Read this post from Christian author and speaker Becket Cook:
While cultural hostility is an unpleasant foe, the retreat of many segments of the Church in its face is a far more insidious enemy.
Supposed shepherds of God's people who once celebrated one man's dramatic conversion now hesitate, distance themselves, or go silent because his testimony has become culturally inconvenient. Anyone who is Kingdom-focused should be grieved deeply by that development. To be clear, this is not because Becket Cook (or any man) is above critique or that any church has an obligation to welcome a particular speaker to their congregation.
No, the sorrow results from the fact that his observation appears reflective of a broader sickness. Namely, a growing number of Christian institutions that seem increasingly preoccupied with managing reputations rather than defending the integrity of God's Word.
Scripture warns us plainly about this temptation:
'Am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God?' Paul asks. 'If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.' (Galatians 1:10)
When churches begin to fear the scorn of the world more than they cherish the power of redemption, something has gone fundamentally out of order.
For anyone who truly believes in the horror of sin and its consequences, there is nothing more beautiful than a life rescued from it — and nothing more fitting than to lift that testimony high, to proclaim it without shame, so that those still wandering in darkness might see the light and come home.
Yet for the sake of cultural acceptance that rule is applied so infrequently when it comes to those redeemed from homosexual impulses.
There are few people more despised in modern Western culture than those whose conversion to Christ led them away from homosexuality. Their stories are not merely rejected, they are actively erased. They aren't labeled anomalies. They are labeled liars and are accused of harming others with their testimony. They are treated as though their experience is somehow illegitimate or dangerous. This erasure is especially bitter when it comes from the very cultural voices who claim to be the guardians of identity and authenticity.
Everyone, it seems, is invited to "live their truth" unless that truth is repentance, transformation, and submission to Christ.
Increasingly, many supposed churches have begun absorbing that same attitude.
But the Church was never designed to function by chasing worldly affection. It endures for one reason and one reason only: the transforming power of Jesus Christ proclaimed and obeyed without apology. When that power becomes embarrassing to us, when radical testimonies feel like liabilities instead of glories, we are not becoming more loving. We are exchanging the truth of God for a lie and becoming less faithful.
The gospel changes us. It does not leave us defined by our former desires but redefines us entirely.
'If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.' (2 Corinthians 5:17)
That promise has always been and will always be the church's hope, its power, and its witness to the world. Remove transformation - yes, even for gay people - and all that remains is religious sentimentality dressed in pious language.
Churches that abandon brothers and sisters who bear visible testimony to Christ's transforming work will not endure. Oh, they may avoid controversy, preserve institutional comfort, and even gain temporary approval from their worldly masters. But they will hollow themselves out spiritually.
A church that is embarrassed by redemption may still gather on Sundays, but it no longer knows why.
The Church will not thrive or get ahead by adapting to the spirit of the age. It thrives by resisting it. It saves souls by clinging to truth when truth becomes costly.
And it finishes triumphant by remembering that the only approval that ultimately matters is not found in headlines, platforms, or cultural respectability, but in the simple, sobering words: "Well done, good and faithful servant."
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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Not the Bee or any of its affiliates.
