It's Legal, Now What?

After the Supreme Court made their ruling, by the slimmest of margins, 5-4, same sex marriage became a federal law in all 50 states, just like that! 

Emotions varied in the US, from joyful elation to empty sorrow.   

As a conservative Christian I am aware that many in our ranks are still wrestling with the decision and anxious about this verdict and what it will mean for the future of the church. Yet in spite of this anxiety, it is important to contemplate some important truths.  



1. God is Sovereign

Many wonder what will happen next to the church? Will we be forced to officiate same sex weddings in our buildings? Will we be sued for discrimination if we fail to hire members of the LGBT community? Will we lose our non-profit status if we don't comply, much like what happened to Bob Jones University in the 80's, when they refused to allow interracial marriage?  

In the midst of such anxiety we must remember one important reality. God is still sovereign! 

Jesus reassured his followers that the church will always prevail, even in the most difficult of cultural climates (Matthew 16:18). While we should grieve that God's intended design for marriage has been redefined (‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife' - Matthew 19:5), we cannot allow this decision to underscore the reality that God is still sovereign. 

We must remember that God's sovereignty shines brightest when we don't have control over an outcome and must humbly seek Him for guidance. We've had it relatively good in the United States for hundreds of years as far as influence, respect, and being a sought after commodity in our community, now God wants to see how we respond as a unwanted minority in a changing moral climate. 

The newness of the situation has stunned us; however there were 20 countries before us that had to make a similar adjustment. Believe it or not, God can still continue to establish His kingdom despite the increasing bias toward conservative Christians and their beliefs. 

Sadly, some influential Christian leaders want us to fight and call the LGBT community into repentance, but is that really the best approach? Will that lead to the best results? In reality, we have already gone that route on numerous occasions and have made little impact, whether in the courtroom or being a positive witness outside our Christian community. 

It is time to trust in God's sovereignty and seek to make adjustments on how we should engage our changing culture. We must abandon Christian cliches, regurgitating thoughtless rhetoric, and learn to rely on the Holy Spirit to lovingly share truth. We must confess, "I don't know what to do Lord, please speak through me so I can be Your effective ambassador, Your committed disciple, Your humble witness." Call me naive, but I am not overwhelmed by the verdict because I know God is sovereign, unlike the nine judges who preside on the Supreme court. 


2. Biblically, we should not be Surprised 

If we have studied our Bible, this ruling should not surprise us. In fact, the Bible clearly stated the realities of such cultural shifts thousands of years ago. Romans 1:26-27 reminds us that homosexuality is nothing new, along with its growing support and public approval (Romans 1:29-32). Institutionalizing same sex marriage on the federal level is just another reminder how reliable the Bible really is when it comes to truth. 

With the legalization of gay marriage in Vermont, year by year, more states adopted same sex marriage into their state laws. In fact, before the verdict, 37 states had already legalized it, despite our efforts to remove it from state ballots or overturn unwanted rulings. Yes, what happened last week is just a reminder of what Scripture has already revealed. 

Consequently, how one views the Bible becomes the central issue in this whole debate. Is it really God's inspired Word as He directed the biblical authors, or is it just a bunch of male religious authors attempting to explain God as best as they can within their own cultural context, blinded by their own personal biases?  

For those who uphold divine inspiration, the majority will stand by what God has communicated in Scripture, rather than their own personal feelings. Admittedly, this is hard, especially if you have good relations with others that are part of the LGBT community, but ultimately, we must submit, ensuring that God has the final say.  

On the flip side, those who see the Bible as a human book, will view it as instruction that no longer applies in the midst of our changing culture (or at least some aspects of it). They will see Scripture as a potentially harmful book that serves as a roadblock towards societal advancement and the goal of social justice. 

I view the Bible as a divinely inspired book. I believe the Scriptures are God breathed and useful for correction (2 Timothy 3:16). I believe that the Scriptures are not the product of human interpretation or their willful intention, but rather that God guided biblical authors, thru the Holy Spirit, to write instruction according to His will (2 Peter 1:19-21). 

As the Apostle Paul once wrote his apprentice, Timothy, "For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear (2 Timothy :3)." 

Now, this is not meant to slam the LGBT community or those who view the Bible on some level as a human book, but rather to remind Christians, who hold to divine inspiration, not to be surprised by what is taking place in our rapidly changing culture. 



3. We Must not Lose Focus of the Mission


Now this does not mean we should hate and become defensive when it comes to liberals and those belonging to the LGBT community. The Bible also reveals heterosexual practices that we are also guilty of on many occasions, such as lust / pornography (Matthew 5:26), sex before marriage, (1 Corinthians 7:2), divorce (Matthew 19: 3-6), and martial affairs (Hebrews 13:4) to name a few. Conservative Christians must not place themselves on a pedestal, we have no room to sit in judgment. We are all sinners, saved by grace.

Furthermore, the Bible makes it clear that our job is not to disassociate with those who aren't believers and choose not to follow our Christian "rules," whether they are straight or gay. Instead we must intentionally engage them so we can become better witnesses; otherwise we are truly just preaching to the choir (1 Corinthians 5:9-10). 

We must understand that people within the LGBT community have experienced hate in the worst ways, thus we must not add to that reality by intentionally hating, pointing fingers, or thumping Bible verses. Instead we must learn to demonstrate that despite disagreement, Jesus has transformed our lives and given us the ability to love others who hold different views well. 

In the past, I personally have spent time, having some of the most thought provoking conversations with those in the LGBT community, on their time, and on their turf. I have been treated with respect because I was willing to listen and dialogue, not become defensive. This doesn't mean I affirm their stance on marriage, but it shows I was willing to invest my time to listen, to share, so we could better understand each other. 

Ultimately, Jesus calls his followers to share his message to our prevailing culture, locally, regionally, and internationally (Matthew 28:18-19). Peter, one of the most influential disciples of Jesus, instructs us to share with others the hope we have in Christ, but to do so in gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15). 

We must not be focused on the court decision; we must be focused on the mission. We must allow God through Christ to work thru us, just as he did when we thought and lived our lives differently. Transformation happens when we are willing to be used by God in mission. 




4. The Victory has already been Achieved

Back in the day, Monday Night Football was tape delayed on television by an hour in the Pacific Northwest, it was not live. I can't begin to tell you how this bothered me, especially when the STEELERS played. I could not find comfort watching the game because the plays that were unfolding before my very eyes had already occurred in the past. 

How did I deal with this reality? I listened to the live broadcast on the radio to hear the current score. Once Pittsburgh won the game (which they usually did), I watched the tape delayed television broadcast and guess what? I STILL stressed about the game. 

I found myself pacing, criticizing bad decisions, and even superstitiously standing up when they played defense, hoping that I could help prevent the other team from scoring, let alone getting a first down. 

Yet I knew in advance who ultimately won! The STEELERS!

Many times that is how we live life. We stress out with court decisions, its impact, and what will happen in the future. It is so easy to forget that Jesus has already achieved the Victory. The final score has ALREADY been decided.  

In the end, we may not know why things happen in life, but we must have confidence that God is in control. Yes, we will grieve, but we must remember that if we have accepted Jesus into our lives, everything will turn out, even if we don't see it now. 

Ultimately Jesus died for our sins, whether one is straight, gay, bisexual, or transgendered because he loved us enough to sacrifice his life. If you believe what Jesus died on the cross, you are already a member of the winning team. If you are a member of that team Jesus will change your life, not me. 

Ultimately, we must live our lives with this BIG PICTURE perspective in mind, otherwise we will continue to be shaken by current events. 

In the end, we win and our prize is much better than going to Disneyland. May we never forget whose team we are on when life brings us those unexpected twists and turns in life. Remember we already won.

A Prayer for "The Times"

What’s going on? It’s been a crazy month in the news. Bruce Jenner becomes Caitlyn. Rachel Dolezol says she’s black, then steps down from the NAACP when it is discovered that she is really white. Nine Christians are gunned down in a SC church, and Donald Trump is running for president. I can president delivering some bad news to the Secretary of State as he squints his eyes, points his finger, and exclaims, “Your Fired!”

We live in a changing world. One where people are making up their own rules, like God does not even exist. We need prayer. It is easy to get mad, but it won’t help. It would probably make things worse. We need prayer. We need a psalm.

There is a Psalm in the Bible that was written by Moses. It is the only one he wrote, and it is written as a prayer from a father figure. You see, as Moses surveyed his own world, he recognized without divine guidance in troubled times, his people were in trouble. Moses is near the end of his life and a lot has happened. 

Leading his people out of Egypt was the highlight. But things went downhill from there.

•  The people resented his leadership

•  Many were killed as they rebelled

•  40 years passed with no promise land conquered

•  Millions perished, even Moses siblings    

• Then the Unthinkable happened: Moses's temper would prevent him from going into the  promise land.

An entire generation seemingly wasted, millions of people had perished. Life did not turn out as he expected. Honestly, I don’t know if it ever does. 

So as he writes this Psalm he reflects on the most important things we should know when it comes to God. He puts things in perspective. He is an old man, a father figure, and he is imparting wisdom that only comes from a long life of lessons learned. His agenda is simple, he wants to contrast God with man so we can live life from an eternal perspective. 

His prayer has several layers, and it is important that we comment on each one.

1. The Eternality of God. Moses begins….

              

1 Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations. 2 Before the mountains were brought forth or ever you had formed the earth and the world from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

One of the most important things we can know about God is that he is eternal. This is important because as people come and go in life, including our loved ones, we don’t have to worry. GOD WILL ALWAYS BE THERE!  No one created God. No one was before God. No one can outlive God. He is beyond time.

Moses says He has been around for long time.

Before our generation

Before the mountains 

Before the earth was even formed.

When things are crazy, the eternality of God allows us to know that God will always be there. Moses says, “You have been our dwelling place.” Other translations use the word, refuge. “Lord, You have been my Refuge.” How many times in your life have you needed to find refuge?

The loss of a loved one

The loss of employment

The Loss of an important relationship

The loss of health

If you’re going to find refuge in someone, there is no one who can offer you security like God. He will always be there. For you, your children, your grandchildren, even your great grandchildren. Find refuge in that reality.

It is hard to wrap our minds around the fact that God is eternal. For us, everything has a beginning and an end.
Not God!

Illustration – Imagine a rope that goes on forever, but with a small 1/2 inch red section in the middle of it that represents all the aspects of your life.

      

                                                      Our birthday 

                                   Our childhood

                                       Our teenage years

                                            Our Adult years

                                                 Our senior years 

                                                       Our lineage

Within that little minuscule red area is the narrative that represents our life accomplishments, our disappointments, you name it.

But we never see ourselves as just a microscopic fraction of the eternal rope, we think of our red area as “the whole rope.” In order to see God for who He is, we have to realize that our own lineage is but a blip on God’s eternal radar. 

As Moses, reflects back on his life, he begins with the mind boggling reality that God is eternal. He contemplates the BIGNESS of God.

Where does he go from there in his prayer? He contrasts God’s eternality with the frailness of man.

2. The Frailness of Man

3 You return man to dust and say, “Return, O children of man!” 4 For a thousand years in your sight are but as yesterday when it is past, or as a watch in the night. 5 You sweep them away as with a flood; they are like a dream, like grass that is renewed in the morning: 6 in the morning it flourishes and is renewed; in the evening it fades and withers.

Nothing shows the frailness of man like death. From the dust we return to dust. We are merely a blip on the radar of God’s eternity.

You see, when you contrast God with man, it reveals how inadequate we are. We are frail to God, sort of like a bug that we swat away and ultimately kill. In God’s scheme of things, our existence is fleeting. Yet we gallantly strive to build our own legacy, even though we cannot see the vanity of it all. Moses says, we are like grass that springs up in the morning and withers away by evening.

My Story: I had a heart attack over a year ago. I thought with exercise and nutrition things would be better. My life would be back to what it once was before. Yet the doctor says differently. Every time I receive an echo-cardiogram, my heart seems to pump even less. Now I am told to strongly consider getting a defibrillator in case my heart suddenly stops. 

Day by day, I am seeing with more clearly the frailness of my life. 

Our Psyches - The stories of Bruce Jenner and Rachel Dolezal showcase the frailness of our psyches. One, a man, wants to be a woman, the other, a white woman, wants to be African American. One an Olympic icon; the other the former president of the NAACP, The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.

It is easy to get mad at Jenner and Dolezal. It is easy to scorn them for believing that somehow God got it wrong.  It is easy to criticize them for trying to play God by rejecting the DIVINE CREATOR'S initial design. However, the reality is that Jenner and Dolezal reveal the frailness of the human psyche. Jenner and Dolezol don’t need our anger, they need our prayers. They need to understand they were already beautiful in God’s eyes.

They have to look beyond their red markings on God's eternal rope. Ultimately, when we realize and accept that we are fragile human beings; that is when God can work with and through us.

3. The Reality of Sin

7 For we are brought to an end by your anger; by your wrath we are dismayed. 8 You have set our iniquities before you, our secret sins in the light of your presence. 9 For all our days pass away under your wrath; we bring our years to an end like a sigh. 10 The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. 11 Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you?

Without the recognition of sin, you cannot see God clearly. Without understanding the significance of sin, we make a god in our image. Here, Moses says something we don’t like to hear, our iniquities bring out God’s wrath. Our secret sins bring out God’s wrath. No matter what we do, we cannot hide them from God like we hide them from others.

Moses asks a very important question at the end of this section. “Who considers the power of your anger and wrath and fears you?” The answer, not many people. Again, we are all focusing on the red mark of the eternal rope, we are not looking toward God.

Evil Manifested: This past week we saw sin manifested in a twenty one year old man named Dylan Roof. The details are hard to imagine. He visits a historic African American Church, seeks out the pastor, who invites him to a Bible study / prayer meeting. The young man is embraced and enjoys their company for an entire hour, then all of the sudden goes postal and opens fire in the church. Nine people, including the pastor, killed. All African American.

We later learn from his roommate that Roof had been planning this for six months. We are told that he had a hatred for African Americans and wanted to make his mark in history by doing such a crime. What Roof fails to understand is that killing nine African Americans won’t stop the rise of the black man; it will, however, essentially stop his life at the ripe ole age of twenty one. Dylan Roof is a classic example of how sin can over take you in life.

At one point in his life, he was colorblind. At one point in his life he probably played with African Americans on the playground or in the sandbox. Unfortunately, sin, bad company, and a twisted manifesto shaped his perceptions. From that point forward he was so focused on his red mark on the eternal rope, that he could not see God who made every human in His image, giving us all, despite the hue of our skin, red blood. 

It is easy to hate this young man, but we must remember that he most likely will have a short time to live. What he needs most is not our fists, but rather our prayers so that he can meet Jesus before his self-imposed judgment day. Likewise, we must also look beyond our small red marks of the rope and think in terms of God’s eternity. God is angry at Dylan Roof, He does not take what he did lightly. Yet he still has hope. Like it or not, Jesus also died for Dylan Roof. 

Finally, with all this craziness, Moses ends his prayer by appealing to God’s grace.

4. The Necessity of Grace

  

12 So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. 13 Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! 14 Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. 15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. 16 Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. 17       Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!

Moses shows us that we need is unmerited favor from God. In this section he pleads….

•     Teach us to number our remaining days wisely

•  Have pity on us

•  Let your favor be upon us

•  Establish the works of our hand

In the end, Moses’ prayer highlights the gospel and answers the question why God sent Jesus into our world. 

      *   He wanted you to have a relationship with the    
           eternal God

      *   He wanted you to realize your human   
           frailness

      *   He needed to have someone perfect (Jesus) die 
           for our sins to appease His wrath

      *   He needed you to know, heaven is yours, if 
           you believe, not by your works, but thru His 
           son’s (i.e., Grace).

I hope that encourages you. I hope that prompts you to ask God to teach you to number your days and learn the importance of making them count. 

I hope that drives you to make a difference so that God can establish the work of your own hands.

Moses prays this psalm as a father would to his children. 

May we heed the important lessons and insights God imparted to this man for our own times. May we pray in unison for the sign of our times! 

The Importance of Reconcilliation

2 Corinthians 5:18-19 

¹⁸ All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; ¹⁹ that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation.

Its Beauty 

When I think of reconciliation, I think of a relationship status that has changed for the better. Something happened that bridged a once strained, even toxic relationship, between two parties. Something happened where they can now forgive each other, work thru old wounds, and even strengthen their relationship so that it can be stronger than before. 

There is something beautiful about reconciliation. There is a newfound respect, appreciation, and recognition that we must be more intentional to love one another well. One of the most intriguing aspects of reconciliation occurs in the Bible where we are told that God reconciled Himself to the world. 

Now unlike human relationships, God had no fault in our relational tension since He Himself is without sin. Yet we discover that the chasm between us and Him was eternal because there was nothing we could bring to the table to salvage, even the remotest and tiniest fragments of that broken relationship. 

It is in that context where God shows love at the deepest, widest, and highest level imaginable. The Bible teaches, "For our sake, He (God) made him (Jesus) to BE sin who knew NO sin." You see, the only one who could reconcile our relationship to God was God Himself, who came to earth in the form of a man! This man, Jesus, became the other reconciling party. We are reconciled to God not because we are good people who do good things; but rather because he who was without sin became sin for us as a substitute. 


Our Response 

As verse 18 states above, we (those of us who are Christians) have ALL been given the ministry of reconciliation. In other words, just as Christ reconciled us to God, not counting our trespasses against us, so we must seek to demonstrate such reconciliation as a ministry in our lives. 

Many thoughts spring to mind when it comes to this ideal of reconciliation. Some agree in theory. Others preach tritely that it is a requirement. Still others like to argue that their situation somehow does not apply. 

Let's be honest here, the task can be monumentally difficult. Some have been abused. Others have been stripped of their self-worth. Still for the majority, it is mostly a sense of pride. 

I am not here to make people feel guilty that have been abused emotionally, psychologically, physically, or spiritually. I truly grieve for people who have been victimized by others in our broken world. 

However, if we insist on planting our feet firmly in the soil of non reconciliation, I am afraid we are neglecting one of the most profound features of the Christian faith. One of the highest virtues demonstrated by God in Christ. 

We have been reconciled to God because Jesus did not count our trespasses against us. We are reconciled because of grace, which we know as unmerited (unearned) favor. In reality, Jesus had every right to plant his feet firmly in the soil and proclaim "I will never be reconciled to you." 

Yet instead he chose a different path in the final moments of his life to model how deeply committed he was to the ministry of reconciliation. "Forgive them Father, for they do not know what they are doing (or truly comprehend because of sin)" is a paramount example of the power of reconciliation.  

You see, the very nature of Jesus could not do anything else. His DNA was all about the importance of reconciliation. In fact, the shocking thing would have been for Jesus to have done just the opposite. 

Imagine him shaking his fist, gallantly refusing to be reconciled to the world, or taking vengeance on his killers by climbing down from the cross Rambo style. This image of course, is absurd because we know that Jesus lived by a much higher standard, a heavenly one. 

Likewise, a Christian who metaphorically shakes his or her fist, stubbornly proclaims they will never seek reconciliation, or seeks to ignore or take vengeance, should also come across to us as shocking, given the magnitude of grace that has been bestowed on him or her as a Christian. 

In the end, we cannot truly embrace what Jesus did on the cross if we are not willing to model his selfless attributes in our own lives as believers. We cannot really proclaim God is good if we refuse to demonstrate his goodness back in the lives of our fellow man. No, the very nature of our faith must reveal that we have been changed from the inside of our old ways and the vengeance values of our cultures. 

We must  strive not to count the trespasses of others against us but recognize their behavior is the product of a broken world. We must be willing to look beyond the offense and toward Jesus' example where he utters in despair, "Forgive them Father." 

May we be committed to understanding and implementing the importance of the ministry God has given us, that being one of reconciliation. 

Bruce Jenner - A Christian Response

I have done a lot of thinking about the transformation from Bruce to Caitlyn Jenner. I don't understand Jenner's struggle emotionally, but apparently something was not right in the inside. As a result I am not here to throw stones or pretend I am his therapist, instead I would rather have compassion and seek to understand. Jenner has proclaimed he is happy, I am not here to debate that proclamation, instead I would like to know how. 

As a Christian, I have a problem with the notion that we know more than God when it comes to our gender. I have a problem with the idea that God somehow got the gender thing wrong and mankind must fix it to make it right and recreate and play God. That's my deepest grief. I also have a problem that he would use a media forum like Vanity Fair to announce his new identity. Why make this such a public spectacle? Inside I am angered because this seems like the epitome of arrogance when it comes to God, our ultimate gender designer. I equivocate it to essentially shaking your fist at God. "Look what I've done, I've cheated God." 

As a father, I can't imagine telling my kids that I am going to have a sex change. I can't imagine them referring to me as 'dad' as a woman, or even worse, calling me "mom." That would be the ultimate sign of disrespect to their biological mother, who nurtured them in ways I could not do. 

Yet, the prevailing wisdom of the culture says we have the right to do to our bodies what we essentially want, even if that means reassigning gender. I have heard many argue that Jenner is not hurting anyone, but somehow I wonder if that is really true, especially from a family context. I'd like to hear Jenner's take. His families take behind closed doors. 

I actually like Jenner, maybe it's because of Olympic history, maybe it's because there is more of a likability compared to other transgendered I have encountered. I honestly looked forward to his interview because I wanted to hear from him what was going on inside. Is Jenner really a hero as some would claim or is he someone who is confused and seeking to find self-worth outside of God? Like everyone, I have my own opinion, yet I wanted to hear him speak to better understand. 

In the end, I can't really understand it, I feel sadness for him, I feel irritation, I feel anger. However, I still have to learn how to see a person like Jenner as Jesus would. Man or woman, Jenner is made in the image of God. Man or woman, Jenner deserves respect as a person, not public scorn because he has a soul.

We live in a broken world and we must remember that Jesus died for one. The most important thing for Jenner is not for Christians to cast out judgment and assault him with Bible verses, the most important is for him to truly know that Jesus loves him with a love that is beyond our human capabilities. Transformation happens when another person realizes that God sincerely loves them for who they are, despite one's gender, struggles, sins, insecurities, pride, etc. As Christians, we are called to a ministry of reconciliation that was modeled by Jesus when he died for us despite our transgressions. 

Jesus calls us to a higher standard, to love that which is unpleasant, uncomfortable, and unfamiliar. He calls us to love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. Love, not in the sense that we accept, affirm, and embrace what they have done, but rather as a person who needs prayer, compassion and someone who listens to understand. Yes many times that can be hard, but that is part of the process of learning to love well. We must remember that if we do not love those who are unlovely or people we despise, according to Jesus we are no different than the "wicked" because even in their sins, they have the ability to love others just like them. Ultimately, we are just simply called to a higher standard.