2 Reasons I'm thankful to be at SBTS rather than LPTS, Part 1

Being Baptist by conviction, it is easy to surmise why I would want to go to the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary (SBTS) rather than Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary (LPTS), which is pretty much directly across the street. (For those who may not be aware, Baptists have historically differed from Presbyterians in matters of church government and in the definition of baptism.)

These posts are not focused on those obvious reasons, however, but rather on concerns I have seen from LPTS that are so severe that I would consider paying the extra tuition to go to SBTS even if I were Presbyterian. (Assuming, of course, that for some reason SBTS and LPTS were my only to options.)

Reason #1, LPTS and Gay Pride
My wife and I were taking a nice walk around the beautiful campus of LPTS one Lord's Day afternoon. When we came to the square of buildings formed by the chapel, the library, and some classroom buildings, we were surprised to see the following poster in the window of Nelson Hall:


If you are unfamiliar with the symbol on this poster, it is the logo used for the "Human Rights Campaign," which is the "largest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender equal rights organization in the United States."

At the bottom of the poster are the following words:


I'll transcribe what I consider to be the most relevant portion, as the above still may be hard to read:

Coming out as a gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, or as a straight-supportive person is an act of bravery, authenticity, and openness. Whether it's for the first time ever, or for the first time today- coming out is the most important thing you will do all day.

Gay Pride Vs. Gospel Proclamation
Now, suppose that a Christian had somehow never read Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, or 1 Timothy 1:8-11. Suppose that a Christian had somehow been taught a bogus hermeneutic by which these passages were thought to not be relevant to the Church today. Even supposing either of these things, it still seems to me that any Christian with even the slightest modicrum of spiritual discernment would strongly object to the statement above. For Christians are those who have been rescued from the domain of darkness and transferred into the kingdom of the Son (Col. 1:13); we are those who have been made alive with the Messiah, even though we were dead in trespasses (Eph. 2:4-5). We have not received these benefits based on anything good within us, but based on God's grace alone, which He has worked into our hearts through faith in Christ (Eph. 2:8-9). This message- the message of Jesus Christ, who died in the place of sinners, was raised from the dead on the third day, conquering death and Hell, and who now lives forever, freely offering eternal life to all who believe in Him- this is the most important message in a Christian's life. This message is what the Holy Spirit used to save us from God's wrath against sin, and this message represents the only hope Christians have for our loved ones to be saved. So reflecting on this message- giving glory to God for the Good News of Jesus- and sharing this message with others- are much more important than anything else we could do all day.

Putting the very best spin on the statement quoted from the poster above, it is still a message of selfishness that will leave people dead in their sins. When one additionally considers the facts presented by the verses quoted at the head of the last paragraph, and the fact that there is no more reason to assume that homosexuality has ceased to be a sin than we can assume that idol worship, adultery, or murder (all mentioned in close proximity to homosexuality) have ceased to be sins, then this poster must be recognized as an invitation to self-destruction.

Conclusion
When I first saw the poster featured and critiqued in this post, I thought that some renegade student may have placed it. I returned to LPTS a few weeks later and it was still there, and I went by LPTS again yesterday to find it unmoved from its place of prominence. Subsequently, I have found that a current faculty member of LPTS authored Called Out With: Stories of Solidarity in Support of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgendered Persons. So this poster is not merely a fluke, but represents a position supported (at least to some degree) by the leadership of LPTS. Please pray for this institution, that they would repent of this sin and begin to teach faithfulness to Christ and His Gospel.