In an earlier article, it was highlighted how tragically, for the fourth time in a row, long-time self-professing Evangelical Christian and even worse, decades-long member in good standing of The Orchard Evangelical Free Church, Thomas Hayes has promoted evil division in God’s world and Christ’s church.
Hayes has wrongly misused his role as a civil magistrate to publicly promote, defend, celebrate, and encourage so-called Pride Month.
Without question, this is a time when multiple idolatrous identities, sexual immoralities, and evils are being celebrated by the world at a breathtaking pace. These are evils that enslave, confuse, and justify our neighbors in thinking lightly about their sins (Listen here as three pastors of the Christian Emergency League discuss this more fully).
These sins and the lies that fuel them distort the truth about what is right, good, true, and beautiful. They misrepresent who God is as the Creator and Lord and who we are as sinners who need Jesus Christ, the only Savior.
God has called us to love our neighbors and it is not loving by any biblical definition when one proudly promotes, encourages, endorses, or celebrates enslaving sins and sexually immoral relationships that the Lord hates.
Many pitiful, shameful responses and clear compromises with the sinful world have been made by evangelical Christians (see here and here for examples). And when far less than God-glorifying responses are made by Christians who are supposed to be leaders and shepherds of Christ’s church, this is especially grievous.
Pastors and elders who lead local churches are to hold fast to the trustworthy Word, give instruction in sound doctrine, and refute those who contradict it (Titus 1:9). They are absolutely not to cover for sinners in their sins. Christian leaders are not to cover for but correct cowardice.
They are not to legitimize compromise. They are not to protect partnerships with the world in its darkness and unrighteousness, especially by those whose souls they are charged with watching over and will give an account for (Heb 13:17).
It seems likely that these timid, unbiblical responses will increase around us as more pressure comes from the government and the culture, and as more of a price is demanded for standing on the truth.
But what should Christians do if they find themselves in a situation where their local church pastors and leaders have compromised, allowing blatant error to go unchecked and undisciplined?
A plea from a friend
The greatest way anyone can truly support another person they love is by being most committed to the Lord and to the truth. Please understand and realize that supporting sins, confusing sinners in their sins, distorting the truth about history, and being ashamed of God’s clear teaching concerning the gospel is not in any way, shape, or form wise, godly, or charitable.
God’s Word is clear that approving of sin is indefensible, so trying to defend it is obviously a losing battle (Rom 1:32).
Error begets error. Sin begets sin. Compromise begets compromise. Sorrow begets sorrow. Deception begets deception. Confusion begets confusion.
When error and sin are not dealt with swiftly, enemies of the cross of Christ are emboldened, the conviction of and sensitivity to the heinousness of sin is dulled, and a willingness to indulge the flesh or excuse certain sins is inflamed.
True Christians are committed to Jesus Christ the promised, crucified, and now risen, reigning, and one day returning Lord—He is Lord of all (Matt 28:18; Acts 10:36; Phil 2:9-11). Christians are to be light and salt in this present evil age, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil (Matt 5:13-17; Eph 5:15-16).
God has called us to be zealous for good works and to be people of the truth who aim to glorify Him. He has graciously saved sinners like us and His gospel is running in the world as the Lord is seeking and saving the lost. God’s kingdom is to be our aim and desire and we are those who represent Him and are to live holy lives that adorn that gospel.
We are united in the truth—that Jesus Christ is Lord—which means we live and speak in a way that glorifies Him. He is our Master and we are His servants.
To every Orchard Evangelical Free Church member or regular attender who considers The Orchard your church home, this is not written out of hostility, but out of love and a desire for the gospel to run through you swiftly.
Dear friend, please consider the evidence: honestly listen to a recent plea of three local Chicagoland pastors on this. Please listen to your former church member share how he was mistreated and wronged by some of your leaders for humbly taking a biblically faithful, God-honoring stand on this.
Answer honestly:
Why and how can you justify remaining among a people and with an assembly whose leaders aid and abet sins by at best turning a blind eye to these sins and at worst covering and defending for these sins as something Christians may support?
Is this the discernment, wisdom, and leadership you expect from your elders and pastoral leadership? Is this honoring to what God’s Word says concerning what elders are to be about: teaching sound doctrine and refuting those who contradict it (Titus 1:9)? Has that been done? Has your fellow member been called to repent or has that required step been neglected entirely? Is it not hypocrisy to claim one thing in one place to the world and to reject it in another when God’s Word is clear on marriage, gender, sexuality, and sexual morality?
Do you really understand and deeply live in light of the hatred God has towards these sins? Do you realize the horrors and history of the promotion of sodomy upon peoples and nations? (Gen 19; Jude 7; Lev 18:22-30; Rom 1:22-32)? Listen to hear Dr. Scott Lively and Kevin Abrams discuss this.
Are these not the sins that are arguably most celebrated and supported by the sinful, fallen world? Are they not the acts you know are vile sins of sexual immorality that cause tremendous earthly as well as eternal harm? Are you prepared to agree with the lie that these are matters of Christian liberty?
Is it wise and God-glorifying for your fellow Orchard member Thomas Hayes to support these idolatrous identities that defy the Creator God’s good design, mock marriage, and encourage everyone else to join him in claiming it is “imperative” that those who identify as LGBTQ+ feel “supported?”
How is this honoring to Christ and not a matter of repentance and church discipline? What other sins are members allowed to publicly support and encourage when it suits them or in their private judgment would “cause more harm than good?” Adultery? Abuse? Pedophilia? Pornography? Drunkenness? Bigamy? Polygamy? If not, why not, and by what standard can you possibly be consistent and call for repentance if those other sins were publicly supported and people wanted to wrap their lives and identities around them?
How can you justify Mayor Hayes’ repeated words and actions as being anything but set against God’s truth and wisdom? How is this not clear cowardice, an obvious example of your fellow member being ashamed of the gospel and compromising with the sinful spirit of the age? How will you tolerate pastors, elders, and fellow members who refuse to stand firm on God’s truth concerning these matters and call them matters of conscience?
As detailed last year by the Christian Emergency League, multiple local Chicagoland pastors reached out to The Orchard’s leadership for a private meeting with your elders but they repeatedly refused to meet.
Orchard friend, do you realize your church punished and marginalized members who called for Tom Hayes’ repentance and asked for consistency in recognizing this is against God’s Word and not a matter of conscience?
Do you not understand how insane, backward, wrong, and unchristian that was and remains to this day? Again, please listen to three pastors in Chicago who love you and are not against you but for you.
This will not stand and God cannot be mocked. In his official capacity as Mayor of Arlington Heights, Tom has rejected God’s Word concerning what a civil magistrate ought to do—praise those who do good and punish those who do evil (Rom 13:4; 1 Pet 2; Ps 2).
This decidedly does not glorify God but openly mocks Him. It harms your witness for Jesus Christ, the crucified and risen Lord, and the only hope for our neighbors and the nations.
Please consider:
Other local Chicagoland churches and pastors strongly disagree with and reject your claims to be faithful to God and God’s Word while allowing these sins and errors to stand. Will you continue to ignore these claims? Do you truly believe these are difficult matters of conscience?
What should those who fear the Lord and want to love in a way that rejoices with the truth and not with wrongdoing (1 Cor 13:8) do in light of such compromise, cowardice, partnership with unrighteousness, and double-mindedness? How can we in good conscience “let this go” or simply “move on?” How would you expect faithful Christians outside your church to respond to you when you are standing in support of and refusing to take seriously what one leading author called America’s # 1 dominant false religion? If the roles were reversed and you saw clear public sin from a self-professing Christian who called evil good and good evil (Isa 5:20) and then learned this man’s sinful actions were defended by his leaders and pastors, what would you do?
D.A. Carson has wisely stated that sin that is “very public and is already doing damage … needs to be confronted and its damage undone in an equally public way.” This sinful error by Hayes and these errors by your leaders are now public. What ought to be done to honor God according to God’s Word? Put simply, humble, public repentance, along these lines: “We got it wrong and apologize for the confusion. God’s Word is clear and our actions were inconsistent with what God’s Word declares concerning how we ought to think about and approach these matters.
As godless states are right now literally dividing mothers and fathers against their minor sons and daughters in favor of promoting rebellion, deception, and delusion, do you understand your fellow church member is playing for the same team? Are you at peace with that? Do you understand that eventually you will be (and likely you already are) complicit in these sinful errors and you also need to be prepared to defend them?
You need to prove how these public endorsements of sins are not inconsistent with God’s Word and how they honor God’s character. You are saying the endorsement and celebration of sins is not sin but a matter of Christian liberty and personal conscience, but you dare not impose that on any brother or sister in Christ.
Are you prepared to accept and defend that irreversibly mutilating one’s body, participating in gross sexual immoralities that destroyed nations, that so-called pronoun hospitality and lying and casting off God’s good gift and good design in favor of vanity, covetousness,s and selfishness—that these and more are all simply matters of Christian conscience and individual liberty that Christians may disagree on? Or are these matters that involve denying truth and reality according to God’s good design? Are these matters of goodness, righteousness, God’s glory, and more that do matter to God and ought to matter to us?
Lord willing, in the future, a robust “Primer” (AKA introduction) will be provided for thinking and living faithfully and biblically to God’s glory on these matters. For now, please prayerfully read, believe, trust in, and obediently follow God’s holy Word first and foremost.
Remember the wisdom of God’s Word (Prov 18:17). Speak the truth in love and think carefully. Please read New Testament scholar Dr. Robert Gagnon’s wise words on why we ought to mourn not celebrate Pride Month and listen to how theology professor Dr. Aaron Edwards was fired at an evangelical Christian Bible college for a tweet that simply said, “homosexuality is invading the church.”
Read pastor and Southern Baptist Convention Presidential Candidate Dr. Jared Moore’s important takedown of one prominent self-professing evangelical author and professor who is harmfully misleading many on these exact sins.
Pray for God to be glorified, faithfully asking Him to strengthen churches and Christians to preach the truth of the gospel. Jesus Christ is Lord and the only Savior of sinners. God graciously offers everlasting hope and full forgiveness to all those who turn from their sins and trust in Christ alone—our neighbors in the Chicagoland area, in Illinois, in the United States, and across all nations desperately need to hear the full and the true gospel without shame or compromise, without cowardice or confusion.
By God’s grace, hope is never lost when Jesus is on the throne. We should not despair even when self-professing Christians and whole churches fail and falter. But we must never grow arrogant but humbly ask God for courage, love, and wisdom.
We must strive even more diligently to be full of grace and truth just like our Lord (John 1:14). Read these time-tested warning quotes from J.C. Ryle that are just as relevant today. Understand that God will not be mocked and every one of us will reap what we sow (Gal 6:7).
May Christ be praised and His church found faithful! Soli Deo Gloria.
“Therefore be careful how you walk, not as unwise men but as wise, making the most of your time, because the days are evil” (Eph 5:15-16).
“For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it” (Mark 8:35).
“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it” (Matt 7:14-15).
“Yet even now, declares the Lord, Return to Me with all your heart, And with fasting, weeping, and mourning; And rend your heart and not your garments. Now return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger and abounding in lovingkindness and relenting of evil” (Joel 2:12-13).
