Response to Dutch Reformed Church Synod's Approval of Same Sex Unions (12 October 2015)

The Christian Action Network is deeply saddened by, but not surprised at, the Dutch Reformed Church’s recent Synod approval of homosexual civil unions.
 
On Thursday (8 October), with a 64 percent majority, the Synod voted in favour of acknowledging same sex unions and allowing gay ministers to be ordained without the need for them to be celibate.
 
“The denomination as a whole seems to have compromised the preaching of Gospel for a long time now. This recent decision is further evidence that that the DRC have failed to fulfil the Great Commission – ‘to make disciples of all nations, teaching obedience to all things that the Lord has Commanded. (Matthew 28:18-20)’ Their approval of homosexual unions will further undermine their ability to reach people for Christ,” says Taryn Hodgson, the International Co-ordinator of the Christian Action Network
 
Pressure on Pastors
“Further pressure will now be brought to bear on pastors to perform same-sex union services and they may face litigation if they refuse. There will also be further pressure to hire openly homosexual staff at churches, including in children’s ministries.


Picture of the Gospel
“The re-definition of marriage is not, and should not be, a side issue for Christians. Radical homosexuals and their supporters’ agenda to destroy marriage and the family is ultimately a war against God Himself. Marriage is meant to be a picture of the Gospel – a husband laying his life down for his wife – just as Christ sacrificially gave up His life for His bride – the Church.”

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the Church and gave Himself for her, that He might sanctify and cleanse her with the washing of water by the Word, that He might present her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot or wrinkle or any such thing, but that she should be holy and without blemish.” Ephesians 5:25-27

Congregations Still Free to Decide
“It must be remembered that the Synod has said that congregations are still free to decide what their stand will be. Our hope and prayer is that many individual congregations will stand firm on the Biblical definition of sin and marriage.”
 
"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not allow yourselves to be burdened again by a yoke of slavery… you, my brothers, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather serve one another in love." Galatians 5:1,13.

“What really matters is not what the SA Constitution, DRC Synod, or what a pastor may say or believe, the real question is what does the Bible say?
 
Undermining Both Family and Church
“The family is the basic building block of society. Marriage is an institution established at Creation by God. Marriage, a life-long partnership of love between a man and a woman, is a Creation ordinance and a sacrament of the Church. No government has the right to interfere in religious freedom and presume to redefine a Creation ordinance.
 
Civilisation Itself is at Stake
“At its heart, the battle to re-define marriage, to incorporate what God in the Bible condemns as perversion and an abomination, is a war against the family. It is not only a battle for the family, but it is a battle for civilisation itself. Of the 26 civilisations that are recorded in history, none have survived the public tolerance of homosexual perversion. The great Roman and Greek civilisations collapsed when sexual morality was subverted. Homosexual perversion represented the terminal stage of the collapse of these civilisations. Similarly, one can see in the collapse of the Aztec, Mayan and Inca civilisations, the role of sexual perversion in fuelling the collapse of those societies.”
 
"Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth of God for a lie… God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations with unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were enflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion… although they knew God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continued to do these very things, but also approved of those who practiced them." Romans 1:24-32

Love Your Neighbour
“We must love our neighbour and reach out to homosexual neighbours with Christian love and concern, sharing the liberating Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ with them. We cannot submit to this counterfeit marriage movement or stand by while our children are subjected to brainwashing and bullying to declare good and normal what God has condemned as sinful and perverse.”
 
"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" Isaiah 5:20

Contact Christian Action Network International Co-ordinator, Taryn Hodgson: (021) 689 4480 or 072 215 4801 or E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .