Love for others must flow out of an even greater love for
God and from God.
2
Corinthians 4:1-5
1 Therefore, having this ministry by the mercy of
God, we do not lose heart. 2 But we have
renounced disgraceful, underhanded ways. We refuse to practice cunning or to
tamper with God's word, but by the open statement of the truth we would commend
ourselves to everyone's conscience in the sight of God. 3 And even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who
are perishing. 4 In their case the god of this world has blinded
the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel
of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For what we proclaim is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord,
with ourselves as your servants for Jesus' sake.
As a follower of Jesus Christ, I cannot compromise the truth just
so I can seem a little nicer and maybe appear more loving (but in reality
appearing nice or even loving is not the same as actually loving). There are many things that are acceptable in
our culture that are not acceptable to God.
God does not change, but praise him that he is merciful and gracious and
changes us. Not only did he offer Christ
as the ultimate sacrifice to take our punishment for our rebellion against God
be he gives those who trust in Christ a new heart and open eyes to see the
truth. Whether you believe in God and
trust in Christ or not, it is not loving for me to gloss over or ignore the
ways we rebel against God. There is too
much at stake. I pray that God teaches
us to love him first, and that we can love our friends and acquaintances more
than the relationships we have with them. Here are just a few examples of
things our culture generally accepts that God does not and how a loving and courageous
follower of Christ might respond:
1.
Drunkenness – I have friends who regularly get
wasted without regret (as long as no one got hurt and they didn’t do anything
too dumb while drunk). I could laugh at
their funny stories of inebriation and never give any indication that I believe
their behavior to be unwise and sinful, or I could say nothing and be less
encouraging of sinful behavior, or I could take a risk and tell the truth as
gently as I can without compromise.
Depending on the response I may not ever bring it up again. The subject may cause a little rift in our
relationship, but I pray my love for that friend will become evident in the way
I speak and act so that the “rift” is actually an opportunity for the Holy
Spirit to work on my friend’s heart. Your
example of either moderation or complete abstention from alcohol is likely to
be more powerful than anything you say about the matter. If your example has not been good, repent, admit
it to your friend and tell him or her why you desire to change your behavior.
2.
Using God’s name as a curse word – I am saddened
when the name of God or Jesus Christ is used like a common curse word because
he is everything to me. If you don’t
mind I prefer that you refrain from that kind of language at least in front of
me. I appreciate your sensitivity and
kindness.
3.
Sex outside of marriage – This is very common
and becoming more and more acceptable. It
is so common that you are likely to have people who have a Christian upbringing
and even some who claim to follow Christ who fall into this as a sinful pattern
in their lives. The most unloving thing
we can do is to tell them it is ok and that the desires are too strong to
wait. There is no doubt that sexual
desire can be very strong, but desire does not trump the truth. How this can be addressed and when to say
something feels tricky. If your friend
has a respect for the Bible you can point them to dozens of scriptures about
marriage and God’s design for sex. If
they do not there is not as much to say. I can share my beliefs and assure my friend
that my convictions do not change how much I value his or her friendship. I want to share what I believe because I care
about my friend and I believe the most caring thing I can do is to speak the
truth. I believe that sex was created by God for a
married couple, and marriage was the first institution designed by God to be a
picture of Christ and his Church. That
is the foundation for the family as God designed it. That is the short answer for why I believe
sex outside of marriage dishonors God and is not good for us. God’s design is always best, but if you don’t
believe that I certainly don’t expect you to live out God’s designs in your
life. We can agree to disagree, but I do
believe that living contrary to God’s design is ultimately harmful to you. I care about you, so I felt like I had to say
something. I won’t mention this to you again
unless you want me to.
4.
Same-sex marriage – Same-sex sexual
relationships would, of course, fall into the category above. God’s word plainly teaches that sex outside
of marriage is a rebellion against him whether heterosexual or homosexual. Scripture also clearly teaches that from the
very beginning God designed marriage for one man and one woman. People have rebelled against this design for
thousands of years. There was polygamy,
incest, homosexuality, fornication and rape in several instances in the Old
Testament, however, God’s design for marriage is made even more clear in the
New Testament in Romans 1, 1 Timothy 3:2, 1 Corinthians 6:9, and Ephesians 5,
and I know there are more. If your
friend is not interested in the Bible and does not want to hear it, you
probably will not have an opportunity to share scripture, but I put these references
here for you who are followers of Christ so that you can stand firm in your own
beliefs. May Romans 1:32 never be true
of you, my brother or sister in Christ, “Though
they know God's decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they
not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.” Honestly, I do not have any close friends
right now who practice a gay or lesbian lifestyle. I did in college, and I am afraid I said too
little. For them it seemed like so much
of their identity was wrapped up in their sexual desires, that any words about
God’s design for sex felt like personal attacks on my friends. You are so much more than sexual desire; love
is so much more than that. Our rebellion
against God is so great, but his love is greater. The joy and pleasure of God’s love is wonderful,
and that is what I want you to have at all costs.
In any of these conversations and confrontations there must
be immeasurable amounts of grace flowing out of your knowledge that you are a
recipient of more grace that you could possible fathom. God took my heart of stone and gave me a
heart of flesh. He opens my eyes to my
sinfulness and my selfish idolatry. I
have nothing good in myself that he did not give me. What a joy it is to work with him in bringing
truth and life to others! I will not
pass up this opportunity for lasting pleasure for short-lived shallow
friendships or respect from the majority of my countrymen.
Writing and posting this takes almost no courage. Very few people will actually read it, but I
hope that I am the first to change because of what I have written. I pray that I will be loving and courageous in
all my conversations. May the Gospel of
Jesus Christ have such a hold on my life that his love and truth overflow. Dear God, fill me with your Spirit and help
me to diligently love and serve.
I wrote this somewhat quickly with less proofreading than I
would prefer, but I do not want to delay in posting something on this subject. I am saddened by the number of people
claiming to follow Christ who allow cultural shifts to affect their beliefs
over the timeless Word of God. Maybe my
next post will be a little clearer, but I stand firmly by the truth in God’s
word.
