The Bible is in the news again. Last week, the editors of
GQ listed the Bible in their article "21 Books You Don't Have to
Read," recognizing the Good Book has "some good parts," but
concluding "overall it is certainly not the finest thing that man has ever
produced. It is repetitive, self-contradictory, sententious, foolish, and even
at times ill-intentioned."
One wonders if any GQ editors have ever read
the Bible. If so, they might see they have just affirmed what it says about
human nature's tendency to rush to judgment. Nevertheless, this news item
provides some good funnies -- that GQ, which was birthed in 1957, offers its
judgment of a book which predates it by about several thousand years, and which
influenced the rise and fall of civilizations for millennia before any GQ
editor ever entered the world. I wish funnies were all that came of this, but
GQ's casually-expressed ignorance could lead many to ignore the Bible to their
own harm and peril.
Such cultural sneering at the Bible may at first glance
seem harmless, but these attitudes often have real-word consequences when they
fuel anti-Christian hostility of some in the halls of governmental power. Take,
for example, the anti-Christian impulses of the California state legislature.
There, politicians will soon vote on Assembly Bill 2943,
which bans the "sale . . . of goods or services" that "offer
to" or "engage . . . in sexual orientation change efforts,"
which are defined to include "efforts to change behaviors or gender
expressions, or to eliminate or reduce sexual or romantic attractions or
feelings toward individuals of the same sex." Alarmingly, this would
include basic Christian and biblical teaching and counseling against
unrepentant homosexual conduct -- something that any Bible-believing Christian
across America holds to.
Moreover, those bound by this bill include any
"association" or "other group" -- "however
organized," and are prohibited from selling "goods" which are
defined as anything "tangible" and used "primarily for personal,
family, or household purposes." This would include a prohibition on groups
of people selling books or materials to other people for their own use which
express the biblical and Christian position on unrepentant homosexual conduct.
This could very likely include Christians selling other Christians counseling
books on LGBT-related issues, and there is no reason why it can't be construed
to include a church bookstore offering these books, and even the Bible itself.
Many have observed the serious problems with this language.
First Amendment attorney David French has analyzed it and concluded it would
ban the sale of books expressing the standard Christian view on this issue.
After California State Assembly member Travis Allen stated that the bill would
"prohibit the sale of the Bible," the supposed fact-checking site
Snopes rated the claim "false."
First, someone should fact-check
whether Snopes is actually a fact-checking website. In addition to giving the
wrong answer to the question, the website struggled to hide its bias in the
process.
Second, while the law would need to be enforced against the sale of
Bibles, there's nothing in its text prohibiting this from happening, especially
due to what the Bible says about homosexual conduct. The bill's purview clearly
includes the sale of books and materials counseling according to a biblical view
of sexuality.
As the above analysis shows, just because the bill doesn't say
"the Bible is hereby banned" (something Snopes wants to rely on)
doesn't mean there won't be enforcement of certain provisions in this bill
against the sale of the Bible or any other book which asserts that homosexual
conduct is wrong.
If you're rubbing your eyes and don't quite believe this
yet, just look at the treatment of Pastor Jeremy Schossau several months ago in
Michigan.
Pastor Schossau was subjected to death threats, vitriolic treatment
online, and demands for a state investigation into his church all for offering
a biblically-based counseling program for teens wanting answers regarding their
sexuality. As these developments show, it's not only "controversial"
Christian public figures that anti-Christian groups are after -- it's the
eradication of biblical beliefs themselves. Many (though not all) of those
Christians popularly viewed as "controversial" right now are only
seen this way because they are the ones in the limelight, popping their heads
out of the sand to simply express the biblical position on sexuality and taking
fire for doing so. But the forces opposed to Christian beliefs on sexuality
will eventually come for anyone who stands by biblical truth.
This is a tough pill for many American Christians to
swallow. While Christians elsewhere in the world face the possibility of being
killed for their beliefs on an ongoing basis, we have not historically had to
exercise the muscle of standing for our beliefs in the face of such serious
opposition. While this is changing, it hasn't reached most American Christians
yet, and it's tough for them to accept that there are many in society opposed
to the mere expression of biblical truth about human sexuality, no matter how
nuanced and artfully expressed.
Many Bible believers across America today may think they
can fly under the radar if they just don't say anything about sexuality. Some
may hold back due to fear of what others would think of them, and their
cowardice should be gently yet firmly called out for the sin it is. Others may
believe in what the Bible says about these issues yet stay silent for what in
their mind are strategic reasons -- they may want to lead with their framing of
the gospel message, or something else.
Yet part of the gospel message is the clear proclamation
and recognition of sin. Without this, the clear proclamation of Christ's
provision on the cross for our sins makes no sense; only with the admission of
sin can we enter into true freedom and peace in Christ. If we compromise on
this true gospel message for our own strategic reasons, we are really failing
to fully trust God.
Christians should absolutely continue to do everything we
can to win every person to Christ. Unfortunately, many will try to stamp out
part of the gospel message and truth itself. Are we prepared for this
opposition when it comes, and are we proclaiming the truth while we are still
able to do so?
Source: By Travis Weber, Director of the Center for Religious Liberty
This post appeared HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment