Biblical confession is different from the “cultural counterfeit of being authentic,” where people want acceptance for all of their flaws. “Biblical confession is me saying, ‘Hey, these are the areas where I recognize I’m not as I should be in God’s sight,’” said Allberry, “that I have desires, temptations, inclinations, propensities that I know contradict God’s will. And it’s one of the areas where I need the ongoing help of Jesus and the encouragement of his saints.”
Stetzer asked Allberry to elaborate on his thoughts about “confessing same-sex attraction” because “one of the big conversations today is, how do we respond to somebody who says, ‘I’m same-sex attracted, but I’m not acting on that’?”
While Stetzer did not mention specific examples, some outspoken voices on this topic include Dr. Rosaria Butterfield and Dr. Jared Moore, who actively promote each other’s work.
Butterfield identified as a lesbian before becoming a Christian, and is a speaker and author who has shared her conversion story in her book, “
Butterfield spoke at a Liberty University convocation last November, and during her speech, she asked a series of questions, including, “Have you ever heard that same-sex attraction is a sinless temptation and only a sin if you act on it? Or that people who experience same-sex attraction are actually gay Christians called to lifelong celibacy?”
She then went on to claim that those ideas are among several “lies” promoted by Revoice, Cru, and “Preston’s Sprinkle’s Exiles in Babylon Conference sponsored by his heretical Center for Faith, Sexuality, & Gender.”
Moore, who ran for president of the Southern Baptist Convention in June, reposted Butterfield’s comments, reiterating her view that those ministries are “heretical liars.” Moore has said in numerous places that having a wrong desire is a sin and has suggested that God will remove a sinful attraction if people repent.
RELATED: Preston Sprinkle Responds to Rosaria Butterfield’s Claim That He Is a Heretic
Moore has also said that same-sex attracted Christians should get married to people of the opposite sex out of obedience to God. He believes that marriage is an inherent part of male and female identities, so not pursuing marriage is a sin “unless God overrides your DNA supernaturally with the gift of singleness.”
A description of Moore’s book, “The Lust of the Flesh,” says, “After examining several passages from the Bible, Jesus’s life and temptations, and church history, this book teaches that every desire for evil is sin and needs Jesus’s forgiveness.”
“This has become a very scrutinized part of our conversation, which is a shame,” Allberry said in response to Stetzer. “I would make a distinction—because I think the New Testament does—between temptation and sin. And so if someone is experiencing temptation and choosing to respond in obedience to Jesus to resist that temptation, then I want to honor them.”
