“You have become arrogant and have not mourned instead, so that the one who had done this deed would be removed from your midst…For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church?  But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves” (1 Cor 5:2,12-13).

“… whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea” (Matt 18:6).

Listen here as three local Chicagoland pastors discuss Pride Proclamations and the church in more detail. You can learn more about the Christian Emergency League here.

Imagine the following scenario: you are a member of a local church that desires to glorify God and seems to be gospel-centered and bible-believing. On one Sunday you hear the following statement from one of your pastors:

Pastor: “Well, as many of you know, July is the start of ‘Boast Month,’ during which for a whole month companies and communities celebrate pornography, idolatry, greed, and love of money. You have no doubt seen Boast Month promoted all across our nation and on social media. It is virtually everywhere. I want you to know, as we have said many times, that the position of our church is settled firmly on what the Bible says about Boast Month. We love all people and we want people to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ but we cannot call good what God so clearly calls sin. We will not celebrate Boast Month because we cannot celebrate what God condemns.”

If you are a true Christian, the above would not be surprising at all and should encourage you.

A Christian would not support the so-called Boast Month because God’s Word is clear that being a pornographer, idolator, coveter, and lover of money is sinful. And as is the case with all true sin, these vices should be repented of and forsaken, and all who engage in Boast Month’s sins ought to be called to look unto the only Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, for full forgiveness and freedom from them all.

Now imagine if you found that a fellow member at this same church had repeatedly, proudly, and publicly celebrated and supported “Boast Month.” This fellow church member had also urged everyone to join him in this celebration supporting all who gladly reject God and mock His Word and wisdom in favor of celebrating these sinful, idolatrous identities.

Your fellow church member declared those who proudly practice and identify as “pornographers, idolators, the greedy, and lovers of money” should feel supported and their love of sin and idolatry affirmed.

Imagine if your fellow church member lied and subverted the truth, confusing especially young boys and girls who were especially vulnerable to the many lies of powerful, influential, worldly people supporting and celebrating Boast Month (AKA pornography, idolatry, greed, and love of money).

Imagine if, on top of this, your fellow church member proudly supported Boast Month not simply in his own home, secretly in his neighborhood or workplace, or quietly on social media but in his official capacity as a civil magistrate (who is supposed to have integrity and care about righteousness and truth).

And imagine if your fellow church member’s name was proudly stamped on his support of “Boast Month” so that now multiple sins are elevated and your fellow church member had wielded his power to urge other citizens to love and participate in this celebration of sin. A double and triple evil.

Now what if this happened four years in a row and your fellow church member, when confronted once a few years ago, said he had thought about taking a strong biblical stand, but after much prayer and thought, said that if he did take a strong biblical stand, doing so would cause more harm than good—clear evidence of his cowardice as well as being ashamed of God’s Word and the gospel, as well as a foolish willingness to partner with an unrighteous world in its blessing of sin (2 Cor 6:14)?

Would you logically expect the pastors and leaders of your church to lovingly but swiftly confront this church member? Yes.

So, imagine if you found out no elder/pastor had called on this Boast Month-supportive church member to repent for his public approval of obvious sins (Rom 1:32)—but your leaders had in fact defended this church member and even marginalized and punished fellow church members who claimed this was not simply a matter of conscience but one of God’s truth—His holiness and righteousness!?

In light of all this, would your pastor’s words above ring hollow? Of course, they would. And rightly so.

It is easy to claim you stand under God’s truth, but the real test of faithfulness comes when God’s Word is being contradicted and you are called upon to act on the courage of your convictions.

 This is precisely what has happened at one of the largest churches in the Chicagoland area and it is grievous (Listen as three local pastors of the Christian Emergency League discuss this).

For the fourth year in a row, longtime Orchard Evangelical Free Church member and Arlington Heights mayor Thomas Hayes has recklessly, foolishly, and sinfully—with the defense of his elders who last year repeatedly claimed it was a matter of Christian liberty and individual conscience—signed a “Pride Proclamation” for his municipality.

“Pride Month” clearly celebrates and supports what God’s Word is very clear on—namely, the great sins of idolatry and the promotion of grotesque sexual immoralities. Listen here as three local Chicagoland Pastors discuss this unnecessary tragedy and divisive evil.

The Bible, God’s written, revealed, inerrant, and holy Word, is not unclear that Jesus Christ is Lord. The Bible is also not unclear on what sin is and what Christians are to do about sin: repent of it, forsake it, put it to death, confess it, flee it, and find refuge for it in God’s grace through Christ alone.

We are to be holy as God is holy in all our behavior (1 Pet 1:16) and holiness is not some individualistic, subjective, “I feel holy therefore I am holy” standard. Rather, holiness has an objective meaning of being devoted to God—Jesus himself being the standard and, as Sinclair Ferguson put it, the litmus test as the law-keeper who has rescued us and now by God’s Spirit helps us under grace to live obedient lives according to God’s Word.

Gospel people are never lawless people.

God has been very clear in His Word that those who love, trust, and fear Him are to be guided by His sufficient Word (Ps 119; 2 Pet 1:20-21; 2 Tim 3:16-17). They must turn away from and hate evil (Prov 8:13). And they ought to be those who humbly obey God’s commandments (John 14:15). The ones who claim to be His children and claim to follow Christ are not to partner with unrighteousness and darkness (2 Cor 6:14).

Christians are called to lay aside falsehood and speak the truth with our neighbors…not allowing unwholesome words to proceed from our mouths…and “there is to be no partaking with those deceived in darkness [in their darkness] for we are children of Light and belong to Christ’s kingdom with an aim to please Him in righteousness and truth” (Eph 4:25,29; 5:5-16).

There has been and remains an Unchanging Witness, which Christians have been graciously given by God; a clear truth about living holy lives devoted to Christ no matter the cost, pressure, or context. Sin as defined in God’s written and holy Word must never be celebrated, promoted, lied about, or downplayed. Rather, sins—all sins—must repented of, forsaken, and hated for we recognize the grave consequences thereof  (1 Cor 6:9-11).

Despite efforts in the past by local Chicagoland pastors to connect with and see the Orchard’s leaders glorify God, the Orchard’s leaders have not merely tolerated but rather defended their member Thomas Hayes’ decision (and have never once contested the claim that Hayes is a church member in good standing).

To the best of our knowledge, no Orchard pastor or current member has called on Thomas Hayes to repent for his sins.

Sadly, members who have raised concerns have actually been marginalized, dismissed, or wrongly disciplined by The Orchard’s leaders. These are not matters of Christian liberty or personal conscience. You have been lied to if someone told you they are. These are not “agree to disagree” matters that Christians who love the Lord can take different positions on. Jesus Christ is Lord, and each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.

This is sobering and ought to lead each one of us to take God at His Word and listen to and heed His clear counsel.

Because of God’s grace, mercy, and love in Christ, we do not need to fear that judgment day but can instead long for it and look ahead to the day when our faith in Christ will become sight. Yet it is vital to be clear here: it does not matter if you claim you have a clear conscience on something when your conscience and your actions (or unbiblical inaction) contradict God’s Word.

There is no justification for supporting or celebrating sins of any kind as a Christian. Period. Full stop.

And there is no justification for supporting or celebrating sins of any kind as a civil magistrate. Civil magistrates who claim the name of Christ are first and foremost Christians, and they are elected to lead and serve with integrity and a commitment to true righteousness and truth.

As medical doctors who ought to be hailed as heroes are being unjustly oppressed across our country because of the insane LGBTQ+ agenda (see this important story by Alyssa Sonnenburg); as a growing list of days are devoted to LGBTQ+ enslaving idols, ideologies, and immoralities to celebrate what Auron MacIntyre called “America’s Ramadan” and Dr. Everett Piper called America’s quintessential holiday (similarly see this sobering post by Dr. Jared Moore detailing how many “holy days” there are); as hardworking, normal men trying to make an honest living are being irrationally hauled to courts for twelve years (see here); as “more ground is being forfeited each year as a result of the behemoth that is #Pride” (read all Professor Aaron Edwards words); as heretical liars are infiltrating and influencing the church over LGBTQ+ issues (read this take down of Preston Sprinkle); as terribly tragic yet revealing confessions (like this one by a non-Christian) are made concerning the nature of how sexual sins beget sexual sins including harming and targeting minors even to the point of grotesque pedophilia…

The Orchard Evangelical Free Church has decided to double, triple, and quadruple down on their decision to selectively deem the support of these sins matters of conscience and Christian liberty rather than matters of God’s truth, righteousness, and holiness.

It is confusing. It is shameful. It is divisive. It is double-minded. It is profoundly unchristian.

And it does not in any way, shape, or form honor the Lord Jesus Christ, who has told us love rejoices with the truth and not with unrighteousness (1 Cor 13:6).

God our Creator, Sustainer, Judge, Savior, Redeemer, and Lord has called us to put away deceitful mouths and devious speech from us (Prov 4:24) and for our love to be without hypocrisy—we are to abhor what is evil and cling to what is good (Rom 12:9).

Please carefully read what God’s Word says repeatedly concerning these sins. Stand under Christ’s Lordship faithfully, humbly, and without shame concerning Him and His words (Luke 9:26).

Understand that it is a denial of Christ before men, which in God’s Word is no small matter but has eternal consequences (Matt 10:32-33). No church should want something so foolish and obviously wrong to define its legacy. Why have this stain on your church? Why take away from so much good gospel work that has gone on through the ministry of the Word for so many years?

Why not correct course to God’s glory and live under the Word consistently and with integrity and honor?

“The church is always to be under the Word; she must be; we must keep her there. You must not assume that because the church started correctly, she will continue so. She did not do so in the New Testament times; she has not done so since. Without being constantly reformed by the Word the church becomes something very different. We must always keep the church under the Word.” – Martyn Lloyd-Jones

“Faithful are the wounds of a friend, But deceitful are the kisses of an enemy” (Prov 27:6).

“Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness “(Isa 5:20).

“He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, Both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord” (Prov 17:15).

“Therefore everyone who confesses Me before men, I will also confess him before My Father in heaven. But whoever denies Me before men, I will also deny him before My Father in heaven. Do not assume that I have come to bring peace to the earth; I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to turn a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter in law against her mother in law. A man’s enemies will be the members of his own household. Anyone who loves his father or mother more than Me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of me and anyone who does not take up his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me. Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for My sake will find it” (Matt 10:32-39).