Posted on 05/19/2014 5:40:31 AM PDT by Gamecock
As the culture descends further into post-Christianity and even the memory of Christianity fades in the minds of most Westerners, Christians will find themselves facing many of the same questions faced by the Christians of the first and second centuries. Many of us are probably finding ourselves in a circumstance where we’re being invited to attending homosexual weddings, the ordination of persons who are not biblically qualified for office, a cultic/pagan/non-Christian ritual, or some other event that is equally problematic.
How should we respond? There are two things that we must do: communicate our genuine love for those involved and our resolute commitment to honor Christ and his Word in every circumstance Let’s start with the latter. How do we honor Christ in a difficult circumstance, when by saying “No” we may seem to be unloving and thus perhaps judgmental, uncharitable, and even unchristian? The answer is that if we act on biblical principles we honor Christ even when it is painful to do so.
As Christians we are free to do a great number of things. In Galatians 5:1 Paul wrote, “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1 ESV).” To the Colossians, who were being falsely taught and thus tempted to the spiritual bondage of man-made rules (Col 2), e.g., “do not touch, do not taste…” the Apostle Paul re-asserted the Christian’s liberty to enjoy God’s good creation within the bounds of his law, in the freedom of the gospel. In 1Corinthians 8, Paul defended the Christian’s freedom to eat meat offered to idols, even when others think that we should not. Nevertheless, there are things we are not free to do. We are not free to do things that may cause a brother or sister stumble back into paganism, unbelief, or into gross sin. Some believers understand that pagan gods and idols are nothing but figments of the imagination.
Not all, however, possess this knowledge. But some, through former association with idols, eat food as really offered to an idol, and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. Food will not commend us to God. We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do (1 Corinthians 8:7–8 revised from the ESV)
We are also free not to eat if the exercise of the freedom to eat will cause a brother or sister to stumble. We are free to eat until that eating becomes a competing communion. The moment our pagan host says, “We offered this to the gods” then we must say, “Thank you for your kind invitation but I cannot participate.”
Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry. I speak as to sensible people; judge for yourselves what I say. The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ? Because there is one bread, we who are many are cone body, for we all partake of the one bread. Consider the people of Israel: are not those who eat the sacrifices participants in the altar? What do I imply then? That food offered to idols is anything, or that fan idol is anything? No, I imply that what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons. You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You cannot partake of the table of the Lord and the table of demons. Shall we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he? (1Cor 10:14–22; ESV)
Believers are already in communion with the Lord. Just as the Israelites (infants and adults) were baptized into Moses, and just as they communed in the wilderness between redemption and the promised land, so we have been identified with Christ and are sojourning between redemption and consummation (1Cor 10:1–13). So, too, we’ve been initiated into Christ’s covenant community (the visible church), identified with his death in baptism. We’ve made profession of faith and have eaten his ascended, proper and natural body and blood (John 6:53; Belgic Confession Art. 35) by the mysterious work of the Holy Spirit, through faith. Our loyalties have been bought with a price. Therefore we honor God with our bodies (1Cor 6:20).
“All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. For “the earth is the Lord’s, and the fullness thereof.” If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience. But if someone says to you, “This has been offered in sacrifice,” then do not eat it, for the sake of the one who informed you, and for the sake of conscience—I do not mean your conscience, but his. For why should my liberty be determined by someone else’s conscience? If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced because of that for which I give thanks? So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God. Give no offense to Jews or to Greeks or to the church of God, just as I try to please everyone in everything I do, not seeking my own advantage, but that of many, that they may be saved (1 Corinthians 10:23-33 ESV).
As Paul says, we are free from the opinions of men and from bondage to the same but we are not free to damage brothers and sisters by leading them back into sin and we are not free to participate in rituals which rival those instituted by Christ. On this principle Reformed folk have historically refused to participate in the Masonic Lodge and related and parallel societies, their youth auxiliaries and the like. On this principle Reformed folk have refused to commune in a Roman Catholic mass (see Heidelberg Catechism Q/A 80).
Paul is clear that it’s not that we must withdraw from the world (1Cor 5:10) but there are limits to our freedoms. We cannot participate in a competing religious ceremony or communion.
Whether attending an ordination service constitutes participating in a competing communion is a judgment call but it’s hard to attend such ceremonies (e.g., a homosexual wedding) without signaling approval. If something is really wrong then to do it is to act against truth and conscience. We know that the Apostle Paul would not participate in a meal in which the host said, in effect, this meal is no longer purely common, it is a religious meal.” Would he attend the ordination of a homosexual male or of a female of any sexual orientation? Uncomfortable as it makes late moderns (and, according to surveys, Millennials in particular), the Apostle Paul categorized both homosexual orientation and behavior as sin. It’s hard to imagine that he would sanction a homosexual wedding with his presence—not because he was a prude but because his conscience is bound to the Word of God. Arguably, the same is true for the question of the ordination of females. There are writers whose work I really like, outstanding female scholars who are also ordained ministers. I appreciate and value their persons and their work without endorsing their ordination or their defense of the ordinate of females. Try as they may, the advocates of the ordination of females to the ministry have not been able to make 1Timothy 2 disappear from Holy Scripture:
I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet. For Adam was formed first, then Eve… (1 Timothy 2:12-13 ESV).
Steve Baugh has effectively refuted the argument that Paul was responding to a particular kind of feminism in Ephesus—with the consequence that Paul’s prohibition in 1Timothy 2:12–13 no longer applies today. As my dear friend Don Treick always says, “It’s in the Bible.” Indeed, as a practical matter, life would be easier if it wasn’t but it is and it’s there for a reason and this is one of those pressure points that will continue to cause friction between Christians and the broader culture. If we allow 1Timothy 2 to be swept away for the sake of getting along, then the rest of Scripture must necessarily go by the boards.
As the liberals long ago caved in and evangelicals have conceded the ordination of females, those who resist will be regarded with even great suspicion: “What’s wrong with you? Why won’t you go along with the program?” At that point, it’s clear that the real issue is no longer: what is the truth, what does Scripture teach, how has the church historically understood this passage, what do we confess? Now the question is why some stubborn folks won’t conform. That’s exactly the challenge faced by the early Christians in the 2nd century. As in the martyrdom of Polycarp, the Romans weren’t typically asking Christians to believe that Caesar is a god but. They were only asking us to say that he is. They weren’t typically asking us to stop believing in Jesus. They were only asking us to renounce Christ outwardly. They were asking us to conform outwardly. Those who refused paid for it with blood. We’re not there yet but we don’t have to look far to see it, do we?
According to 1John 4, there is a connection between words and what they signify. They signify spiritual realities with spiritual consequences. Therefore there are limits to what we may say and sometimes we are called upon to confess the faith in the face of moral and theological error, even when it is uncomfortable to do so.
I don't attend any weddings.
Not even mine.
Check out the muscular statements of Christian confession by Dr. Maryam Ibrahim, the Somali woman who has been sentenced to 100 lashes and then hanging because the Muslim courts accuse her of adultery and apostasy. Adultery because they do not recognize her marriage to a Christian man and apostasy because they accuse her of converting to Christianity, when actually she was raised by her Christian mother as a Christian after her Muslim father deserted the family when she was six.
She has a two year old son and is eight months pregnant, giving her ample excuse to renounce Jesus for “the sake of the children.” Instead, she is standing firm in the faith. Not all Christians today are the weaklings we find in the US and Europe.
By the way, have you prayed for this Christian woman today and all those who are suffering for Christ around the world? When our turn comes, we will want others to pray for us. “Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Revelation 2:10)
That must simplify things :o)
But that is showing your love, unless you act out of a spirit of hatred, because it is speaking, as Paul put it, ἀληθεύοντες ἐν ἀγάπῃ, the truth in love.
(fill in the blank)
Those civil weddings are evil! < /sarc >
Bingo.
In America we worry that someone doesn’t like us. That the world sneers at us.
No wonder when you look at what is being preached in modern American churches.
The falling away will be great.
Good for you!
> theological discussions don’t change people’s minds.
Seriously? Not all of us are that closed-minded.
You miss my point. Theological discussions are more about chest pounding than they are about actual discussion. They are ego driven rants delivered without love. Ask any pastor about the usefulness of theological discussion with their congregation. It’s more of a dividing than a unifying factor.
I left the Episcopal Church because I could no longer tolerate the contempt for true Christianity it had come to espouse. However, my mother still considers herself a member of the TEC, so her funeral will be held at an Episcopal Church and I will not say anything untoward to the priest or his female deacon.
That will be the last time I cross the threshhold of a TEC building.
Me neither.
My cousin dumped her husband for some other guy who knocked her up. I said the batteries in the clock we gave her for the first wedding were still good and I wasn’t going.
To my knowledge, I don’t even know any homosexuals.
thanks for this post. this is useful. i can’t wait for the promised followup article.
What is the blank?
post Christian? this seems more a blog hit troll.
reality says otherwise. Don’t confuse NYC/LA hedonism with reality.
My wife grew up in TEC and has come to abhore it. Her parents are still members. The things they tell us about their churchnake it sound more like a social club than a hospital for sinners.
To make a long story short, they all agreed to my wishes and we had a pleasant Thanksgiving. Lo and behold, about a year later, they got married and were "born again". Their own children started to question their relationship and put pressure on their own parents. Now they are devout Christians that participate in all church activities and feed the poor on Thanksgiving and Christmas, the father is a deacon in his church and my niece teaches Sunday School. Could my "standing my ground" have caused such a thing as this? I don't know, but I'm convinced that by staying firm, God blessed me and them. The rest of the arguing members now seem to feel as I do for some reason.
Just by rejecting the traditions of men makes a statement to all that watch. Is it so bad to be known as the religious zealot that is a stick in the mud for Christ? My relationship is with Christ. The Word tells us we must "hate" our mother and father, our sons and daughters. Does it really mean "hate"? No, it just means Jesus comes first. You can't be double minded and follow Christ. You cannot have two masters. You will love the one and hate the other. For those that say "I don't know any homosexuals", #1,....that a lie, and #2 at some point you will have a situation that will cross your beliefs and the world. This poster is just trying to show you what Scripture says you should do if you value your relationship with God. There is no need to be hateful, but you should remain firm. It will undoubtedly be an opportunity to discuss what Jesus wants for our lives in the area of love and the sanctity of marriage.
If the world loves you, your not doing it right.
While in my first tour of duty in the AF, I spent a lot of time with two of the men in my team. One was an atheist and one a homosexual.
After I left, quite a few years later, one of them contacted me with news. He had become a Christian and the other had given up the homosexual lifestyle and found a wife.
Both of them wanted to contact me because they had given me a load of **** for four years, and I did not shift my stance. If I had wavered, their souls might be on my hands.
Ping to read later
Damn near everybody by the way it reads.
Jesus made it clear that we are to follow Him FIRST! If you love your child, would you really allow them to fornicate or experiment with Satan's toys just because you can't say no? All children WANT limits. It shows that you love them and care for them. When no one says NO!, they will just put the pedal to the metal and corkscrew into the first mountain available.
Christians have been conditioned over the years to "not judge" lest ye be judged. That just means we can't judge a soul, but we are to judge sin and flee from it! When a Christian sees open sin, he/she should point it out. We should be able to give the reason it isn't an act of love to allow a person to harm themselves. There are so few people that actually read and practice the Bible today, "real" Christians are kicked to the curb and the world is spinning into the abyss. For me, the reason America has sunk to the level it has is we are obsessed with all the wrong reasons to vote when we should be looking to vote in the most Bible believing Christians we can. Even the Republicans are trying to shut us out by not emphasizing social issues. IMO, if we elected Christians, the other problems would take care of themselves. As in the Bible, when Israel had a bad king, slavery and ruin followed. A Godly king brought blessing and plenty. If you have a chance to see the DVD on Isaiah 9-10 prophesy, do it. It pretty much explains what we have done to ourselves and how are too stiff necked to repent and bring revival to the land. We will have to be crushed under God's punishment to bend out knee to God. These principles are universal from your relationship to your family and friends and to your country and the world. 911 happened in 2001. Sept 2008 was seven years later and the beginning of the economic crisis. Sept 2015 is seven years later. If we haven't repented yet, what will the next "crisis" be? We have had plenty of time, we just haven't. I would imagine Iran will have a nuke or 2 by then. I wonder where they will test them? Is a nuke attack enough to bring us back to God? I fear we will see. Is killing our babies and marrying sodomites that important? Leviticus 18:22 tells us what God will do to a country that accepts sodomy. Is abortion the same as sacrificing to Molech? I don't want to find out. If the church would raise awareness of these things, perhaps we could repent in time. Most churches don't even preach against sodomy anymore. Some have gay deacons and others say why preach to the choir?
Well, because the choir needs to know what God thinks of it, that's why.
That is a wonderful story. Thanks for sharing!
Sola Deo Gloria!
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