How to Avoid homophobia

Many of us who are attempting to follow Jesus are accused of homophobia. When I was a kid, homosexuals were called names that were not right. In fact, those attracted to the same sex were considered monstrous in some circles or at least suspect in their sanity. Society has swung away from such wrongheadedness. 

What about homophobia? I understand phobias to be irrational fears that can disrupt daily life and normal activity. I don't know of any Christ followers caught in that sort of grip regarding homosexuals. In this case phobia must not be clinical, but mean something else. How about this definition, "Homophobes are so afraid of the homosexual lifestyle that they feel uncomfortable around those who practice it." If we can live with that definition, let's go on from there.

In the book we Christians look to for guidance and truth, the Bible, Jesus, is confronted with an alternate sexual lifestyle. A woman caught in the act of adultery is brought to him while he was teaching. The men who caught her demand to know how Jesus will respond, carry out the law, which meant stoning to death or let her go. Jesus sagely offers the first stone to the man who has not sinned. The men walk away from the oldest to the youngest.

He then turns to the woman and asks, "Doesn't anyone accuse you?"

"No sir."

"Then neither do I condemn you. Go and leave your life of sin."

-John 8

Jesus wasn't uncomfortable or irritated by her presence. In fact, he cleared out her enemies, so he could speak directly to her. He treated her gently and with respect.

We Christians can and should treat all of society from that example. 

Jesus did call her alternate sexual lifestyle sin. Jesus did encourage her to leave it. Every one of us has some drives that are impure and need to be given to God to control, whether, greed or gossip or pornography or lying, jealously or selfishness. My sin is not any better than anyone else's. In fact, the sin of spiritual pride may be worse.

Thirty-seven states have disagreed with my understanding of homosexual drives. States have misunderstood many moral issues. Public opinion is trending against what I see to be the clear teaching of scripture. I'm sorry public, I've watched your opinion seesaw on all sorts of issues. As a follower of Jesus, I have to stick with what the Bible teaches on homosexuality and gossip and lying, and any other sinful act. I also have to respond as my Lord did to out of bounds sex, "Neither do I condemn you. Go and sin no more."

Is Obama A Christian . . . "I don't know." says Scott Walker

As you probably know Wisconsin governor and possible Republican presidential candidate, Scott Walker, was asked by a Washington Post reporter his opinion on President Obama's salvation. Governor Walker replied that he had never talked with President Obama about this nor had read any comments by the president on the subject, so he didn't know.

Several prominent news sources have responded that since Governor Walker punted on such an easy question, that he was not ready for national leadership. Speeches where President Obama quoted Scripture or claimed benefits from his Christian faith have been cited as proof that the right and easy answer was "Yes, the President is a Christian!"

Besides the obvious response of "if this is such an easy question, then why did you ask it?" this whole tempest points to a deeper issue in our society. What does it really mean to be a Christian almost 2000 years since Jesus walked among us?

For these reporters Christianity revolves around a personal declaration of faith. Obama has stated he is a Christian. He uses Scripture in speeches and he attends church. Frankly, all that puts him ahead of the Christmas-Easter folks of my church. Is that what it means to be a Christian?

Others would tell us that the President is not a Christian. He supports Gay Rights, which the Bible compares to supporting adulterer rights. He supports partial birth abortion, where babies' heads are born then destroyed, killing the baby. He makes more statements that would support Islam than Christianity, others complain. His public policy lifestyle looks anti-Christian in some circles.

For Christians reading this, I would ask a few questions. "What would the public display of your faith look like after it was filtered through United States media?" You and I likely wouldn't recognize ourselves after the media finished with us.

"How would your faith be stretched by sitting in the Oval Office?" Intense fame, world shaking decision power, no win situations of immense ramifications and more deluge a president daily. On top of this you are a family man with a wife and two kids. President is 24/7. It is not a job, but a calling. "How would you balance the calling to follow Christ and the calling to lead the free world?" You and I who have never done that have no way to even begin to answer that question, but President Obama faces that dilemma every day.

They only way Jesus gives to tell if someone is a Christian is by their fruits. With a fruit tree buds pop and fruit forms until months later the apples or cherries are ready to harvest. As a pastor, I watch someone's life. I don't believe that President Obama's evolution of homosexual relationships is what the Bible teaches. How many of us have wandered off the straight and narrow and needed help back? I don't believe that the God who condemned child sacrifice in the Old Testament and welcomed children in the New is anything but angered by the millions of unborn children who die each year. President Obama's support of that does not square with the book of Christians, the Bible. Perhaps those bad apples mean the whole tree is bad. How much of the rest of the tree do we know besides those fruits?

If you asked me, I would have to agree with Governor Walker. I don't know enough about the day to day of the President's life to say one way or another about how living his faith is. I do know I would challenge him about the two issues I have raised. Ultimately, only those who know him best could have any opinion worth hearing about the President's spiritual life and growth, just like any other Christian. Only those standing close enough to see a person's development and change over time can make any sort of judgment. These are also the same people who have the right to speak that judgment into your life and mine, those closest to us.

UnHoly War

Twenty-one heads rolled as 21 Christians met their Savior in Lybia. The video released Sunday by an ISIS cell was partially titled "to the people of the cross." I hate to admit it, but the title is extremely accurate. Even as our Lord died a torturous death on a cross, so His followers died face down at the hands of evil. 

But how does one fight that level of evil? Governments must respond with force and proclamations. The perpetrators must feel the weight of these proclamations and understand that their actions have be taken as unjust and deserving punishment. 

Coptic Christians must grieve. The ache of loss may paralyze a coherent response to such evil for awhile. Certainly they may feel ISIS is their enemy. In Matthew 5, Jesus taught we people of the cross are to pray for our enemies. We fellow followers should be in prayer for our Coptic siblings that they find the strength to pray for these enemies. 

So how does one fight this level of evil? Romans 12:21 proclaims an unsatisfying answer. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good. In the face of beheadings, we must find new ways to do good in Lybia. That good would best be funneled through the Coptics, with the support of us, their Western brothers and sisters. 

An Open Letter to Chrieasters

A "Chrieaster" is someone who joins a local church's worship for Christmas and/or Easter. 

Dear Chrieaster,

We love you. When you come through the door, our hearts rise that you have joined. You encourage us and we wish we could do the same for you. 

We worry for you. When your prayer needs hit Facebook or our prayer chain, we lift them to God with the same intensity as our regulars. We wish you would enjoy the weekly support that we do. We ache for you to be able to give and take love, encouragement and support in the local family of believers. We wonder how your connection with God survives without the support of a local church group. 

That brings us to another concern, what happens to you if we don't survive? We know you, pray for you. Will you be able to find another church family to care by Chrieastering? What will happen to your faith, if our prayer support is gone? Will you fall to discouragement as you drive by our closed building? We will join other healthy Christians as part of other fellowships. What will you do? You have enough understanding of Christ's teachings to draw you out for specials. You are often good folks and even leaders in the community. Will all that community involvement make you spiritually fulfilled and close to God?

Some say the reason people don't come to our little fellowship is because we are irrelevant. What if we need your ideas and insights to help us find relevance as well as spirituality? I suspect that's true. Our core people have learned to survive by clinging to God. We need folks with other perspectives to help us reach out. 

To sum up, we love you, we support you and we need you. Sounds like a relationship worth building. 

Pastor Ed