Life on Side B

By David Weber
TE, New River Presbytery

Let’s take a moment to look down the road. Imagine what the Evangelical Presbyterian Church (EPC) will look like ten years from now if we choose to embrace and ordain leaders who identify with the Side B movement. What will our presbyteries look like? What will shape the spiritual life of our churches? Whose voices will influence our young people?

Make no mistake: if we ordain a prominent thought leader in the Side B movement like Greg Johnson, it will do more than acknowledge a single minister’s struggles. Rather, it will open the door to an entire subculture that redefines sin, identity, and repentance.

Side B theology claims to uphold biblical sexual ethics by rejecting homosexual behavior while affirming same-sex attraction as an unchangeable and identity forming characteristic. That might appear safe and gracious on paper. But the Side B culture drifts far beyond the boundaries of historic, orthodox, Reformed, and biblical doctrine. A culture is the lived-out spirit and community life that accompanies and flows from one’s theology. What Greg Johnson and others of his ilk articulate in carefully worded statements and polished books is often worlds apart from what is being said and celebrated on the ground.

By way of example, spend a few hours listening to the Life on Side B podcast and the reality of Side B culture becomes clear. This is one of the movement’s prominent voices. Here you will see that there is a crucial difference between Side B’s official theological claims and its actual cultural expressions.

Celibate Civil “Marriage”

In one episode, you will hear arguments in favor of civil marriage for celibate same-sex couples. The claim is that such “marriages” would allow same-sex couples to access legal and tax benefits. One speaker argues throughout the episode that there’s nothing wrong with two gay Christians getting legally married for the sake of things like taxes, hospital visitation, and benefits, so long as they remain celibate.¹

This argument redefines marriage not as a covenant between one man and one woman before God, but as a pragmatic civil contract detached from its creational meaning. Yet God’s Word is clear. Marriage is rooted in creation as the covenantal union of one man and one woman (Genesis 2:24). Any redefinition, however well-intentioned, undermines God’s design. What does this say to our young people about the nature of marriage if we open the door to this line of thinking within our churches? Do we want the example of “married” men as an acceptable practice?

Transgenderism Championed

In another episode you will hear arguments in favor of transgenderism. Many in the Side B culture accept and champion gender fluidity as legitimate. Hosts and guests routinely share preferred pronouns like she/him/they. One speaker even said, “Rejecting transgender identities outright because of Genesis 1–2 is lazy theology.” Another claimed, “If Jesus were here today, I 100-percent know He would be at the rallies, sitting with trans youth and adults.”²

But transgenderism is a rejection of the very foundation of biblical anthropology. Scripture teaches that “Male and female He created them” (Genesis 1:27), and that God’s creation is “very good” (Genesis 1:31). When we tamper with created identity, we do not simply express compassion. Rather we commit rebellion against the Creator.

But transgenderism naturally flows from the underlying anthropology of Side B. It is a predictable cultural expression. In this view, the fixed order of objective reality gives way to a theology of subjective experience. Once feelings override creational reality, we will be hard-pressed to hold any firm biblical line. If we open the door to this movement, our denomination will struggle not just with gender or sexuality, but with the very nature of human identity itself.

Repent Slowly?

On another episode that focused on sin and pastoral care, the hosts explained that those in homosexual relationships shouldn’t be expected to repent immediately. One host claims that it’s not always pastorally wise to ask someone to leave a same-sex relationship immediately. Instead, it is sometimes better to walk with them over time toward repentance. It was argued that in the church, homosexual behavior is expected to end immediately. But that with every other sin we accept a gradual growth away from sin.³ I can think of many behaviors that I would pastorally tell someone to stop immediately — theft, spousal abuse, adultery. I wouldn’t encourage anyone to wean themselves off such behavior.

The Scriptures are plain: “Flee from sexual immorality” (1 Corinthians 6:18). We are not told to accommodate it gradually, but to abandon it decisively. Jesus Himself declared, “If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away” (Matthew 5:30). This is not the language of therapeutic delay. It is the call to radical repentance.

Is this the way we want to deal with sin in our churches? Do we want to foster an environment in which repentance is replaced with a therapeutic view of sanctification? Do we really want a culture that encourages a gradual end to abomination in our lives?

Paul warns us, “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33). When we immerse ourselves in environments that celebrate sin, we are not being missional. Rather we are being conformed to the world. Our affections, sensibilities, and imaginations will inevitably be shaped by the world unless we are transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

Familiar Terminology, Divergent Theology

This is the culture Side B fosters. They talk about reading Bavinck and Augustine. They might even say they are Reformed. They know how to speak Evangelical language. But underneath the familiar theological terms is a radically different anthropology, soteriology, and doctrine of sanctification.

T.S. Eliot once observed that culture is the incarnation of religion.⁴ And as Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruits” (Matthew 7:16). A confession of faith without corresponding fruit is barren. When the culture of a movement celebrates identity in sin, minimizes repentance, and reframes biblical ethics, it will reshape our churches far more than the footnotes in a theological position paper.

This has happened before. In the early 20th century, theological liberals claimed to affirm such doctrines as the resurrection and divinity of Christ. But they redefined those doctrines into empty symbols. The forms remained, but the substance was gone. And entire denominations collapsed under the weight of compromised conviction. “Holding to a form of godliness, but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:5).

That same pattern is at work in Side B. Already today, the Side B subculture is producing:

• Advocacy for civil same-sex unions among Christians.
• Affirmation of transgender identities within the church.
• Softened calls to repentance from sexual sin.
• The shift from a transformational gospel to a therapeutic gospel.

Greg Johnson himself may not explicitly affirm every extreme I have described. But he is not merely part of the movement. He is one of its most prominent spokesmen. To ordain him would not just affirm a man. It would legitimize the entire movement he represents. We cannot affirm the label and reject its consequences. We cannot sow seeds and pretend there will be no harvest.

Some will argue that ordaining Side B ministers shows compassion to those struggling with same-sex attraction. But true compassion does not affirm fallen identity. It calls sinners to be made new in Christ.

Paul writes: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral … nor men who practice homosexuality … will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed … sanctified … justified” (1 Corinthians 6:9–11).

He does not say, “such are some of you.” He says, “such were …” Their identity has been changed because they have been united to Christ.

Side B culture says, “This is who I am.” The gospel says, “If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come” (2 Corinthians 5:17).

Dying to Self Optional

If we embrace Side B, we will disciple a generation that learns to celebrate their temptations, reimagine their sins, and redefine their sanctification. We will disciple a generation that believes dying to self is optional.

If you doubt where this movement is headed, don’t take my word for it. Listen to the Life on Side B podcast for yourself. Watch clips from Revoice conferences. Read the blog posts and social media of those most active in the movement. You will not find a culture marked by repentance, self-denial, and joyful conformity to Christ. You will find the celebration of queer identity, affirmation of transgender experience, and soft-pedaling of the biblical call to flee from sin. We are not guessing where this road leads. We can already see the destination.

The EPC stands at a fork in the road. One path holds fast to the sufficiency of Scripture, the clarity of our Confession, and the renewing power of the Spirit. The other leads into a fog where identity is governed by feelings, repentance is postponed indefinitely, and sin is rebranded as sanctified struggle.

Let us not take that path. Rather let us love our brothers and sisters with same-sex attraction enough to tell them the truth. Let us remind them that in Christ, they are not defined by their temptations, but by their adoption. Let us say with clarity and grace Side B is not biblical and therefore is not a part of our fellowship.

For the sake of the gospel, for the purity of Christ’s church, and for the eternal souls we are called to shepherd, let us reject Side B theology — and the culture it inevitably brings.

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¹ Life on Side B, “The Case for Civil Marriage in Celibate Partnerships: A Side B Collective” Life on Side B, audio podcast, February 12, 2024.

² Life on Side B, “S6E12 | Taylor, Kris, and Remi on Trans Dignity and Advocacy (with Josh and Elizabeth),” Life on Side B, audio podcast, April 22, 2024.

³ Life on Side B, “S5E6 | Jacob, Bekah, and Josh on Sin,” Life on Side B, audio podcast, June 23, 2023.

⁴ T.S. Eliot, Notes Towards the Definition of Culture (London: Faber & Faber, 1948), 28.