John R. Houk, Blog Editor
© May 1, 2025
It is Thursday in the morning as I am typing. Tuesday morning a thunderstorm knocked out my high speed Internet service in my area AND IT STILL HAS NOT BEEN RESTORED. So annoying…
I’m at home using my snail-speed android phone hotspot praying my Internet service is restored today.
So much for grumbling…
I ran into an email from The Christian Post examining the opinion piece from Darren Mehl with homosexuality as the topic. The title: “'Side B' Christianity: An insidious, neutered gospel that has infiltrated the church”.
Over the years I caused a bit of a negative stir with my relatives on my In-Law side with my Biblical stand against the homosexual lifestyle. Frankly with much of my very Conservative/Patriot way of thinking I tend to avoid the homosexual vs Bible issue because of that past negative stir.
And so…I read that Daren Mehl post wondering what the heck was “Side B Christianity”?
Mehl shares he is an ex-homosexual that discovered Redemption in Christ Jesus, the Savior and Son of God. Mehl’s post is how the insidiousness of homosexual has found a disgraceful approval in Christian Churches. And it gets worse! “Side A Christianity” outright approves and accepts homosexuality. And “Side B Christianity” accepts homosexuality with a watered down principle of homosexual yet celibate.
To be clear! In God’s Word there is no path for Side A or Side B. The ONLY path is God’s Side through the Redemptive Blood of the Risen Savior Jesus the Christ the Son of God.
AND SO, I am back to stirring the pot that if certain disapproving read will undoubtedly unleash a gay-mafia tirade.
Homosexuality as practice of lifestyle separates one from God. How do I know that? God’s Word in His Holy Bible! Below are TEN Bible verses that I got from a 3/18/24 post entitled, “Bible Verses about Homosexuality” (from BibleStudyTools.com):
Top 10 Bible Verses about Homosexuality
Leviticus 18:22 ~ You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.
Leviticus 20:13 ~ If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them.
Jude 1:7 ~ Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire.
Romans 1:26-28 ~ For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
Genesis 2:24 - Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.
Mark 10:6-9 ~ But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”
1 Corinthians 6:9-10 - Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.
1 Timothy 1:8-11 ESV - Now we know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever else is contrary to sound doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with which I have been entrusted.
1 Corinthians 7:2 - But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband.
2 Corinthians 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
The post that has the above Scriptures displaying the Almighty’s view on homosexuality and human sexuality includes a 1:47-Minute video of a gal from Liberty University explaining that sins are not ranked in Romans Chapter One. ALL sin separates from God. The Almighty does NOT hold a special displeasure for homosexual. God is not pleased with any sin-practicing individual.
And yet any Church (Protestant, Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox) that falsely incorporates sinful lifestyles under the deception of the Compassion and Love of God is in actuality defaming the Almighty in the name of some kind of Humanist Transformation.
Daren Mehl addresses this error in Churches in the below cross post.
JRH 5/1/25
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'Side B' Christianity: An insidious, neutered gospel that has infiltrated the church
A Holy Bible lays on rainbow flags. | Getty Images (TCP Photo)
By Daren Mehl, Op-ed contributor
April 30, 2025
As someone who once lived and identified as a homosexual man but who has been transformed by Jesus Christ, I’m burdened by an insidious, neutered gospel that has heavily infiltrated many Evangelical churches.
It’s called “Side B” Christianity, and its proponents have for many years pushed a set of deceptive doctrines about human sexuality.
For those who don’t know what “Side B” means, Tim Keller described it like this: “People attracted to the same sex, though remaining celibate in obedience to the Bible, still can call themselves ‘gay Christians’ and see their attraction as part of their identity which should be acknowledged like one’s race or nationality.”
This was in contrast to “Side A,” which fully affirms homosexuality. The Side A versus Side B debate emerged years ago among some who were grappling with identity questions, with one side saying it’s fine to embrace one’s same-sex sexuality and the other side saying it must be resisted while simultaneously asserting that same-sex sexual desires cannot and should not be counseled to change. Both Side A and Side B view the sanctifying power of God’s grace as an attempt to “pray the gay away” or “conversion therapy.”
Side B’s insidious nature is that it speaks in loving tones but leaves its hearers in chains, claiming to be biblically faithful while subverting the heart of the Gospel. This false distortion is taking my home state of Minnesota by storm and it’s poisoning the whole Body of Christ.
Case in point, at the recent “Exiles in Babylon” conference hosted by Pastor Dave Brickey at Church of the Open Door in Maplewood, Minn., a wave of Side B ideology was presented to attendees under the guise of “compassionate missiological Christianity.” The idea is best explained by the group Posture Shift’s mission, “writing a new church history where communities of faith and homes are safe for LGBTQ+ family and friends.” This approach of missional ministry attempts to practice relational engagement and inclusion of LGBT identity into the church body.
But the Side B view and its praxis are nothing short of theological malpractice because it is built upon a false anthropology and a false ontology. Scripture teaches that we are created male and female (Genesis 1:27) and that our identity is not in our temptations or struggles but in Christ alone (2 Corinthians 5:17). Side B Gay Christianity redefines the self according to desires and feelings and then baptizes those desires in religious sexual orientation language.
Why the Gospel is undermined
Side B theology does not confront the Church with the open defiance seen in progressive movements, such as rainbow flags waved at Pride parades. Instead, it operates subtly, often emerging from pulpits that otherwise hold to theological orthodoxy. It appeals not to sound exegesis but to emotion, personal narratives, and therapeutic language. Prominent voices such as Christian psychologist Mark Yarhouse are frequently cited to support views on identity that are not grounded in Scripture. These appeals often masquerade as empathy but amount to emotional manipulation rooted in sentimentalism rather than biblically rooted compassion.
One common method used by Side B proponents is the “empty chair” presentation.
A speaker shares the “lived experience” of an LGBT-identifying person while
pointing to an empty chair, representing the absence of such individuals in the
Church. The audience is then invited to lament that absence, implying that the
Church has failed these individuals. While this appears compassionate, Proverbs
18:17 warns us: “The first to plead his case seems right, until another comes
and examines him.” This technique, steeped in emotionalism, subtly replaces sin
with sorrow and identity with injury. The narrative often omits why that person
adopted an LGBT identity in the first place, or what repentance would mean.
The result is a theological bait-and-switch. Congregants enter believing the LGBT identity is distorted. They leave emotionally softened, grieving the absence of someone they are now primed to see not as a sinner in need of transformation, but as a victim who must be affirmed. The language of compassion has masked a shift from viewing LGBT identity as a behavior and desire to be repented of, to seeing it as an immutable, ontological reality — an identity to be embraced. This psychologically disruptive sleight of hand has deceived many, even in some of the largest Evangelical churches in Minnesota.
When pastors adopt or endorse Side B theology, they do more than accommodate an unbiblical view — they suppress the hope of transformation. They withhold the power of the Gospel from those crying out for freedom. Instead of proclaiming Christ’s power to redeem and sanctify, they leave sinners in bondage, effectively declaring that God has no more to offer.
What does it say to men like me when a pastor tells others that transformation in one’s sexuality is not possible, or worse, not to be expected? It says: “Your story of sanctification doesn't matter, but rather, what matters is the experience of those who have not experienced freedom or healing. Let’s show empathy to the one who is unable to be set free. Stop the stigma of change, do not call them to freedom in Christ, but help them to not act out on it and affirm their gay celibate identity.”
Side B theology also teaches that homosexual desires are permanent and central to one’s identity, but that acting on them is sinful. What’s the “solution”? Side B proponents say it is lifelong celibacy, not sanctification and transformation.
This view denies one of the most precious truths of the Gospel: that Jesus doesn’t just forgive sinners, He makes them new creations. As the Apostle Paul famously said, “Such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified…” (1 Corinthians 6:11, NASB 1995). By refusing to uphold “were sanctified,” Side B offers a truncated Gospel where sinners remain defined by their old desires even as they claim Christ. This is the false anthropology at the heart of Side B: that being “gay” is the defining trait, rather than a struggle to be laid at the foot of the cross.
The Gospel is for the whole person
The most destructive error of this theology is that it gives sexual desires a rigid ontological status, that being same-sex attracted or “gay” is a fixed category of personhood. This creates a spiritual caste system where an elite, unchanging sexual minority must be related to and catered to on their own, self-defined terms — the “Gay Christian” (but celibate!). But this is antithetical to the Gospel! It is not “gay people” who need a different kind of discipleship; it is sinners — all of us — who must be born again (John 3:3).
Side B advocates will ask questions like “What would you do if you were me?” But they never answer the deeper question: Who does God say we are?
The damage of Side B and motte-and-bailey tactics
Perhaps worst of all, Side B implies that God is unwilling or unable to transform certain sins, particularly the LGBT variety. This theology deeply wounds those of us who have experienced the genuine freedom God has brought to us, as it suggests that the blood of Christ is strong enough to cleanse but not enough to change us. Furthermore, its proponents often employ misleading motte-and-bailey tricks, mixing truth with lies. Side B advocates are often quick to retreat to the “motte” of theological orthodoxy: “We still believe sex is only for marriage between a man and a woman.” But the “bailey” is that false ontology, that being “gay” is a fundamental, God-ordained aspect of one’s identity, and a false anthropology, that sexual desire defines the core of who we are, not what we do. They pull a strategic, sinister, spiritually manipulative maneuver. They will defend themselves by appealing to belief in historic Christian sexual ethics while infusing it with unbiblical views about who we are as persons, effectively pitting Genesis 1 against itself.
Biblical anthropology and ontology are not secondary or tertiary doctrines. They are first-order teachings, cornerstones of our faith. The image of God in man and woman is not compatible with modern psychological sexual identities that arise from the Fall. To say that a person is “gay” in their core self not only denies the foundational teaching in Genesis but contradicts the entire trajectory of redemptive sanctification through all of Scripture.
To the confused believer who may be struggling, know this: you are not alone in your anguish. Your temptations do not define you. Your sexual desires are not your identity. You can be free. You can be transformed. You are not beyond redemption. Christ died to make you holy, not just celibate. You do not have to live as a spiritual orphan, fighting for scraps of healing and transformation. You are a child of God, and He will not withhold good from those who seek Him.
Side B Gay Christianity is regression, and it should be wholly rejected. It has a form of godliness but denies the power of God unto salvation. It’s the wisdom of men dressed up in religious clothing. Pastors should not patronize those who are crying out for freedom with Side B’s muted, lifeless promises and therapeutic slogans.
Sexual strugglers of every kind need the Gospel — the real, full Gospel — which sanctifies and sets captives (of all types of sin) free.
Daren Mehl is President of Voice of the Voiceless, a 501c3 ministry amplifying the ex-LGBT Christian testimony in the public square. Daren once lived as a “gay Christian” but has been set free by Jesus. He has been married to his wife Rhoda for 19 years and has two children. Daren and Rhoda have been called to Christian ministry full time. Daren is a Pastor at Warroad Community Church, Co-Founder of Made Free Ministries, Associate Director of Agape First Ministries, on the Board of Association of Christians in Health and Human Services, Operations Manager for The Alliance for Therapeutic Choice and Scientific Integrity, and a frequent guest or keynote speaker at churches and conferences. Daren has written a 12 Session Study Guide called “From Conformed to Transformed” exploring his testimony and 4 distinct doctrines related to LGBT. Daren can be reached at https://linktr.ee/darenmehl.
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