Is Churches Severing Ties with Boy Scouts a Fulfillment of the Scriptures

When I first read the article titled “Churches Sever Ties With Boy Scouts For Accepting Gay Youth” written by David Crary for the Associated Press, I was furious but the more I read, the more it became clear to me that these so-called churches are doing nothing but fulfilling the scriptures as written and taught by Jesus himself.  I say this to the Boys Scouts of America, hold your head up and hold it high, a man more worthy of reverence endured something quite similar to what you may be experiencing now, that man was Jesus Christ.

The article reports that “In suburban Atlanta, northern Idaho and a number of other places, churches have moved swiftly to sever ties with the Boy Scouts of America in protest over the vote last month to let openly gay boys participate in Scouting.  But the exodus could soon swell, depending on the outcome of the Southern Baptist Convention’s annual meeting next week in Houston.” Baptist churches in Elizabethtown and Rineyville, Ky., Helena and Pelham, Ala., and Jacksonville, Ark., also say they’re cutting ties with the BSA.  In Marietta, Ga., Roswell Street Baptist Church is ending its affiliation with Boy Scout Troop 204 that dates back to 1945.  The First Baptist Church of Gravel Ridge in Jacksonville congregation strongly backed the decision to end sponsorship of a Scout troop.  Among the latest to cut ties was Candlelight Christian Fellowship, a nondenominational church in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which announced this week that it would end its charter of a Boy Scout troop at the end of this year.  A Catholic pastor in Bremerton, Wash., the Rev. Derek Lappe of Our Lady Star of the Sea, wrote an open letter to his parishioners announcing that the parish would cut its ties with the Scouts and develop new youth programs of its own.  In the Chicago suburb of Crystal Lake, the pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church notified local Scout leaders that the church would no longer sponsor a Cub Scout pack and Boy Scout troop.” 

It quotes some of the leaders of these churches as “I would bet there would be a resolution expressing disappointment with the Boy Scouts’ decision and calling on Southern Baptist churches to prepare for the need for alternatives,” said the Rev. Russell Moore, president of the SBC’s Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.”  “How quickly that happens will probably differ from congregation to congregation,” Moore said. “I do think most Southern Baptists see the Boy Scouts moving in a direction that’s not going to be consistent with our beliefs.”  “I never dreamed I’d have to stand up publicly and say to parents: ‘Pull your kids out of the Boy Scouts,’” Roswell Street Baptist Church pastor Ernest Easley told Baptist Press, the SBC’s official news agency.”  “We’re a Bible-believing church, and the Boy Scouts have opted to pursue a different moral path,” said the associate pastor of Candlelight Christian Fellowship, Buck Storm. “It’s a sad time for us.” And “the Rev. Brian Grady pastor of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church wrote that it would be “not only unjust, but immoral” for straight boys to have to share tents on camping trips with gay Scouts.”

I say that this is similar to what happened to Jesus because the Book of Luke tells us about the Pharisees and Religious Law Experts of his time, refusing to believe in anything but themselves.  Parading around like they could never be wrong about anything and being so in love with money and power that the only voice they are willing to hear is their own.  They too were seen by many as those more closer to God and had some inside track to what God like and don’t like, what he wants and don’t want.  Those people in Jesus’ time ended up nailing him to a cross for sins he never committed all because he brought a different message than the one they were used to hearing.  Tell me if this does not sound like what is happening today.  Today’s pastors, reverent and religious leaders are hearing and seeing a different message than what they want to hear.  They are hearing of a message of inclusion instead of exclusion, they are hearing and seeing the word of God being put on full display and it frightens them.

One need only to read a few paragraphs in the New Testament to know that homosexuality is a sin but it is no more a sin than lying, cheating, adultery, bearing false witness and all the others.  What this means is as simple as the words of Jesus Christ himself as he said in Luke Chapter 24 Verse 47 “There is forgiveness of sins for all who repent”, meaning that’s all any one has to do.  Jesus also teaches us to spread God’s word to all those who need it and whether they choose to repent or accept it or not, we are to never turn our backs on them.  That means, you so-called religious experts educate them on the word of God but do not begin to treat them as leapers or evil because they choose not to listen.  We must love and care for them as we would love and care for ourselves because if we refuse to do that than we are no better than those we stare down our noses at.  If you are willing to separate gays from the rest of your world, you must also be willing to separate the liars, cheaters, adulterers, and the many others who will sin.  You must be willing to ostracize yourself because we were born sinners from conception and we shall remain sinners.  No one is perfect in the eyes of God because we can never achieve perfection.  All that any of us can do is the best that we can.  This is acceptable to God and it should be acceptable to anyone else especially those calling themselves Christians regardless of religion.