I was shocked recently to run across a sermon online where a self-proclaimed lesbian pastor in the Lutheran church boasted of her ability to “make just about any scripture gay.” Though blatant textual eisegesis is par for the course every PRIDE month, few are so willing to admit openly their unwillingness to let the Bible simply say what it says. In the same message, this false teacher also celebrated, “The first time another pastor told me that my gay sex was holy, I cried.”
Except, it isn’t.
The whole scene reminds me of an eventful trip to St. Jude Hospital years ago when my son was battling childhood leukemia. In those days, we lived in a different city, requiring us to fly to Memphis each week over a three-year period. Once, while passing through security for our flight home, a Ziploc bag containing a bottle of medication tested positive for a small amount of glycerin, which can be used to make explosives. Quickly, TSA workers surrounded us with a bomb sniffing dog. They pulled us aside and began a battery of tests.
Thankfully, our faces were familiar and employees recognized us. My son’s glistening, bald head also gave away our recent trip to the hospital. Still, it was only after several minutes of awkward suspicion and investigation that security personnel allowed us to pass through the checkpoint. Turns out it was a false positive caused by a melting icepack that was cooling the medication. The whole ordeal got me to thinking about the misleading consequences of false impressions, which can leave us happy or scared depending on what they report.
You might, for example, be overjoyed initially only to be disappointed later if a pregnancy test falsely reveals that the child you’ve prayed for is on the way. Or, you might be immediately frightened when airport security suspects foul play as you travel, even if you are able to laugh about it afterward. The problem, though, is that neither reaction is trustworthy. False positives are dangerous because they invite us to live outside of reality based upon something that is not true.
Unfortunately, American Christianity has its share of false positives. Each year misguided churches, and entire denominations, line up to parade their inclusiveness and identify themselves as allies of the LGBTQ community. Doing so and pressuring others to follow suit offers a positive spin on the nature of the gospel, sin, forgiveness, and God Himself that is entirely false and deceptive.
Theological false positives are abundant today. Many Bible teachers are anxious to assure their listeners that God’s primary goal is our personal happiness. Others insist that hell cannot be real because a loving God would never allow anyone to go there. Notions of remaining in sin while following Jesus are the most damning false positive of all. Most will enthusiastically receive these untruthful assertions even though they create a false narrative about WHO Jesus is and WHAT He came to do.
The historical reality that God would sacrifice His Son to deal with our sin problem is insulting to some and downright barbaric to others. Retired Methodist theologian, William Willimon, fairly critiqued, “If you listen to much of our preaching, you get the impression that Jesus was some sort of itinerant therapist who, for free, traveled about helping people feel better.”
Thankfully, Jesus had a way of turning our temporal ambitions on their head in order to focus on what we really need. Take, for example, the familiar story of Jesus healing the paralytic (Matt. 9:1-8). Without question, this man’s burdens were significant. He could not walk, eat, or bathe without the help of others, making him an outcast in society. We can hardly blame his friends for attempting to help him.
Rather than heal the man immediately, though, Jesus said to him, “Take courage, son; your sins are forgiven (Matt. 9:2).” By doing so, Jesus reminded us that our temporal burdens are merely symptoms of our greatest needs. He is not a Savior who came to improve the quality of our lives (though He often does), but who came to forgive our sins. Yet, popular false positives deceive us into believing that God solving our earthly problems is more important than His addressing our eternal condition.
Because the scribes accused Jesus of blasphemy (Matt. 9:3), He immediately exposed their blindness with a piercing question. Is it easier to say, “Your sins are forgiven,” or “Get up, and walk (Matt. 9:5)?” Amazingly, Jesus chose to heal the paralytic in order to demonstrate His authority to forgive sins, not distract from it (Matt. 9:6). The real goal was much bigger than the man’s physical healing. In fact, had Jesus only forgiven the paralytic’s transgressions it would have solved his greatest threat.
Tragically, expressions of temporary grace often grip us more than eternal realities. Our need for forgiveness, though, is so urgent that we ought to be willing to lose this life entirely in order to receive it from Christ (Matt. 16:24-27). Nothing is more necessary, and nothing is more remarkable than the glorious truth that Jesus would come to seek and to save the lost!
So, don’t fall victim to the cultural moment. Homosexuality is not an unforgivable sin, but it is a sin. Celebrating what the Bible condemns does not make us allies of those in error; it makes us accomplices to their demise. Defending wickedness is the opposite of Christianity, and loving others requires telling the truth. The gospel is too wonderful and the grace of God is too powerful to substitute a false positive for the good news that Christ offers to all who will call out to Him in genuine repentance and faith.
Adam B. Dooley
June 10, 2026
