It is not right for Bishop T.D. Jakes to try and appease both the Christian and LGBTQ communities, according to California Pastor Jesse Lee Peterson, also the president of the Brotherhood Organization of a New Destiny (BOND). Peterson is calling on Jakes to pick just one side and affirm it.
"I think he's trying to ride two horses at the same time," Peterson told the Christian News Network. "He's trying to appease... the homosexual community and trying to appease the Christian community as well. You can't ride two horses at the same time. You can't serve two masters. You love one and hate the other."
When Jakes was asked earlier if homosexuals and the black church can co-exist, Jakes was confident when he answered, "Absolutely."
"I think it is going to be diverse from church to church. Every church has a different opinion on the issue and every gay person is different," Jakes explained. "And I think that to speak that the church—the black church, the white church or any kind of church you wanna call it are all the same, is totally not true."
He also urged homosexuals to find a congregation that welcomes their lifestyles and "reflects what your views are and what you believe like anyone else." Jakes stressed that "the church should have the right to have its own convictions and values."
The bishop later claimed that his words were misconstrued and taken out of proportion by the media.
However, Peterson thinks that Jakes is only back-pedalling and "speaking out of both sides of his mouth."
"He's trying to back-pedal by lying about what he said and what his intent was behind what he said," he said. "For this man to speak out of both sides of his mouth indicates that he is a hypocrite."
Peterson said the government is clearly against Christianity when it comes to homosexuality and same-sex marriage, so it is wrong for a spiritual leader or a man of God to go along with the ideas of the government.
