Ken Ham: Pastors Not Speaking Out Against Gay Marriage Are Harmful to the Church
Creation Museum CEO Ken Ham has argued that pastors who ignore difficult social topics like gay marriage and abortion are doing "great damage" to the spiritual growth of their congregations.
"Sadly, when pastors choose to neglect controversial issues, they do great damage to the spiritual growth of their congregates. We have generations of young people in our churches who simply believe what the world believes on social and moral issues (e.g., they are increasingly accepting gay 'marriage'), and they don't think biblically on these matters," Ham wrote on his Answers in Genesis blog.
The creationist pointed to warnings that the American Pastors Network has sounded on pastors who refuse to engage with controversial topics, arguing that such pastors mostly fear man more than God.
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"Marriage and homosexuality are two of the most important issues in the Church today, and there is perhaps no area of ministry more crucial," said APN President Sam Rohrer in a recent press release.
"In particular, pastors must not avoid preaching biblical truth about marriage — about how God designed this holy union between one many and one woman. Anything outside of that scope falls short of God's law and His plan, even if the law of the land says otherwise," he added.
The conservative network noted that some pastors appear to be worried that discussing controversial issues may keep people from giving money or attending events, and that they don't have a firm stand on the authority of Scripture.
Ham argued that all of this is especially harmful for young people who accept society's views on issues such as marriage.
"Pastors, teaching on controversial issues can certainly be a challenge, but I encourage you not to neglect it! You have a huge responsibility in equipping the Church to think biblically about everything — including controversial social issues. If you don't, who is going to?" Ham asked in his article.
"This is part of making disciples! Don't neglect your important part in training and equipping the next generation. Remember, God through Jeremiah told King Zedekiah to obey God's Word and not that of the fallible human officials. Sadly, he did not and as a result opened the door to severe consequences for him, his family, and others," he added.
Ham, who is set to open the Ark Encounter attraction in Kentucky in July 2016, has often positioned himself on the front lines of what he calls a "spiritual war" going on in America.
Earlier in December he said that he built the life-sized Noah's Ark replica to be part of this war.
"We are in a spiritual war right now in the U.S. Generations of young people have been raised to believe that they evolved, there is no God, and they make the rules. But, as Christians, we know that 'we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12)," Ham previously said.
