What Does It Mean to Be a Third Way Church?

Third Way Church

When it comes to what it means to be Third Way regarding LGBTQ questions in the church there is a range of definitions. Ron Pierce, a theological conservative, offers this helpful definition which ties being Third Way to Paul’s use of the phrase ‘disputable matters’ in Romans 14:

Disputable matters are issues where Scripture does not speak decisively, where sincere believers can disagree, and where obedience to Christ is still possible on more than one side.
-Ron Pierce, Romans 14 lecture, Talbot School of Theology (class notes / oral teaching)

At Small Church Big Table we often say that being Third Way involves a position, a posture, and a practice (NOTE: to simplify this very complex set of questions, we’ll use the example of same-sex weddings for this piece – and we recognize that there is so much more to the conversation).

Position

Third Way Christians hold the theological position that recognizes that those who love Jesus and seek to honor the scriptures—and yet disagree with them about LGBTQ questions in the church—are still Christians. Salvation is by grace, not by agreement over whether same-sex marriage honors God.

Posture

The posture of Third Way Christians is to show kindness and curiosity towards those with whom they disagree. There’s a leaning in, a pushing towards, a valuing of each other. You might call it unity across difference. As one progressive evangelical put it:

The lack of theological diversity within local church communities and online communities is prohibiting the bigger table we could be creating there. Instead of learning to endure and bear with one another, we simply remove or further marginalize those with a minority view, requiring them to be silent or to move elsewhere and find another table.
– John Pavlovitz, A Bigger Table

Practice

The practices of Third Way Christians depend on their setting. Inevitably, Third Way Christians find themselves in communities where there’s theological diversity around LGBTQ questions. Because churches need to have clear answers to questions like, “Will you perform my same-sex wedding?” these communities need to have a stated practice. What’s interesting is that Third Way practices can cover a range of options. We’ve worked with multiple churches in each of these following categories:

There are Third Way churches who have a practice of not conducting gay weddings, for example, because of denominational restrictions. In other ways, they may be largely indistinguishable from other Third Way churches or even affirming churches.

There are Third Way churches who have a practice of letting their pastor decide whether or not to conduct gay weddings based on their individual consciences. Usually these are multi-staff churches that have theological diversity on their pastoral staff.

There are Third Way churches who have a practice of conducting gay weddings and who clarify that those who do not believe in this practice are still welcome in membership and leadership of the church.

There is a final category of churches which we would say are approaching being Third Way. They do not perform gay weddings and they allow some level of involvement in the church for gay married Christians, but they limit that involvement. These churches often take what might be called the accommodationist perspective, which is that they will accommodate the gay married couples by allowing them to be members or even serve in some capacity even though their official position is that gay sexual activity is sinful. Not unlike how some churches approach divorce, these accommodations do not extend to leadership positions like pastoral ordination or eldership and sometimes even to leadership in bible studies, etc.

A gracious and helpful statement from this perspective comes from New Life Fellowship, a large, diverse church in New York City:

New Life believes that every human being—including our LGBTQ+ friends, family members, neighbors, and everyone else—are image bearers of God and worthy of love, respect, and hospitality. As a church family we are deeply committed to initiating and maintaining conversations around these questions first from a posture of relationship before position. One of the things that we endeavor to do when wrestling with complex and potentially polarizing issues is not to respond with biblical proof-texting and over-simplistic thinking.

We are called to live with humility and curiosity, discerning what discipleship to Jesus looks like for each person—no matter how one identifies. From a theological perspective, New Life holds to the historic, biblical understanding of marriage as between a man and a woman. We aspire for this conviction to be held with compassion and humility, as we recognize that many have come to a different conclusion on this matter.

Why Third Way Matters

Through the ages Christians have been remarkably divisive, not to mention having a track record of persecuting other Christians with different theological perspectives (Think of the time those who baptized infants burned at the stake those who didn’t, and vice versa depending who held political power at the time).

In our time, think about some of the divisive issues—with all sides claiming justification from scripture. Whether it’s support for Israel, women in ministry, or end times theology, individual churches and denominations split again and again. But perhaps it doesn’t need to be that way.

That’s why a deep understanding and practice of being Third Way matters.

Grace and peace,

Bill

P.S. Still have questions? Check out our companion post, Third Way Church FAQ

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