Jonathan Merrit, Son of Former SBC Prez, *Officially* Comes out as Homosexual
Jonathan Merritt, the son of megachurch pastor James Merritt, and a journalist who has become a favorite of the Evangelical Intelligentsia who was last seen promoting “theistic evolution”, or arguing that women can lead churches because they have cracked nipples when they breastfeed, surprised no one today when he announced on Instagram that..drumroll….he is a sodomite.
We’ve known about this for nearly a decade of course, after he was publicly outed by journalist Azariah Southworth in Salon magazine. Nothing he has done in the last 10 years has made us think otherwise, particularly, as Jordan Hal points out, “Merritt’s unmitigated sodomy-celebration confetti consistently spreads about the Christian world which has remained largely mum to its rainbow-splattered litter.”
This has naturally earned him the applause and well-wishing of some celebrities and influencers, as well many professing Christians, such as rapper Propaganda, Candice Benbow, Esther Houston, Pastor Andy Stanley, Shauna Niequist, Josh Canfield, Tullian Tullian Tchividjian, Dwight Mckissic, and others.
Because homosexuality has become both socially and spiritually acceptable within many Christian circles, confessing one’s proclivities has ceased to become a solemn moment of sadness and shock, but rather a season to celebrate. This is particularly true when it is not accompanied by deep grief and a quest for accountability, but rather an exclamation point to the joys of living authentically and free from ongoing judgments.
Replace sodomy with “sexual attraction to children” or ” I’m an adulterous Christian” and see how fast those smiles turn to frowns. Suddenly, ‘It’s my birthday soon and I’m proud to be attracted to 7-year-olds” isn’t worthy of an upvote or a heart emoji.
The scripture is clear on this. If someone says “I struggle with same-sex thoughts and attractions but I know that these are wrong and sinful. I refused to ever identify myself with my sin, but instead wholly believes that the scriptures are true when it says in 1 Corinthians 6 ‘and such were some of you, but you were washed…’ knowing that as I become more like Christ, those sinful desires will subside and he will redeem my sexuality” then great! Fantastic! This is the fruit of the spirit and the mark of the believer and we embrace them as brothers or sisters.
When someone says ‘I am a Gay Man. I am beloved by God. I was made by God this way- and am delightful in my gayness. As such, I am raising a glass to my complete self- one that I have learned to live authentically in my personal life, and will no longer subject myself or be fearful of the opinions of strangers or the venom of bigots, and I want to enter the second half of life with more authenticity, alignment, and integrity than I exhibited in the first half, which is an out and out gay dude”
They get treated differently. They get the 1 Corinthians 5 treatment,
“But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is a sexually immoral person, or a greedy person, or an idolater, or is verbally abusive, or habitually drunk, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a person. For what business of mine is it to judge outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the evil person from among yourselves.”
Consider Jonathan Merrit ejected.
About Author
*my shocked face*
If I read his statement correctly, since his outing, he has not addressed his identity publicly. What then, should we say about Ed Stetzer’s defense and insistence that Merrit was not gay? Did Merrit lie to Ed or did Ed lie to us?
It’s long past time the church started exercising 1 Cor. 5.
“…learn to love the delightful human being God made when God made me.”
I’m not gay and I cannot recall ever thinking anything like that, much less actually writing it, much less writing it on something like Instagram for all the world to read. What’s wrong with these people? Homosexuality is a suite of problems, not least of which is narcissism out of control.
That revelation is akin to me coming out as a cranky old white guy.