Friday Fun: Sunday Morning

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Challenge Response: You’re Arrogant!

Are Christians arrogant because they believe Jesus is the only way to God?  Here’s my response to this week’s challenge:

Is Homosexuality the Worst Sin of All?

Christians define sin as “missing the mark.” It almost sounds cute. Kyle lied so he missed the mark…Oops. Katy gossiped…Shucks, that was wrong. Randy was prideful…Yikes, better stop that.

But homosexuality? Whoa! That’s more than missing the mark. That’s an abomination! Homosexuals aren’t just sinners. They’re revelers consummating their reprobate mind. Someone please cite one of the Levitical prohibitions against homosexuality (preferably Leviticus 20:13 since it includes the death penalty) and say it in the King James Version for rhetorical effect.

And Christians don’t just think homosexuality is the worst sin. We act like it too. Christians who rarely cite scripture suddenly invoke Bible verses when the topic comes up. We get uneasy when gay men come to church, but we gladly welcome post-abortive women.  We’ll move a lesbian who sits next to other females at youth group, but we won’t separate girls who gossip.

It’s no wonder the culture thinks Christians hate homosexuals. We give their behavior a unique status: the worst sin of all. And because homosexuals are committing the supreme evil, we treat them like pariahs.

As a result, not only do homosexuals think their sin is the worst, but they are the worst. They’re the chief of all sinners. That’s why our verbal antidotes like, “God hates the sin, but loves the sinner” are so ineffective. They only hear the word, “hate.”

We shouldn’t be surprised, then, when homosexuals get anxious around Christians. It shouldn’t shock us that they start their own denominations. These men and women still have spiritual yearnings, but because Christians keep them at arm’s length, they have no choice but to turn to churches with pro-gay theology that accept them.

Don’t get me wrong: homosexual behavior is a serious sin. I’m not trying to downplay the gravity of what they do. But the Bible doesn’t elevate its status above all other sins.

Although homosexual behavior was a capital crime under the Mosaic Law, so were blasphemy, false prophecy, adultery, bestiality, and many other sins. Under today’s New Testament teaching, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 places homosexuals among other sinners like thieves, drunks, swindlers, and fornicators. And 1 Timothy 1:8-11 lists them among liars, rebels, slave traders, and other sinners. There’s no special designation for any of these sins (although sexual sins are grouped together since they are sins “against the body” in 1 Corinthians 6:16-20).

Many homosexuals have come to Christ. But they didn’t do it because they believed their sin was the worst. Instead, they recognized their sin was an obstacle to fellowship with God. Making homosexuality the worst sin isn’t merely a peculiar theological mistake. It has practical ramifications that alienate men and women engaged in homosexual behavior. And it creates unnecessary offense to the gospel that’s already offensive.

Challenge: You’re Arrogant!

For the challenge this week, here’s a question posted on Yahoo Answers (with some slight editing for readability):

How can Christians be so arrogant and claim that their way is the only way? And no, not all religions are like this. The Abrahamic religions are predators. Asian religions are open to many different ideologies and multiple beliefs, and we often mix them together. We Asian religions never claim to be absolute because no man truly knows about the afterlife, a dead man has never re-risen.

Religion is very much a part of cultural identity and heritage, so how can there be just one way!!

Is it arrogant to say that Jesus is the only way? Are you insulting other cultures and heritages when you say He is? How would you answer this charge? We’re looking forward to hearing your ideas! As usual, Brett will respond on Thursday.

Why Be Pro-Life?

In honor of Sanctity of Human Life Sunday yesterday, this week our featured article is Brett’s “Why I Am Pro-Life“:

I am a pro-lifer for very particular reasons. I am not pro-life because “the Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it.” I am not pro-life because I want to fit in with Christians at my church. I am not pro-life because I hate women who have abortions. I am not pro-life because it fits with a particular political party’s platform. I am not pro-life because you have to be if you’re a real Christian.

I am a pro-lifer because of the answer to one simple question:  What is the unborn?…

If the unborn is not a human being, no justification for abortion is necessary. But if the unborn is a human being, no justification for elective abortion is adequate.

So, is the unborn a human being? Yes and here’s why…

Read on to find out Brett’s reasons.

Challenge Response: Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus

Alright…finally…my response to the viral video, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.”

Why I Love Religion and Love Jesus

I wish I had the resources to do this kind of response video!  I’m currently editing my D-minus-quality video, so it will be up later this afternoon.  Until then, ponder this one…

The Difference Between Religion & the Gospel

While you eagerly await the arrival of my response video to “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus,” check out this helpful chart defining the differences between religion and the gospel:

RELIGION: I obey, therefore I’m accepted.

THE GOSPEL: I’m accepted, therefore I obey.

RELIGION: Motivation is based on fear and insecurity.

THE GOSPEL: Motivation is based on grateful joy.

RELIGION: I obey God in order to get things from God.

THE GOSPEL: I obey God to get to God, to delight and resemble him.

RELIGION: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I am angry at God or myself, since I believe, like Job’s friends that anyone who is good deserves a comfortable life.

THE GOSPEL: When circumstances in my life go wrong, I struggle but I know all my punishment fell on Jesus and that while he may allow this for my training, he will exercise his fatherly love within my trial.

RELIGION: When I am criticized, I am furious or devastated because it is critical that I think of myself as a “good person.” Threats to that self-image must be destroyed at all costs.

THE GOSPEL: When I am criticized, I can take it. I struggle, but it is not critical for me to think of myself as a “good person.” My identity is not built on my record or my performance, but on God’s love for me in Christ.

RELIGION: My prayer life consists largely of petition and only heats up when I am in a time of need. My main purpose in prayer is control of my environment.

THE GOSPEL: My prayer life consists of generous stretches of praise and adoration. My main purpose is fellowship with God.

RELIGION: My self-view swings between two poles: If and when I am living up to my standards, I feel confident, but then I am prone to be proud and unsympathetic to failing people. If and when I am not living up to standards, I feel insecure, inadequate, and not confident. I feel like a failure.

THE GOSPEL: My self-view is not based on a view of myself as a moral achiever. In Christ I am “simul iustus et peccator”—simultaneously sinful and yet accepted in Christ. I am so bad he had to die for me and I am so loved he was glad to die for me. This leads me to deeper and deeper humility and confidence at the same time, neither swaggering nor sniveling.

RELIGION: My identity and self-worth are based mainly on how hard I work or how moral I am, and so I must look down on those I perceive as lazy or immoral. I disdain and feel superior to “the other.”

THE GOSPEL: My identity and self-worth are centered on the one who died for his enemies and who was excluded from the city for me. I am saved by sheer grace, so I can’t look down on those who believe or practice something different from me. It is only by grace that I am what I am. I have no inner need to win arguments.

RELIGION: Since I look to my own pedigree or performance for my spiritual acceptability, my heart manufactures idols. It may be my talents, my moral record, my personal discipline, my social status, etc. I absolutely have to have them so they serve as my main hope, meaning, happiness, security, and significance, regardless of what I say I believe about God.

THE GOSPEL: I have many good things in my life: family, work, spiritual disciplines, etc. But none of these good things is an ultimate end for me. None of them is something I absolutely have to have, so there is a limit to how much anxiety, bitterness, and despondency such things can inflict on me when they are threatened and lost.

Download a cool PDF poster of this here:  ReligionGospel

(HT: The Resurgence)

Challenge: Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus

You’re probably already aware of the little internet brouhaha over a YouTube video entitled, “Why I Hate Religion, But Love Jesus.”  If not, you live in a cave.  Anyway, the video has definitely gone viral with over 13 million views and counting.  Check it out:

Now tell us what you think.  A lot of Christians out there think Jefferson Bethke nailed it.  Do you?  If so, why?  What did he get right?  If you don’t agree with Bethke’s video, why not?  What did he get wrong?  I’ll give you my thoughts on Thursday.

Friday Fun: Thank God White People Stopped Rapping

What is rapping?  These kids couldn’t tell you…