Just the Way You Are?

Recently I noticed a post on social media from someone—let’s call him Buddy—looking for a “diverse” church that is “comfortable” and “opening” to people of all kinds. Naturally there were many quick replies from people eager to help, filled with such modifiers as welcoming, accepting, come-as-you-are, affirming, non-judgmental, and inclusive. Most replies seemed to be auditioning for this potential new member on the basis of how welcome and unjudged he would be made to feel.

So a church that Buddy would find to his liking would presumably have to be one that accepts people just as they are, no matter who they are, and no matter the lifestyle they live or insist on living, and especially, we may presume, if that lifestyle includes the latest iterations of sexual deviancy. And at the root of the matter, there is a problem with that. It’s a poor imitation of the Gospel to say that God accepts you just the way you are. Poor, but slick. For it sounds so right, until one begins to unpack the meaning of that.

Does God accept you just the way you are no matter who you are? Does God accept, say, a serial murderer just the way he is? Or a serial rapist or child molester, just the way he is? Of course not, and none of the auditioners for Buddy’s attention would disagree. One could list a whole host of egregious sins and gross immoralities and easily Buddy’s auditioners would no doubt want to qualify the just-as-you-are invitation. That is, Come as you are, just as you are as long as you aren’t doing that heinous thing any more. As long as you aren’t still killing people or molesting children.

But now there’s a problem: if a qualifier is added, is that itself not a kind of judgment? If the welcoming church boasts that it will accept anyone just as he is, then must it not accept the unrepentant murderer or rapist? For that matter, one can generally expect that the churches who are most openly advertising themselves as non-judgmental and inclusive are also bound to be quick to pass judgment on those who do not make the same kinds of affirmations as they do. The current affirmations may not include affirmations of murder or rape, but they are quick to affirm the garden variety forms of sexual deviancy that have become socially acceptable in large swaths of society.

But what about confessional Lutherans? Against the backdrop of this ubiquitous cultural milieu we must reply.

We do not accept people just the way they are, no matter who they are. But we do welcome the penitent with welcome arms, whoever they are. Yes, even the serial murderer or rapist. We proclaim that God is merciful to the humble but resists the proud. So if you wish to be affirmed in your sin, whatever it is, the Gospel does not do that. Rather, it announces the forgiveness of sins to all who confess their sins, whatever they are. And that also includes sins Scripture recognizes as sexually perverse, even if society doesn’t. Society’s affirmations are hardly a healthy gauge of what’s right in the sight of God. We want people to repent of their sins, not be encouraged to continue in them.

So by that standard we can recognize the sleight of hand by which the false church wishes to present itself. Since God’s mercy is without bounds to the penitent, for Christ has made atonement for all, therefore it’s not too difficult for the false churches to twist that and say that God’s affirmation is without bounds to whomever wishes to have license to continue in sin.

What, then, about members of this-or-that ‘community’ of people who insist on living perverse lifestyles the law of God condemns? To these we say not that we will ‘affirm’ you, but that, as we say to all sinners of all stripes, we call you to repentance and faith. After all, John the Baptist was not in the business of affirming people when he cried, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2). And for that matter, Jesus Himself said the very same thing (Matthew 4:17).

So we do not boast that the Church is comfortable or affirming, but we do proclaim the Church open to all who repent. To them we say, “come as you are,” that is, without having done anything good to offset your sin and guilt, but only with a contrite heart. To the penitent there is no judgment, but only mercy, for Christ has made atonement for all.

Any church that replaces this with affirmations of alternate (i.e. immoral) lifestyles is not representing Christ. Indeed to have one’s sins ‘affirmed’, whatever they are, is not only a cheap imitation of the Gospel, but the very opposite of repenting and receiving mercy. But the Church ever cries out to all, great and small, no matter who you are, and echoes the words of Christ, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” And she also warns, “Little children, keep yourselves from idols” (I John 5:21).