Since the passing of Proposition 8 into law in California, the gay rights community and many on the political left have become unhinged towards "hateful" Christians. This morning a video was released in which you will see the disdain, disgust and frankly, hate they have for Biblical Christians and for Jesus Christ. I warn you, that some of the content is graphic and even blasphemous, but it's important that we know how the culture views us who follow Christ.
See more Jack Black videos at Funny or Die
Notice that the reason the majority of Californians voted for traditional marriage, according to their view, is because they are either "hateful" Christians or they were too stupid and got fooled by "hateful" Christians. This isn't just disdain for Christians, but for the majority of the citizens of California!
Two things: 1. What do you say to their charge that we "pick and choose" what we want to believe from the Bible? 2. What should our reaction be to those who would hold the same views as those in the video? Please go here to find out.
7 comments:
Erick, I see no disdain, disgust, or hate in this video. It's just a mildly funny satire which brings up some really important questions that, as you say, Christians should seriously consider. And "graphic"? Seriously? Seriously?!?!?!!
I was debating whether or not to even comment on this post, because I'm not really interested in getting into a long a fruitless argument about prop 8. But you seem to be devoting a lot of time and blog space to the matter, so I just thought I should suggest that maybe, as a Christian, given the state of the world we live in and all the vast, complicated, horrible problems we face, you should rethink your priorities a little bit.
(Erick, In your introduction I think you meant 2 Corinthians, not 1 Corinthians)...
2 Corinthians 2:14ff
But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him. For we are to God the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing. To the one we are the smell of death; to the other, the fragrance of life. And who is equal to such a task? Unlike so many, we do not peddle the word of God for profit. On the contrary, in Christ we speak before God with sincerity, like men sent from God.
To see a glimpse of the magnitude of our salvation in Jesus Christ we ought to be able to recognize that from which we are being saved (especially in the midst of "all the vast, complicated, horrible problems we face"). In as much, this blog posting is indeed a priority (in reference to Mandy's comment; may God bless her in the grace and saving name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ).
As for selectively choosing what instruction to obey in the Bible, I think Acts 15 (verses 28-29 in particular) speaks well to the point:
http://www.gnpcb.org/esv/search/?q=acts+15
As for the dietary restrictions (e.g. shrimp), see Romans 14 and Matthew 15 (among many similar passages).
And thanks for the "graphic" reference, Erick - I appreciate the warning for the sake of my daughter, though my eyes have been jaded by a world that teaches that vulgar mannerisms are somehow perfectly acceptable.
crMandy, I am so glad you decided to comment on this. Please comment more in the future! It's good to hear from you. I'll try to answer some of your statements the best I can.
First, I am fully aware of the fact that the musical is satirical, but let's not fool ourselves into believing there isn't a strong worldview being promoted here. The "villains" in the musical are those who take what the bible says about homosexuality seriously. Jesus is brought in to the video to show the Christians how silly their point of view is considering that the bible forbids shellfish and supposedly encourages stoning children.
The video may not be that graphic to you, (I know we've all seen much worse)but this blog is looked at by people of all ages and parents need to be warned when I put something up that mentions sodomy and poses for it.
Third, looking through my blog's archives I can find 2 spots where I have ever commented on gay marriage, only once on prop 8 specifically (this one). You are right that there are lots of terrible things going on in the world that are worth posting on and I try and post on them as well. I have commented on marriage because it really is the foundation of civilization. I post on it because a lot of Christians don't seem to think it's all that big a deal. I am called as a Pastor to instruct from a biblical worldview about God's plan for His world. Marriage is included in that plan. He states clearly throughout the Bible that marriage is between a man and a woman (Gen. 1-2; 1 Corinthians 7; Romans 1)So marriage is a priority, but not nearly as important as the gospel and how we can best get that good news out to the world around us (as my post archives show).
I'm curious since you haven't commented much before, what was it about this issue that caused you to comment? I'm not trying to start a debate with you over this (though debating about marriage in this day and age I do not think is "fruitless")but I am curious why it seemed to irritate you.
Erick, I'm sorry that I was rude in my last comment, honestly. I'm just very frustrated with the way that you are talking about Prop 8.
I think that you are right to teach a biblical world view, and to preach against things which you see as sinful, and which compromise that biblical world view. i recognize that moral teaching is one of the main functions of the church. so it's not that I object to you talking about gay marriage in terms of a biblically based moral code.
but this is not the first time you have mentioned prop 8. you posted a sermon on here, back before the election, in which you specifically instructed your congregation to vote yes on prop 8. THIS is the kind of thing I very strongly object to.
prop 8 was a political matter. it was about legal marriages, not christian marriages. so if you want to argue against gay marriage on political grounds, that’s fine too--but what I don’t think is fine is when you do it at the pulpit. there should be room within the church for dissenting political views, and i think it's an abuse of power to tell people that a good Christian would vote one way or the other. In my opinion you CAN be a Christian and support gay marriage, if you view legal and religious marriages as separate things--and I think a lot of people do.
On the issue of addressing gay marriage from the pulpit, I think if I had to do it over again I would not specifically call on people to vote for a specific proposition. I do agree with you that there needs to be room for political opinions from every side in the church.
The problem with the marriage issue is that it cannot be relegateed to merely the political sphere since it is a God ordained institution. What we're talking about here is fundamentally redefining marriage.
I do not and would not call into question someone's salvation for the way they vote. This applies to those Christians who would say they are pro-choice, pro-gay marriage, or pro-anything else.Our salvation is based on faith in Christ alone.
But since Christians are to submit themselves to Scripture in all of life, I do have a question for any Christian who does support whatever political postion: Do you have biblical support for your view?
Read a rather distubing piece in Newsweek online about this. It seems like the non-Christian crowd is just as bad about picking and choosing what to believe in the Bible as they blame the Christians to be. What do you think:
http://www.newsweek.com/id/172653?gt1=43002
This is the oldest tactic the enemy has in his playbook. "Did God really say that?"
At one moment the writer of the article is citing the Old Testament as a rebuke against Christians and then he/she is dismissing the Old Testament as irrelevant.
My favorite is when you get to Paul's writing in Romans. It is too clear what Paul is trying to say. So, we just need to find a more liberal scholar to interpret it. You know, muddy it up a little. It is always the same for these guys and the new perspectives on Paul. Its usually full of, "I know Paul said thus, but what he really meant was thus."
Smells like gnosticism to me.
The bible calls homosexuality a sin. Therefore, as a Christian, I can not in good conscience encourage that behavior through supporting or celebrating homosexual relationships. I know sin isn't a big deal to most people anymore, but it is still a pretty big deal to God. In fact, it was an issue He thought was worth dieing for.
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