Facebook has been filled with noise, very unpleasant
noise. This week the Supreme Court has
taken up the case for same-sex marriage.
Every time a story like this hits the news I notice two things. First, secular people all of a sudden become
Bible scholars. Second, Christians
become cowards.
The first observation looks something like this: “Wow. Look at all of those Christians, who say homosexuality is a sin, they must also believe that we can’t eat shell fish too! Get with the times. Aren’t we supposed to love our neighbor? Ugh!” Regardless of what these scoffers may proclaim, people who use this kind of thinking are secular regardless of what their Facebook or Sunday morning routine may say. Their reasoning is ignorant and the foundations of their worldview are empty. Secular thinking must presuppose, while also suppressing, Christian thinking.
The first observation looks something like this: “Wow. Look at all of those Christians, who say homosexuality is a sin, they must also believe that we can’t eat shell fish too! Get with the times. Aren’t we supposed to love our neighbor? Ugh!” Regardless of what these scoffers may proclaim, people who use this kind of thinking are secular regardless of what their Facebook or Sunday morning routine may say. Their reasoning is ignorant and the foundations of their worldview are empty. Secular thinking must presuppose, while also suppressing, Christian thinking.
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And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. – Mark 7:18-20
Notice, Jesus lays a foundation that the New Testament builds on. Acts 10-11 would also show us this: Jesus came and canceled the ceremonial law. The ceremonial law served a purpose to the people to whom it was given- to show God’s holiness and bring an awareness of the barrier of sin. It also had practical effects of protecting the Old Testament people from eating raw fish. God’s OT people were to be distinct, and the law was the way God wanted them to do that. But, Jesus came and said that His people will no longer need to show their distinctness in regards to “outside” things, but with the “inside” things. Look at what Jesus goes on to say, “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” – Mark 7:22-23
Jesus says that holiness still matters to God and that we should be concerned with what is on the inside, not the outside. That being said, Jesus brings many sins to the forefront, one which pertains to our above scenario. Sexual Immorality. The Greek word for this is “Pornea” which, in Jesus context, was used to refer to any sexual activity outside of marriage. Pornea included anything that the Old Testament sexual ethic condemned.1 This condemnation was sweeping and would have included homosexuality. Mark 7 shows us that while Jesus canceled the ceremonial ethics of the Old Testament, he upheld and celebrated its sexual ethic. Jesus was saying that shell fish is okay but that homosexuality is a sin.
Our biblically ignorant scoffer has no idea that the person they are condemning for being inconsistent is actually the one they profess to be following. It only gets worse for the speaker in our scenario once we look deeper into their argument.
The scoffer's rally cry is for Christians to “love their neighbor,” something they must confess Jesus was not doing in Mark 7, but where exactly are we commanded to “love our neighbor?” In Mark 12:31 Jesus is asked about the greatest commandment (of the Old Testament) and his response is profound: first, love God, and second, love neighbor. This implies that these commands are one and the same, but it also shows us that Jesus not only believed the Old Testament, but believed parts of it were binding on Christians today. While he canceled the ceremonial food laws, much of the moral ethic still remains on His followers. What is even more interesting is the location of Jesus response in the canon. Both commands are found in the law of God, the first in Deuteronomy 6:5 and the second is found twice in Leviticus 19, in verses 18 and 34. This presents a problem to our skeptic.
Leviticus 19:18, which our skeptic says is
binding, is found in the same discourse as the condemnation of homosexuality,
Leviticus 18:22 “You
shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination.” The challenger is presented with a
problem. The skeptic now is picking and
choosing whether to affirm Jesus principle of loving our neighbor or the Old
Testament sexual ethic.
What we have to realize is that these are not in contradiction, but are
one package. Christian’s reason for
eating shellfish is theological, while the skeptic’s reason for loving their
neighbor is ignorance. Whether skeptics
realize it or not or ignorantly quote the Bible to prove it, their unbelief
only does more to prove the Christian worldview.
Romans 1:18-20 makes it clear that every person,
regardless of worldview, knows God exists and chooses to suppress that
reality. For example, as Christians we
believe that every person is made in the image of God, and therefore every
person is intrinsically valuable.
Whereas most secular worldviews would teach us that we are glorified
apes who are nothing but the outcome of random processes and stardust. What basis does this give us to treat others
with value? The majority of people go
around treating other people as valuable creators, while only the Christian
worldview gives a basis for doing so.
Love is not founded upon stardust but upon the reality that we are made in the image of our
loving Creator. I’m not saying Atheists
can’t or don't treat people with value, but I’m saying they have no consistent
reason too. They assume a part of the
Christian worldview, while leaving the parts that are unpopular to them. The secular worldview is the one that picks
and chooses. That is what Paul means
when he says they “suppress the truth in unrighteousness.”
Another example of this is found in the rally cry
of our culture that Bible-believing Christians are on the “wrong side of
history.” What does that even mean? What makes the chemical reactions in our
brains “wrong” versus the chemical reactions in the secular mind? If is all that forms and founds our opinion
are chemical reactions than what gives them moral correct or
incorrectness? What makes the opinion of
one glorified ape any different from that of another? Also, the phrase “wrong side of history” presupposes
that history leaves some sort of lasting legacy, and that history is heading in
some sort of direction. Both of these
are products of a Christian worldview and not a secular one. Find comfort Christian, the ignorant
Bible-bashers actually obey and confirm its teachings, even if it is inconvenient
for them.
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We must be unashamed of what Paul knew and was
unashamed of- that the good news of Christ’s death, burial, and resurrection
can do what a ballot box can never do- change hearts and make sinners righteous
(Romans 1:16-17). The Word is the power
of God to salvation; therefore, we don’t let ignorant talk stop you. Be bold; the culture’s unbelief only confirms
that our worldview is true, that they suppress it, and inconsistently live like
the God they know exists, doesn’t. The
secular worldview may bite the hand that feeds it, but fortunately for all of
us, His arm is not too short to save (Isaiah 59:1).
1Men far smarter than me have written articles on
the meaning of Pornea. One helpful one is this from The Village Church: http://www.thevillagechurch.net/sermon/jesus-and-homosexuality/
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