A recent article in
Psychology Today posited a simple personality difference between conservatives
and liberals in the gay marriage debate. Liberals, it said, feel they live in
an essentially improvable world and deeply value equality. Conservatives on the
other hand deeply value stability and security. So the accusations fly that one
group is threatening the stability of marriage while another group is
supposedly repressing equality in marriage. Both groups feel something sacred
is being attacked.
A shallow synopsis?
Perhaps. But one thing rings true from my experience of running in conservative
circles all day long. Conservatives do indeed value stability and security. And
many conservatives do indeed feel threatened.
In Christian circles,
this is especially pronounced. It seems like threats are all Christians can
talk about these days: the threat of Muslim expansion, the threat of
socialistic humanism, the threat of the liberal media or the public education
system, the threat of the ghetto moving into our neighborhood. And like kids
telling ghost stories around the campfire, the threats grow with the telling.
I have to ask though,
what’s a biblical position on threat? How can Christians deal with fear and perceived
insecurity in ways consistent with their faith? As I consider a biblical
precedent, here’s what strikes me…
Jesus consistently and
passionately dealt with religious and internal threats. He clearly
distinguishes himself from the religious rulers, forcing the issue by healing
on the Sabbath. He loudly condemns works-righteousness and legalism in the
Jewish system. He intentionally purges his following with his “bread of heaven”
teachings in John 6 after some wanted to make him king by force.
Yet on external threats,
he is eerily silent. A question about taxes receives little more than a shrug.
Jesus seems unperturbed by the threat of further Roman imposition or the
rampant immorality of Greco-Roman culture. It also never seems to occur to him
for instance that his association with Mary or Zacchaeus might communicate a
“soft approach” toward the problems of prostitution and extortion in those
communities. In other words, Jesus’ primary prophetic/confrontational role was
not with the world but with the religious establishment. Never does he command
his disciples to Christianize societies. Never does he condone fear over “where
the world is headed” (though he does commend discernment). Rather he commands
his followers to be busy making mature disciples.
I also find Acts 17 interesting.
Paul (preaching in the Athenian marketplace) could have preached against Greek
sexual ethics, pantheism, moral degradation, or inconspicuous greed. He could
have painted a strongly negative picture of their culture in hopes they would
turn to Jesus. But Paul comes off soft on the Greeks, even complimenting their
religiosity! He’s interested in talking about God and Christ and the
resurrection. But somehow, he doesn’t feel the need to address the threat of
immorality and worldliness among the Greeks to get there. Yet in his letters to
the churches, Paul could be quite bold in dealing with problems head on.
I could go on and on, but
let me get to the point. The appropriate Christian response to an ever-changing
world is to put one’s own house in order. Christians are to deal primarily with
threats from within the church, living lives of winsome love and maturity in
the broader context world outside the church. We are not called to be the
world’s morality police, though we ARE to live attractively (prophetically?)
moral lifestyles, which leave no room for accusation.
Are we in a battle? Heck
yeah, and it’s fiercer than anything prop 8 or our country’s polarizing
politics have to offer. We’re in a fierce internal battle against shame and
hypocrisy and hate. It’s a battle for our very soul. The battle is raging right
here inside our churches. So as controversial as this will be, I suggest we
hold our peace on gun control and gay marriage. Frankly we have more important
things to think about right now. Let’s focus instead on taking those logs out
of our eyes—and our churches—before we decide to be a prophetic voice for
righteousness in our society. As Paul writes:
12 What
business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those
inside? 13 God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from
among you.”
Let’s go a bit deeper. I was just reading a blog on this
issue that arrived at the opposite conclusion. Here are a few sound bytes…
“The Bible makes it very clear that we should
be a holy people, but also that we should call out sin. You’ll find
examples of this all throughout scripture.
“Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have
nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.”
“God actually sent the Israelites into Canaan,
with a mandate to utterly destroy these nations that practice this
wickedness. So, here’s where things might get a little personal. If
God hates witchcraft enough that he would actually wipe out men, women and
children, in order to eradicate it; how come some Christians find no problem
with watching or reading Harry Potter?
Look at Ezekiel 33:7-9.
7 “Son of
man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I
speak and give them warning from me. 8 When I
say to the wicked, ‘O wicked man, you will surely die,’ and you do not speak
out to dissuade him from his ways, that wicked man will die for his sin,
and I will hold you accountable for his blood.
“ If we do not confront sinners, it is
evidence that we hate them. Hmmm….think on that.
“Should we, as Christians, not be very clear
about good and evil? It seems to me that Mr. Furtick (an American pastor
known for condemning Christian judgmentalism) is against boundaries. But
Scripture is not. Proverbs 22:28 says, “Do not move
an ancient boundary stone set up by your forefathers.”
Beloved, we need to draw lines in the sand! We need to stand for
truth! And, therefore, we need to call out those who would oppose it;
namely Mr. Furtick!
“Everyday, in America, there are over 4,000
babies murdered through abortion. Homosexuals parade their sin like
Sodom, and force us to be“tolerant” of their wicked behavior;
making sure that our kids are taught that they are “born that way.”
In any American city, you don’t have to look hard to find strip clubs, porn
shops and prostitutes. Evil is all around us. We are a nation given
over to wickedness. And as Christians, we are caught in the middle.
So, what do we do? Should we just go with the flow?
“We have gone many
times to the school board and city council meetings to stand against things,
such as homosexual parades and “anti-bullying” policies. In Charlotte, it’s an
especially great opportunity to spread the truth because the school board
meetings are filmed and aired on public television.
“But once these
things get passed, you continue to take it to them, in the meetings and on the
streets. Mark Cahill says it this way, “If the devil is going to throw a party,
the church had better show up.” So, when homosexuals parade their sin like
Sodom, in our public streets, we had better confront the sin.”
(source: http://ifmypeople.wordpress.com/2011/07/09/how-should-christians-deal-with-sin/)
I’d like to humbly point to this blogger that
every scripture he used was intended as a corrective not to world, but to the
church. The thrust of Ephesians 5 is to distinguish good from evil in our midst
for the purpose of living wise lives, not for the purpose of condemning the
world. The vast majority (with a few noteable exceptions) of the Old Testament
prophetic ministries were directed against Israel, against those within the
chosen community. The blogger even uses the “speck and log” illustration to
flatly say we should deal harshly with personal sin so that we can properly
point out other people’s sin. I’d point out that the context tells us (1) that
the appropriate place for judgment is between brothers and sisters within the
beloved community and (2) that our own issues will ALWAYS outweigh the issues we’re
trying to address in others so there is ALWAYS room for deep gentleness and
humility in those scenarios.
We all have a natural
drive toward judgment. If we’re not judging liberals or homosexuals, we’ll be
judging haters and bigots. So here’s my vision for judgment:
A new couple has
started attending your small group. He is black. She is white. And a concerned group
of long-time members approach you as the leader and say, “what will you do
about these people? We are deeply concerned about an interracial couple coming
into our community.” You take a deep breath and quietly say, “I love you guys.
We’ve been friends for a long time. But that attitude will never be tolerated
here. And if that’s really how you feel, I think it’s time for you to leave.”
I believe that
judgment rightly exercised removes love’s barriers within a community. I
believe that right judgment says to Christians like that blogger, “no, I’m
going to stand and support anti-bullying policies, even if that means I have to
stand against you.
That’s why I’m
endorsing a protest this Sunday here in Atlanta against Westboro Baptist Church
and it’s founder, Fred Phelps whose picketing at the funerals of gay soldiers
and hateful rhetoric on his website (www.godhatesfags.com) has inspired prejudice and grossly misrepresented Jesus in our
culture for decades. The protest against WBC is organized by a collection of atheist
and humanist groups throughout Atlanta. And I’ll gladly join hands with
atheists and humanists to publically condemn hatred, especially when it’s
coming from a group who identifies themselves as followers of Jesus. Because in
my mind, the real threat, the insidious
threat to us who profess to follow Jesus is not coming outside the church but from within.
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| credit: http://www.theeagleonline.com/news/story/westboro-baptist-church-to-protest-at-au-jan.-14/ |
Beautifully said, Nathan.
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