TGC’s Same-Sex Attracted Christian Apostasy Cover-Up

The Gospel Coalition and 9Marks are fully engaged in a cover-up of Sam Allberry’s abominable doctrines. Stop and think. Livingout.org has been full of appalling teaching and counsel for years. The men behind TGC and 9Marks have been promoting Sam Allberry and livingout.org for years. They were not ignorant of the gross exchange of God’s truth for the same-sex attracted lie until recent weeks. They actively facilitated it, and all evidence indicates they’ll continue to.

Allberry’s April 2 early morning announcement that they’re “Improving Living Out” isn’t repentance, it’s a deceptive defense in which they explain that they were left “open to unhelpful misinterpretation” and that they were being “misheard.” Every Biblically literate, informed, honest observer knows that’s a sin mitigating lie. Sam Allberry and his two longterm ministry partners at livingout.org weren’t misinterpreted or misheard. Their Same-Sex Attracted Christian Apostasy was loud and clear.

TGC’s April Fool's Day late evening discussion between Jonathan Leeman and Sam Allberry was a carefully crafted, well nuanced, sin diminishing defense of Sam Allberry and his ministry partners at livingout.org that allows the leadership of TGC and 9Marks the illusion of having dealt with “recent scrutiny” and a green light to press on with their promotion of Sam Allberry’s Same-Sex Attracted Christian Apostasy.

Leeman opened up the discussion dogmatically calling Allberry his “BROTHER” and declaring him to be a repentant and committed Christian. Leeman laboriously called Allberry “brother” again and again throughout the entire conversation. In contrast, Allberry didn’t seem to feel the need to call Leeman his “brother” at all. Why is there a prevailing unbiblical insistence of calling the false teachers and deceivers behind undeniably disgusting, dangerous, deceptive, false teachings like these ↓ ↓ ↓ our brothers?!

What does the Bible call men who write and promote articles like this ↑ ↑ ↑? What does the Bible call an unrepentant man who boasts his “sexual attraction” for a “beautiful man” and unashamedly and repeatedly states his perverse desire to “become one with him” and to be “united with to him” — and then blasphemously declares, “I am, at one level, just responding to beauty as I am created to respond to it. There is little I can do to avoid this natural response. We are all wired to appreciate beauty. That’s just how we work”? The Bible calls such men unrepentant homosexuals and sodomites — and warns them that they will not go to heaven:

“Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” -1 Corithians 6:9-11

What does the Bible call men who write and promote perverse articles like this ↑ ↑ ↑ in the name of “Christian ministry” and put them up on the World Wide Web for years — leading Christ’s Church, pastors, fathers, mothers, men, women, boys, and girls astray from God’s truth? The Bible calls such men false teachers, deceivers, and wolves in sheep’s clothing:

“But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber.” -2 Peter 2:1-3

“For there are many insubordinate, both idle talkers and deceivers, especially those of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole households, teaching things which they ought not, for the sake of dishonest gain…They profess to know God, but in works they deny Him, being abominable, disobedient, and disqualified for every good work.” -Titus 1:10-11 & 16

"Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravenous wolves. You will know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes from thornbushes or figs from thistles? Even so, every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit.” -Matthew 7:15-17

Sam Allberry and his livingout.org “ministry” partners do not qualify for the title of “credible Christian” or “BROTHER.” They have provided undeniable, long-term, abundant evidence that they are false teachers, deceivers, and wolves in sheep’s clothing. That is what they should be called. If they talk like a wolves, walk like a wolves, and really, really want to mate like a wolves — we cannot stubbornly ignore the evidence and call them brothers. That isn’t loving toward Christ’s Church, the sheep of the Lord’s fold who we are commanded to protect, or toward wolfish men who truly need to repent of their abominable lusts and doctrines. It is incumbent upon Sam Allberry, Sean Doherty, and Ed Shaw to cease nuancing, mitigating, and obfuscating — and to evidence genuine and thorough repentance of their false teaching, deceptive doctrines, and ravenous wolf proclivities.

There are many parts of the conversation between Jonathan Leeman and Sam Allberry that are worthy of review and concern. I’m going to try to cut through the nonessentials (although I hope someone else addresses some of them) and focus in on a few key points in the conversation.

At the 1:24:30 minute mark, Sam Allberry says, “My colleagues Shawn and Ed are both faithful men.” At first blush you might think that’s an innocent statement. Think again. Allberry dogmatically declares his colleagues, Shawn and Ed, to both be faithful men — despite their false teachings, deceptive doctrines, and ravenous wolf proclivities. Allberry defines “faithful men” on behalf of Shawn and Ed exactly like others are defining “credible Christian” and “BROTHER” on his behalf. In the make believe Same-Sex Attracted Christian world — faithful men, credible Christians, and BROTHERS can boast their “sexual attraction” for “beautiful” men, announce their perverse desire to “become one with” and to be “united with” men, and blasphemously declare I’m “just responding to beauty as I am created to respond to it. There is little I can do to avoid this natural response. We are all wired to appreciate beauty. That’s just how we work.”

At the 1:27:45 minute mark, Leeman gives full credibility to Allberry’s claims that he and his livingout.org partners are simply being misunderstood, saying:

“I utterly understand what you’re describing. Um. I can even see with statements like this: I need to accept my sexual orientation, not deny it, not repress it. I can see how if I read it this way it means this, but if I read it that way it means that. Legitimately. Illegitimately. Um. And. And. And certainly there’s an editorial responsibility then to go and clarify those types of things.”

The articles you read up above (and so many more) are not simply unclear or being misunderstood. Contrary to Leeman’s anemic statement, Sam doesn’t just need “to go and clarify those types of things.” The alarming false teaching, deceptive doctrines, and ravenous wolf proclivities are abundantly clear! They said what they meant! They meant what they said! And what they said was a bold exchange of God’s truth for Same-Sex Attracted Christian Apostasy lies.

At the 1:28:23 mark, you find a unique display of cover-up expertise and double-mindedness. Jonathan Leeman brought up the livingout.org article seen above that encourages homosexual men who were once married to continue to live together and to raise children together, but Leeman deliberately left off the “you can handhold, hug, snuggle, and kiss” counsel — and then he said “It’s not clear to me that’s explicitly contradicting something in the Bible…[but it seems] very unwise and very possibly just sinful.” Here we’ve got to ask, what perversion of the Bible is Jonathan Leeman reading?! Sam Allberry responds to Leeman, saying, “I agree.” and then evidences astonishing and undeniable double-mindedness as he goes on to explain how homosexual men can in fact live together and share affection pretty much exactly how the debauched article in question described it. Leeman just sat there shaking his head in agreement with Allberry’s double-minded contradiction and then pressed on as if it didn’t happen.

Jonathan Leeman closes (at 1:46:05) with a condensed reading from Romans 14 in which he focuses in on “why do you judge your brother?” He then allows Sam to correct all those divisive, judgmental heterosexual Christians. He further allows Sam to go on to exhort the body of Christ at large to accept the Same-Sex Attracted Christian Apostasy that’s infiltrating Christ’s Church and not to worry much about the wolfish fur, doctrines, passions, or proclivities of its proponents — assuring us that they’re credible Christian brothers and sisters and that we’re just misunderstanding them. Then Leeman declares Allberry a brother one final time and gives an over the top, glowing commendation of his Christian character and ministry. Mission accomplished! The TGC/9Marks Same-Sex Attracted Christian Apostasy Cover-Up was a smashing success!