking truth without love. Trying to love without truth. But both of those backfire, spectacularly, because that’s not how He meant it to be. So no, we don’t “live in the tension between” them – we embrace both of them fully and concurrently.
Unfortunately, this Cru training gets this totally wrong in a number of ways.
First, because they chose to unquestioningly parrot LGBTG+ talking points (committed as they say they are to seeing everything through “gay culture” eyes), they repeat statements of “fact” that are light on facts.
In a lengthy section recounting the victimization of the gay community, Cru staffer Bill Henson refers to a so-called “crisis” of trans people being assaulted and killed – without explaining this is due to many of them engaging in high-risk lifestyles including prostitution. Likewise he recounts how hard it is to “grow up gay” and talks about the severe depression some of them face leading to suicide. The bad guys in Henson’s teaching are not the sinful desires that are eating the teenager alive, but the parents, friends, or churches that express disapproval. (Strangely, he also reports that gays in Nazi concentration camps suffered poor rations and harder work assignments. I don’t think I’ve ever heard which groups were getting the good rations and work assignments. But apparently this “history” is important for Cru staffers to absorb and internalize.)
The bulk of this training is presented by author and speaker Preston Sprinkle, and it’s challenging to keep track of how much confusion he’s sowing here – and how hostile he is to the Church:
Mockingly refers to “pray away the gay” which denigrates the idea that the Spirit can in fact change people’s lives in this way – and has.
Says the church is “a graveyard for gay people” – and presents this quote from one of his gay friends as a truth we must confront, with vague references to our possible role in a “dehumanizing lack of love” his friends are reporting.
Mocks the idea of a “gay agenda” by asking what the “straight agenda” is. Of course, straight people do not make up a separate culture; they are merely patterning their sexual lives after God’s natural design for men and women. Gay people don’t make up a separate culture either, but we all know about the “agenda” since we’ve watched it unfold for a few decades. Pretending it doesn’t exist is disingenuous on Sprinkle’s part.
Talks about many of his gay friends, including one who he reports is married to another man; one who apparently is a pastor who is attracted to men exclusively but is faithful to his wife (that sounds like a disaster in the making); one who committed to celibacy but then got married to a woman and then developed sexual feelings for her. This is where he tells us that “sexuality is fluid” but assures us that sometimes it would be an awful idea for a gay man to marry a woman. Are you confused yet?
Spends a lot of time trying to argue that gender stereotypes make people uncomfortable and aren’t supported in the Bible. Never mind that the Bible was written during… well, Bible times, and gender roles were pretty clear back then. He says “we” are the ones who’ve made up all those stereotypes. But he says nothing about what the Bible actually does say about gender – that there are two of them and they’re supposed to be pair up with each other. (Romans 1:18-32, a section about God’s wrath on the unrighteous, makes this exceedingly clear.)
But the worst thing Sprinkle tosses out there during this training is this – and it’s written on a big full screen slide, so we don’t miss it: “We can get the Bible right, but if we get love wrong… we’re wrong.”
Um… no.
If we get the Bible right, we get love right. Because the Bible tells us what is sin, how to address sin, what is love, and how to love. And I would argue that the most loving thing you can ever do for someone who is lost is show them how to find their way. For those who don’t know Jesus, that means helping them see the reality of their sin, because if they don’t think they’ve sinned they don’t know they need a Savior. It is compassionate and right and biblical to call every sin out for what it is – sin.
But obviously we are not to go around whacking people upside the head with the Bible. We ourselves are to be winsome and pleasant to be around and kind and loving with our demeanor, too. Speak the truth in love, is what the Bible says – and where it says that (Ephesians 4:15) it is actually talking about how we speak truth to each other – our fellow Jesus followers. We’re supposed to be nice to them, too!
For those, however, who are not yet part of God’s family – it may well be “judgmental” for you to call out any specific sin in their life. In fact, calling out a specific sin in someone’s life may not be the best starting point in showing them the gospel. Situations differ. But it also may be exactly what the Holy Spirit is prompting you to do. Maybe your words are His plan to penetrate their heart. No matter what, let everything you say and do reflect the truth that you were in no way superior to this other person when God saved you. Humility goes a long way, as does the simple message that God loves us and desires that everyone He created come into relationship with Him. Think of it as loving this person into the Kingdom. Lean on Him hard while you do it, so you’re not tempted to soft-pedal what you shouldn’t, or be an overbearing argumentative jerk.
But never be afraid to speak the truth in love. And I think the only way doing that is consistently possible is when you’re walking closely with Him. So – do that. Always.
Cru staff have told me they’ve watched as other young Cru personnel absorbed this “de-sinfulizing” teaching about homosexual desires, eventually taking it as permission to leave Cru and live fully in their sexual attraction. How tragic that these young people were not given unvarnished truth. So pray for our churches and Christian organizations – that God will open eyes to the beauty of presenting His truth in His love, and allow us to serve the lost with true compassion and faithfulness. In these times, it is a prayer we may return to often.
Here’s the video referred to in this post: