From Fox News:
A group of 12 World War II Marines ranging in age from 85 to 97 is stuck on the island of Okinawa, waging what could be their final fight to return to Iwo Jima to commemorate the 65th anniversary of their greatest victory.
Bless their hearts. Let’s pray Godspeed for them. Pray also that the military has enough wisdom to honor these veterans. God knows they paid a terrible price in their day and this is an appropriate way to honor their service.
From Fox News:
A Texas college campus is locked in a fierce debate after a group of students launched the “smut for smut” campaign, trading bibles and other religious texts for porn, MyFoxSanAntonio.com reported.
In an earlier post today I argued that being non-judgmental does not mean we suspend moral judgment on behaviors and practices. Apparently, however, the leaders of the University of Texas San Antonio have done just that (read the article for context). Either that, or they fear being sued over first amendment rights, which from a legal perspective is understandable, but from a moral perspective is regrettable because in remaining silent the leaders forfeit any moral authority they might have been able to exert in this matter.
So what is an appropriate Christian response to this campaign (and I emphasize this is one of several possible responses)? First of all, the atheists who are pushing this are entitled to their opinion and we must respect their freedom to form opinions, grievous as their opinion about religion and pornography is. I have no doubt that this is a publicity stunt designed to stir up the pot and it is apparently being very successful at doing just that. Hence, part of me wants to simply ignore this until they get tired of engaging in this nonsense and it goes away.
But another part of me knows that pornography is not some benign thing. It is highly addictive and destructive to relationships. It demeans people and perverts the God-given purposes for sex. To equate God’s word with pornography is frankly ludicrous and would be laughable if porn weren’t so destructive. But because it is so addictive and destructive, what we are confronted with here is evil dressed up in the guise of the post-modern notion of moral relativity and any Christian should be concerned.
I suspect the atheists who are propagating this malevolence would like nothing better than to provoke Christians into losing their cool so that we act with anger, spite, and malice toward them. Then they could say, “See what hypocrites these folks are! We told you all religion is just a bunch of baloney!” But I am not angry with them. I am sad for them because they are clearly on the road to perdition and they are trying to get others to drink their kool-aid with them.
It is not our job to “fix” people. Only God can do that. This doesn’t mean that we should necessarily remain silent on this issue of pornography or this wrong-headed business of moral relativism, either (and here I am thinking of the broader conversation about religion and sexual morality, not just this cheap publicity stunt). If we do speak out, we must speak out against the evil perpetrated, which in this case is pornography distribution and equating it morally with God’s word, not the people committing the evil.
Believers must use the moral authority of Christ to try to persuade others why this is an act of evil and a bad idea. That means we must have firmly in our minds the Christian vision for human happiness, dignity, and sexuality (among others). We must be able to compare and contrast things that lead to life and things that lead to death, and why we have chosen life. In other words, believers must be prepared to tell others why having a relationship with Jesus has been a good thing for us and invite them to come and see.
Whether we speak up or remain silent about the evils of pornography and moral relativism, believers must pray for these atheists and all other enemies of the cross. It is heartbreaking to watch people engage in the culture of death. Just because they do not believe in God does not make God non-existent, and the last time I checked, porn and/or moral equivalency cannot give life or raise someone from the dead. The atheists would deny that God can do this, of course, because they do not believe he exists. But that really is beside the point (as I said earlier, they are entitled to their opinions, misguided as they might be). The point is that believers should never underestimate the power of prayer to transform spiritually dead people, ourselves included, and we should always desire their good, not wish them harm.
So pray that God might be pleased to pour out his Spirit on these atheists and others like them, to do what is necessary to convert their darkened hearts and minds so that they might turn their lives around and find the One who loves them and gave himself for them. That would be such a sweet thing! In the process, you might find that he is calling you to help him in this endeavor in some way. As both Jesus and Paul remind us, we are to pray for our enemies and persecutors and to show them kindness. Let us do just that so that we might bring honor and glory to our Lord.
And as we engage the enemy in this manner, we must be prepared to be reviled and ridiculed for doing so. Evil never likes to be confronted or challenged, especially when it is done legitimately in the name of Christ. We will likely be called every epithet in the book: bigoted, nazis, prudes, moral police, narrow-minded, ignorant, stupid, hateful, etc., etc. As that happens, remember that this is simply a ploy to shut us up and so pray even harder for those who persecute you. Remember too that Jesus tells us we are blessed when we suffer for his name. That is a badge of honor. Wear it with gratefulness and thanksgiving.
It is actually reported that there is sexual immorality among you, and of a kind that even pagans do not tolerate: A man has his father’s wife. And you are proud! Shouldn’t you rather have gone into mourning and have put out of your fellowship the man who has been doing this? For my part, even though I am not physically present, I am with you in spirit. As one who is present with you in this way, I have already passed judgment in the name of our Lord Jesus on the one who has been doing this. So when you are assembled and I am with you in spirit, and the power of our Lord Jesus is present, hand this man over to Satan for the destruction of the sinful nature so that his spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.
—1 Corinthians 5:1-5 (TNIV)
Here is a classic case study in Christian love. Contrary to what his critics might think, Paul is not some self-righteous guy nosing about in other people’s business or trying to be “holier-than-thou”. He is not interested in punishing for punishment’s sake. Rather, here we see a sincere desire on Paul’s part for the ultimate welfare of this man who had put himself in mortal danger by his immoral behavior. Paul loved the man enough to desire what was best for him. Paul wanted to see the man’s relationship with God restored so that the man would not perish. He recognized that severe measures were needed to correct this grievous wrong. That is why we see Paul prescribe such harsh punishment against the man. But Paul did not desire the man’s destruction. He desired his repentance so that the man could be reconciled to God, the Source and Author of all life.
We Christians must be very careful in all of this. Expressing Christian love for another means that first and foremost we remain humble. We must always acknowledge that we too are broken and fallen creatures who need God’s forgiveness. We must remember that we too are most capable of behaving in ways that are grievous to God. Our sins may not be the same as the person whom we are rebuking, but we are capable of our own folly nevertheless. When we rebuke someone, we should always do it in sorrow, not with joy or glee, and if we feel either of those latter emotions, that should be a warning to us that we are acting out of self-righteousness rather than genuine Christian love.
Today we hear a lot about not being “judgmental.” Many folks who advocate this, especially non-Christians and post-moderns, would have us suspend moral judgments, but that is not what Scripture or our Lord mean by warning us not to be judgmental. Contrary to the bizarre post-modern notion that there are no set standards of morality, there are fixed standards of right and wrong—God’s standards and God’s Truth. We are moral creatures and how we behave does matter.
Real love always desires the best for its beloved and living in harmony and obedience to God our Creator is a good place to begin. However, when we start deluding ourselves and thinking we are better than others when we see them engage in harmful or immoral behaviors, we are guilty of having the kind of judgmental attitudes Jesus warned us about, and we must cease and desist immediately. That does not mean, however, that we suspend our moral judgments, judgments based on God’s Truth and Word, because all of us stumble and fall from time to time (although some seem to stumble and fall more than others), and all of us need to be lovingly corrected on occasion.
When I was growing up in Van Wert, OH my family was well known in the community and my grandpa Shaffer was the county truant officer. It seemed like there were 8000 pairs of eyes watching me at all times and I hated it because I really couldn’t misbehave without getting caught. Consequently, I couldn’t wait to get out of that town because I resented others nosing around in my affairs. The nerve of it all!
Looking back at that time and my thinking in retrospect, I can see the folly of it. Now I am glad that I DID have all those eyes watching over me. It likely saved me from ruin. I realize now that my parents encouraged others to keep an eye on me because they loved me and wanted the best for me. They understood human nature and the human condition. They understood that given a chance, “boys will be boys,” and not always in a good sense. That is not being “judgmental.” That is love made manifest and I thank God I was blessed to grow up in such a loving community.
May the Spirit bless you with the power to make his love manifest to others.
For us all, however, the cross is the crown of victory! It has brought light to those blinded by ignorance. It has released those enslaved by sin. Indeed, it has redeemed the whole of humankind! Do not, then, be ashamed of the cross of Christ; rather, glory in it. Although it is a stumbling block to the Jews and folly to the Gentiles, the message of the cross is our salvation. Of course it is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it was not a mere human being who died for us, but the Son of God, God-made-human.
Jesus did not blush at the cross for by it he was to save the world. No, it was not a lowly human being who suffered, but God incarnate. Certainly in times of tranquility the cross should give you joy. But maintain the same faith in times of persecution. Otherwise you will be a friend of Jesus in times of peace and his enemy during war. Now you receive the forgiveness of your sins and the generous gift of grace from your king. When war comes, fight courageously for him.
Jesus never sinned; yet he was crucified for you. Will you refuse to be crucified for him, who for your sake was nailed to the cross? You are not the one who gives the favor; you have received one first.
—Cyril, Bishop of Jerusalem Catechesis
Why is the cross folly to some? Because our pride bristles at the notion that we are helpless to save ourselves from God’s holy wrath. Why is the cross represent glory to others? Because we acknowledge that we are helpless to save ourselves from God’s holy wrath and thankful that God bore his wrath himself. Think on this during Lent, unless, of course, you consider yourself to know more than God. Never stop peering into the mystery of the cross. Never stop plumbing the depths of God’s great love for you or for his wondrous desire for you to live with him forever in worship, love, praise, and obedience.
Consider what may happen when you finally overcome evil and live honorably among others. You may then be attacked by a new trial, the trial of boredom with the tedium of a good life. Sin no longer attracts you but now God’s word gives you no pleasure.
—Augustine, Commentary on the Psalms, 106.6
Have you ever considered this? Augustine reminds us that in our broken state, it is possible to overcome sin and then miss its excitement. It is possible to live a boring life of being good. This, of course, simply reminds us to be vigilant and ask for God’s grace in every circumstance so that we do not open ourselves back up to sin’s allurements.
But faith is the gift of God’s mercy, so that those who have been made guilty by law may obtain forgiveness. Therefore faith brings joy. It is not possible to be saved by the law but we are saved by God’s grace through faith.
—Ambrosiaster, Commentary on Paul’s Epistles
This is why it is important to know your roots. This could have been written by a Protestant Reformer. Instead, it was written by a Church Father. When we lose sight of our roots, we risk being changed into something we are not. That is especially true for Christ’s one Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church.
The right thing to do, brothers and sisters, is to believe God before he pays up anything, because just as he cannot possibly lie, so he cannot possibly deceive. For he is God. That is how our ancestors believed him. That is how Abraham believed him. There’s a faith for you that really deserves to be admired and made widely known. Abraham had received nothing from God, and he believed God’s promise. We do not yet believe him, though we have already received so much.
—Augustine, Sermon 113a.10
I love Augustine because he has such keen insight to matters of life and faith. Here he takes us to task for having God deliver the goods to us in Christ and yet we still refuse to believe God’s promises to us. Not so with Abraham.
Each of us is confronted with this stark choice in life: Either God is true to his word or he is not. Until we are ready to acknowledge that we are finite, fallen, and mortal whereas God is Infinite, Holy, and Immortal, we will always be tempted to put ourselves over him and his word. But when we acknowledge that God is Creator and we are his creatures, we are ready to read his word and believe his promises. It is the testimony of countless Christians that when we get to that point, God will not disappoint. Think on these things as you examine yourself during the Lenten season.
In universal obedience; in keeping all the commandments; in denying ourselves, and taking up our cross daily. These are the general means which God has ordained for our receiving his sanctifying grace. The particulars are, — prayer, searching the Scripture, communion, and fasting.
—John Wesley, Some Late Conversations, 8:286
Despite some who falsely claim otherwise, Scripture never says or promises us that living the Christian life will be easy, and Wesley would have agreed. But what in your life that is most valuable to you has ever come easily? I tend to assign little value to that in my life which I have gotten easily. What about you? Think on these things during this season of Lent. In doing so, you will begin to grapple with the economy of God’s Kingdom.