What would Jesus say about gay clergy if He was physically walking our streets today? Would He gives His blessing to those called to pastor His church that also wanted to take part in homosexual behavior? According to one legendary rocker, that’s exactly what Jesus would do.

In an interview with Sky News rock icon Elton John shared his thoughts and opinions on the gay rights movement and where it stands today. He is thankful for the progress made but believes more is needed. On the heels of complimenting all that Pope Francis has done to “simplify” religion, John was asked whether the church should allow gay clergy to marry. He answered:

“If Jesus Christ was alive today, I cannot see him, as the Christian person that he was and the great person that he was, saying this could not happen. He was all about love and compassion and forgiveness and trying to bring people together and that is what the church should be about.”

I’m guessing Sir Elton John has not read the same Bible I’ve been reading. Jesus never condoned sin. Jesus also affirmed the teaching of the Old Testament and said He didn’t come to destroy it, but to fulfill it (Matt. 5:17). With this in mind, and the fact that the Old Testament clearly calls homosexuality a sin, I can say with certainty that Jesus would not support homosexuality.

But don’t take my word for it. Listen to what renowned Bible scholar and teacher John MacArthur had to say on the subject.

Commenting on the string of denominations that have decided to endorse homosexuality MacArthur said plainly “they have no allegiance to the Bible.” But He didn’t stop there, MacArthur went on to say:

“They have no allegiance to the Bible. You go back to every one of those seminaries … for a century [they] have been deniers of biblical authority, they have no relationship to scripture, they are the apostate church, they are Satan’s church.”

Some might say those are harsh words. But let’s not forget that Jesus Himself called His own disciple, Peter, Satan for opposing God’s plan (Matt. 16:23), and Jesus called the Pharisees white-washed tombs full of dead men’s bones (Matt. 23:27). When speaking the truth it is at times necessary and needed to speak plainly, bluntly, in order to make the message clear.

What is the message?

The message is that it is one thing for a culture, a society to embrace that which God has called sin. But it is another thing entirely for a church, a denomination to do it. When people embrace sin it is a spiritual issue that needs discipled, corrected. When denominations do it is a clear signal that there is no longer any room for Jesus Christ in the life of that denomination.

The intent on the part of these denominations has always been to attract more people, younger people, into the ranks of the dying denominations. But as these denominations become increasingly liberal, they continue to die. Their efforts to reach younger people by compromising the truth of Scripture have resulted not in growth, but in further concessions. The few people that have been attracted to the once great denominations have demanded concessions to biblical truth on other issues that have caused further concessions, and the only result to speak of is accelerated aging and death.

The underscored truth is that compromising biblical truth in order to attract people will remove God’s blessing and instead, as MacArthur points out, gain God’s wrath.

This is instructive to us today, especially for those seeking to plant churches. While it is imperative to lovingly welcome people to spend time with us and to share the Gospel with them, it is disastrous to refuse to address sin. By seeking to make everyone happy the church will become a place where sin is no longer called out in favor of motivational-speaker-esqu sermons that lack conviction or biblical truth.

Watch the video of Elton John’s interview below. If the video doesn’t appear automatically, please refresh your browser.