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The Rise of “Post-Evangelical” Christianity
Something serious is happening in parts of American Christianity.
A growing movement is not merely questioning traditional Christian teaching about sexuality. It is openly rejecting what Scripture says and then claiming that rejection is actually an expression of the gospel.
Restore Austin, a church in Texas reportedly numbering around 1,200 members, has become part of what is being called the “post-evangelical” movement. The church openly affirms same-sex relationships, permits LGBTQ leadership, performs same-sex weddings, and presents these positions as consistent with the gospel.
Pastor Zach Lambert recently went even further. During the wedding of a same-sex couple, he reportedly told them that their marriage brought joy to God’s heart.
That is where this becomes more than a disagreement over church policy.
The issue is not whether homosexual people should be treated with kindness, dignity, and compassion. They should. Christians are commanded to love others and proclaim the truth of Christ to everyone.
The issue is whether we have the right to declare that God approves what His Word identifies as sin.
We do not.
Jesus Himself grounded marriage in God’s creation of male and female:
Paul is equally plain concerning homosexual practice:
The gospel does not tell sinners that their sin is holy. It tells sinners that Christ saves.
There is a tremendous difference between saying, “Come to Christ and be forgiven,” and saying, “God approves what you are doing.”
One is grace.
The other changes God’s verdict on sin.
No pastor, church, denomination, or movement has the authority to do that.
Isaiah warned:
Calling something loving does not make it righteous.
Calling something inclusive does not make it biblical.
Calling something an outcome of the gospel does not make it part of the gospel.
God’s Word determines what is true.
This movement is also worth watching because it does not appear to be confined to one congregation. The network associated with this growing “post-evangelical” movement reportedly includes more than 150 churches.
That means this is not simply about one pastor in Austin.
It reflects a larger question facing churches everywhere:
Will Scripture correct the culture, or will the culture be allowed to correct Scripture?
Christians should welcome sinners.
We should love them.
We should tell them about Jesus Christ.
But genuine love does not require us to tell people that God approves what He has called sin.
The church has no authority to rewrite the Word of God.
When Christians begin calling sin holy, they are not making the gospel more compassionate.
They are contradicting the very Word by which the gospel is known.
Source: Religion News Service, “Booted from evangelicalism, a progressive, ‘post-evangelical’ church blooms in Texas,” July 28, 2026.
Read the Religion News Service article
Something serious is happening in parts of American Christianity.
A growing movement is not merely questioning traditional Christian teaching about sexuality. It is openly rejecting what Scripture says and then claiming that rejection is actually an expression of the gospel.
Restore Austin, a church in Texas reportedly numbering around 1,200 members, has become part of what is being called the “post-evangelical” movement. The church openly affirms same-sex relationships, permits LGBTQ leadership, performs same-sex weddings, and presents these positions as consistent with the gospel.
Pastor Zach Lambert recently went even further. During the wedding of a same-sex couple, he reportedly told them that their marriage brought joy to God’s heart.
That is where this becomes more than a disagreement over church policy.
The issue is not whether homosexual people should be treated with kindness, dignity, and compassion. They should. Christians are commanded to love others and proclaim the truth of Christ to everyone.
The issue is whether we have the right to declare that God approves what His Word identifies as sin.
We do not.
Jesus Himself grounded marriage in God’s creation of male and female:
Jesus did not redefine marriage. He pointed back to what God established “at the beginning.”“Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh?”
Matthew 19:4-5, KJV
Paul is equally plain concerning homosexual practice:
First Corinthians 6 also lists homosexual practice among sins from which people must be saved, and then gives one of the most hopeful statements in the passage:“For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature: And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another.”
Romans 1:26-27, KJV
That is the gospel response.“And such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”
1 Corinthians 6:11, KJV
The gospel does not tell sinners that their sin is holy. It tells sinners that Christ saves.
There is a tremendous difference between saying, “Come to Christ and be forgiven,” and saying, “God approves what you are doing.”
One is grace.
The other changes God’s verdict on sin.
No pastor, church, denomination, or movement has the authority to do that.
Isaiah warned:
That warning is worth remembering whenever churches begin using Christian language to reverse the moral judgments of Scripture.“Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil.”
Isaiah 5:20, KJV
Calling something loving does not make it righteous.
Calling something inclusive does not make it biblical.
Calling something an outcome of the gospel does not make it part of the gospel.
God’s Word determines what is true.
This movement is also worth watching because it does not appear to be confined to one congregation. The network associated with this growing “post-evangelical” movement reportedly includes more than 150 churches.
That means this is not simply about one pastor in Austin.
It reflects a larger question facing churches everywhere:
Will Scripture correct the culture, or will the culture be allowed to correct Scripture?
Christians should welcome sinners.
We should love them.
We should tell them about Jesus Christ.
But genuine love does not require us to tell people that God approves what He has called sin.
The church has no authority to rewrite the Word of God.
When Christians begin calling sin holy, they are not making the gospel more compassionate.
They are contradicting the very Word by which the gospel is known.
Source: Religion News Service, “Booted from evangelicalism, a progressive, ‘post-evangelical’ church blooms in Texas,” July 28, 2026.
Read the Religion News Service article
