Welcome back to Heresy Watch, where we look at some of the ridiculous stuff that progressive Christians and others who have wandered away from biblical Christianity are up to. It’s rare for us to get two examples of heresy involving the same Bible story, but here we go.
The story of Joseph kicks off with the favoritism that he experienced from his father, Jacob [also called Israel], his dreams that his brothers would bow to him, and the brothers selling him into slavery. One of the gifts that Jacob gave Joseph was a “robe of many colors.”
“Now Israel loved Joseph more than any other of his sons, because he was the son of his old age. And he made him a robe of many colors,” Genesis 37:3-4 tells us. “But when his brothers saw that their father loved him more than all his brothers, they hated him and could not speak peacefully to him.”
Side note: You may be familiar with the musical based on this story, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. One of my biggest regrets from high school was not following my cousin’s suggestion to try out for it with our school’s drama department because they wound up winning a bunch of awards for it. I’ll surrender my man card at the end of the day.
Of course, we don’t know what the robe of many colors actually looked like, but we can imagine something vibrant and almost patchwork. We could also picture it the way the Babylon Bee envisioned it.
Joseph’s Brothers Jealous Of His Vintage Charlotte Hornets Starter Jacket https://t.co/pVo4g7d7HJ
— The Babylon Bee (@TheBabylonBee) November 9, 2026
But what we sure as heck can’t do is imagine the story the way two different pastors in the radical Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) recently did. You can probably guess where this is going.
Related: Heresy Watch: Get Ready for the 'Jesus Consciousness,' Bro!
Let’s start out in Bloomington, Ind., where Adrianne Meier “pastors” the St. Thomas Lutheran Church. (I know, shocker — a woman pastor.) According to the church’s website, Meier “is passionate about creating space where people can experience God’s radical welcome, deepen their relationship with God, listen for God’s call, and participate together in God’s creative and redeeming work.” The fact that “radical” is in her bio tells you all you need to know.
In a recent sermon, Meier said that it “it's possible that Jacob has given his son a pretty princess dress. One can certainly argue that the translation of this particular article of clothing is not strictly necessary to understand Joseph's story. We could just say that Jacob, who struggles to love well his whole life, loves his children unfairly, unequally, which leads to jealousy and violence.”
Pretty princess dress? Are you kidding me? But wait, there’s more.
“What if this is a story of a boy in a princess dress who suffers violence at the hands of those who hate them for being queer?” she asked. “Wouldn't we then have a story that speaks directly to our particular moment? Wouldn't we have a story that pointedly asks, what can a queer kid teach us about God?”
The only way a “queer kid” can teach us about God is if he repents and turns to faith in Jesus. And why would we want “a story that speaks directly to our particular moment?” God’s story of redemption is timeless, and it doesn’t expect us to wallow in our sins.
ELCA "pastor" Adrianne Meier says Jacob gave his son (Joseph) a "pretty princess dress." “What if this is the story of a boy in a princess dress who suffers violence at the hands of those who hate them for being queer? … ‘What can a queer kid teach us about God?’ https://t.co/kUdHBXlEvT
— The Dissenter (@disntr) November 4, 2026
Lest you wonder, it’s not just the women pastors in the ELCA who are preaching heresy. The men do it, too.
Rev. Gregg Knepp pastors an ELCA ministry in the Pittsburgh area, and he “is committed to living the Gospel by following Jesus, particularly participating in God’s mission through Social Justice to our neighbors in need.” He also has a similarly wrong view of the story of Joseph.
“Today, we might say Joseph is a proud and flaming queen,” Knepp insisted in a recent sermon. “So naturally, in a patriarchal culture where masculinity mattered, Joseph's brothers hated him.”
In Knepp’s telling, Joseph’s story doesn’t serve to demonstrate how God takes care of His people with a long-term view. Instead, it’s about — you guessed it — homosexuality.
And to make matters worse, Joseph was a visionary who had the God-given gifts of dreams and the interpretation of dreams. And Joseph told his brothers about his dreams, particularly one where all his brothers circle around him and bow down to him. Well, obviously, this is more than any manly man could take.
So his brothers begin to plot and plan. Joseph's brothers conspire to get rid of him. So they throw him in a pit, and then they ultimately sell him to Midianite traders who take him to Egypt.
“Now, if the story ended there, one could suggest this was perhaps the first story of ancient gay bashing,” Knepp concluded. One could suggest that, for sure, but then one could also have a stupid, woke view of the story of the Old Testament.
ELCA pastor, Rev. Gregg Knepp, calls Joseph a “proud and flaming queen” and frames his brothers' attack on him as "gay bashing." "Imagine, if you will, the 17-year-old Joseph twirling a rainbow garb with painted eyes. Today we might say Joseph is a proud and flaming queen." https://t.co/IwUhV6z5GJ
— The Dissenter (@disntr) November 4, 2026
Pray for these people. They need to repent.
The Apostle Paul warned that a time would come when people would abandon sound doctrine in favor of teachings that tickle their ears. Welcome to Heresy Watch, where we expose the false teachings, theological distortions, and outright nonsense masquerading as Christianity. Biblical truth matters, and we're not afraid to defend it.
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