If your definition of morality is not rooted in the authority of Scripture, ultimately anything goes. And the very progressive denomination PCUSA is currently highlighting this truth in full color as the church will soon vote on a “monogamy requirement” for pastors that is “facing sharp internal backlash.” Yes, leaders within the denomination are upset that the denomination might require its pastors to have only one sexual partner at a time because such a rule would “regulate the private lives and relational structures of individuals in ways that risk harm rather than healing.”
But ultimately, there is no reason for only two in marriage, except that marriage itself comes from the Bible. Even though they use other arguments, they really know marriage is for only two! Oh, and saying “only two” means that one is taking that part of the Bible literally.
Ironically, according to reports, the proposed rule is not because the denomination—which “has allowed for the ordination of openly gay clergy since 2011”—is clinging to a shred of biblical truth. No, it’s because “the practice of polyamory or polygamy can create ‘power imbalances, emotional harm, and spiritual confusion,’ particularly for women, children and historically marginalized persons.”
So some leaders think polyamory and polygamy can be damaging—but others think that ruling against these practices is what is damaging:
In its official response, the Advocacy Committee for Women and Gender Justice claimed that requiring pastors to be monogamous attempts to “regulate the private lives and relational structures of individuals in ways that risk harm rather than healing.” The committee further argued that a monogamy mandate could “unintentionally reinforce systems of shame, silence, and spiritual coercion.”
The Advocacy Committee on LGBTQIA+ Equity also argued that the monogamy rule reinforced White privilege. The group claimed the mandate imposes “a narrow, culturally specific understanding of family” that “privileges a dominant cultural framework over the lived realities of communities of color and global Christians.”
Another activist group within the denomination said such a rule is because of “narrow and culturally bound definitions of relationships that have historically been used to exclude, police, and harm queer bodies and lives.”
And so the debate continues, because morality for the PCUSA denomination is not based on the unchanging doctrines of Scripture. Rather, it’s based on man’s interpretation of “harm” and a woke worldview that elevates every desire of the supposedly “oppressed” as good and worth celebrating. It’s a mess of opinion because there is no ultimate authority!
And this kind of moral relativism is what will happen to every denomination that abandons God’s Word as the authority and embraces man’s word instead. If God’s Word is not the authority, ultimately anything goes because morality becomes subjective and arbitrary based on human opinion (man’s word).
It’s the same battle that’s been raging for 6,000 years. Satan undermined the authority of God’s words and got Eve to doubt what God had said: “Indeed, has God said . . . ?” (Genesis 3:1)
And then he tempted her to be her own god: “You will be like God” (Genesis 3:5).
We face the same temptation today (it’s the same attack, just manifested in a different way in our modern era): Will we start with God’s perfect, authoritative Word or will we ignore God’s Word and start with our own fallible human wisdom?
Proverbs has a warning for those who ignore God’s Word: “There is a way which seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death” (Proverbs 14:12).
