Just finding myself on the right side of the good fight isn’t always enough.
Knowing why I’m there is just as important.
If I say that I’ve set myself apart from the depravity this world reveres, I need to be able to defend that position with an attitude of love and respect for every form of life created in God’s image.
If I can’t do that, the world will see me as an intolerant bigot rather than a soldier of truth, and truth is the only effective weapon in the battle against lies.
The word “tolerant” is defined in The Oxford Dictionary as “…showing willingness to allow the existence of opinions or behavior that one does not necessarily agree with.” So, based on this definition, wasn’t the man Jesus Christ on record as having been about as tolerant to choices as anyone could be?
He clearly rebuked His people’s behavior and warned them to repent because of the consequences it would bring. Yet, the Biblical record reveals that He never threatened, physically punished or verbally abused anyone on an individual level because of their behavior or opinions.
He sought, rather, to enlighten. He knocked on the door of the human will, pleading with it to engage the obvious. [see: Rom. 1:18-32]
Interestingly enough though, none of the gospel accounts recorded a narrative where His authority to moralize the dialog was challenged. For example, apparently nobody attempted to legitimize his own homosexual passions or lifestyle during the course of any conversation with Him—nor anybody else’s!
Do you think maybe they were simply too ashamed to do something like that?
Could it have been because, whether they realized it or not, they were literally looking Truth in the face?
Is it not possible then, that, because the Person of Jesus Christ isn’t physically walking around today, dispensing His convicting grace of shame in the flesh, the world is much more at ease trying to re-define the boundaries of just about any form of perverted sexual conduct?
Or can someone explain to me why the shame of adultery remains a cultural scourge while that of homosexual behavior is often ballyhooed and given a pass?
The Bible tells us that Jesus grieved over the devastation He witnessed because of the deceitfulness of sin in this world. He surely understood better than anyone that unchallenged lies metastasize and proliferate in innocent hearts and minds, leaving them vulnerable to “…being handed over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper…”[Rom. 1:28]
In the same way, the challenge for Christ’s disciple today is identical to that of his Firstborn Brother. I can’t always identify with another’s offenses before the Lord, nor can they with mine. I can, however, relate personally to the brutal impact of sin’s deception—that is, how it will hand the reckless heart a shovel to dig its hole, only to scoop it back in with the dirt it produces.
With that in mind, I have to base any attempt to caution and encourage the shameless of this world with a sincere spirit of compassion and concern for their welfare—as well as their destiny.
It could be their shame is buried so deep they can’t see it anymore. But that doesn’t mean it’s not there.
Somehow, they need to see the Truth in my face.
“Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers, will inherit the kingdom of God. Such were some of you, but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the Spirit of our God.” [1Cor. 6:9-11] [my emphasis]