LIES THAT MANY BELIEVE, Part 6: "ALL LIFESTYLES MUST BE SUPPORTED"
"For the wrath of God
is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who
hold the truth in unrighteousness." - Romans 1:18
The big buzzword of our
day is "tolerance." The
problem is that our society has redefined tolerance to mean that we should
accept all lifestyles as being equally correct. Any person who condemns a specific lifestyle is labeled as
"intolerant," and is publicly shamed for their narrow-mindedness. In other words, those who promote
"tolerance," are tolerant of everything and everyone except those who
disagree with them. Do you see the flaw
in their position?
There is an overt
attempt to manipulate people into believing that all lifestyles are equally
correct. To say that all lifestyles
must be affirmed is to state that we agree with every lifestyle. A born-again, Bible-believing Christian
cannot do this. The Bible clearly
condemns sin. How can we please God and
support what He rejects?
I believe that we
should be kind towards others. I do not
believe that Christians have the right to be arrogant or conceited. I do not believe that the Bible gives us
permission to practice hate toward those we disagree with. I have no desire to hurt or destroy those
who have opposing views to my own. That
is what tolerance is really like.
Society's attempts to sway my convictions in the name of
"tolerance" are really an attempt to undermine Biblical
authority. It is an act of sinful
rebellion against a holy God.
So when it comes to
issues like gay-marriage, co-habitation (without marriage), evolution and such
matters, the Christian's convictions should not be based upon political
rhetoric or social pressure, instead our convictions are based upon the
unchanging Word of God.
I realize that
unbelievers accuse Christians as being "narrow-minded." That is a fact that we do not dispute. The Bible is very strict about sin.
At the beginning of
this message, I shared a verse from Romans chapter 1. In the first chapter of Romans, Paul described the depravity of
man's sin. It is a thorough examination
of the sinful condition of mankind.
Please read Romans chapter 1 yourself.
You'll find that Paul wrote about sinful rebellion (verses 21-22),
idolatry (verse 23), sexual sin (verses 24-25), homosexuality (verses 26-28)
and a host of other specific sins (verses 29-31).
What is the ultimate
conclusion of this long list of sins?
Paul wrote, "...they which commit such things are worthy of death,
not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them." (verse
32). I use the King James Version in my
ministry, but the wording of this verse needs clarification. Paul not only condemned those who commit
such sins, he also condemned those who "... have pleasure in them that do
them." The NASB translates this as
those who, "... give hearty approval to those who practice
them." In other words, a person
may be a heterosexual, but if he or she gives approval to homosexual
relationships, they stand just as guilty and worthy of spiritual death as those
who are homosexuals. The same truth
applies to every sin listed in Romans chapter 1.
Do you see why
Christians must stand for the truth and righteousness? We may be considered intolerant by a sinful,
God-hating world, but to compromise would be an act of high treason against our
Lord.
Ultimately, we are not
going to be judged by the ACLU, the U. S. Supreme Court, or our
co-workers. Instead, we will stand
before God. His laws have not changed. His standards remain high. His truth is eternal and absolute. It is not our job to redefine His Word. Instead, it is our responsibility to believe
His Word, live by His Word and proclaim His Word.
No comments:
Post a Comment