Last month, Matthew Paul Turner announced he’s gay and is planning to divorce his wife. I’m honestly sad for him and his family. I don’t pretend to understand the turmoil he’s experiencing, his wife’s heartache, or the wounds his children will endure for years to come.
Nevertheless, it’s painful to see Matthew and his wife make numerous claims in their public statements that illustrate the contradictory nature of claiming a biblical worldview while seeking divorce to satisfy same-sex desires.
- Matthew says he’s “ready to embrace freedom, hope, and God as a gay man,” but he’s divorcing his wife and is now (presumably) open to pursuing a romantic/sexual relationship with another man. Both of these actions are condemned by the God he’s claiming to “embrace.”
- His wife says she and her husband are “deeply committed to our family,” but they are deciding to divorce, which ruptures their family.
- He says that his utmost desire is to “put the well-being of our kids first," but they will divorce, which does not elevate the well-being of their kids.
- He says he will continue to write books about “wholeness, hope, and God's love for children,” but, as a father, he reflects the heavenly Father to his kids while telling them that he—their father—is deciding to break up with their mom.
I’m not writing this to heap additional condemnation on him or his family. He’ll have to reckon with God about his decisions. In fact, we’re all guilty of decisions that violate God’s commands. I know I’ve tried to rationalize my sin and now recognize the futility of that process. I’m simply noting how sin twists, destroys, and leaves a path of destruction in its wake. And, as in this case, trying to justify sinful decisions also leads to contradictions.
He asked for prayer at the end of his post, and I will do what he asked. My prayer for him, though, is that he would pursue Jesus and honor God with his life.