Recently, Pastor Steve Sabin has been under fire from the Lutheran Church because of his sexual preference.

In 1989 and 1990 he began to question his identity.

Soon after, he began living a lifestyle which drew heavy criticism from the church.

Sabin, who works for the Lord of Life Lutheran Church, was asked to resign on Monday by the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) Committee of Appeals. The 11-member committee met in Chicago on Aug. 29 and 30.

The committee waited to release its verdict until the last day of the 60-day time limit was up.

Now the local congregation has to decide whether to comply with the decision handed down by the denominational committee.

But it is clear that a majority of the congregation does not want to see Sabin depart.

Andy Cowmen, a member of the congregation at the Lord of Life, said, “I’m disappointed in the decision. I’m disappointed in the fact that the committee took that position that the rules are the rules — had I been on that panel, I would have voted differently.”

Rules are standards.

Sabin met the standards of the Lutheran Church because he was ordained a pastor in 1989 at the Lutheran School of Divinity in Chicago, when he had a ‘self-understanding that [he] was straight.’

Now that he is not married, he has to make a difficult choice.

Biblically speaking, any act of sexual intercourse outside of marriage is considered a sin.

Sabin does not plan to abide by this in his current relationship.

Sabin should not be fired or removed because of his sexual preference, as long as he abides by the fundamental principles of the religion he is voluntarily representing.

Anyone, regardless of gender or race, can be a pastor in the Lutheran Church.

They are not officially removing him because he is gay — that would be discriminatory.

However, by openly defying his own church, he has forced their hand.

Everybody has to make choices in their lives, and sometimes this requires sacrifice.

Sabin cannot reasonably expect to announce that he fully intends to engage in sex outside of marriage and expect his church to accept this.