According to the automatically populated tag on my phone’s calendar, June is LGBT Pride month. The choice of June for this celebration is a nod to the Stonewall Uprising, the landmark moment in the crusade to achieve political and social acceptance for homosexuality in the United States in June of 1969. For the whole month, we can expect that declarations of support for the LGBT community will be ubiquitous as sports leagues, government institutions, and corporations rush to display their bona fides regarding this issue.
On the one hand, homosexual behavior and the distortion of gender norms are nothing new – these things were around in Biblical times and have always been present in our society. What seems new, however, is the idea that sits at the heart of Pride month – that homosexuality and all the various other behaviors and lifestyles represented in the LGBT acronym are not merely something for society to tolerate but something to celebrate. Pride month is perhaps the most striking reminder that we live amid what the philosopher Charles Taylor called the “nova effect” – the idea that we live in a kind of spiritual supernova, where religious beliefs and personal commitments move and change at an ever-accelerating pace. As pluralism and secularism topple more and more of our society’s long-standing institutions (such as our understanding of marriage and gender), breaking through the next cultural barrier becomes increasingly easy.
How should Christian pastors respond to Pride Month and the social revolution that it represents? How should we think about our service to congregations who will likely face significant pressure and opposition in their workplaces, communities, and even in their own homes? In many places, historic Christian beliefs regarding these matters are no longer socially acceptable, and those who refuse to get on board with the new way of thinking may well incur a steep cost. Thus, our job as pastors is to prepare and equip our people to think, live, and love well amid these difficult circumstances.
The two easiest (and thus most common) errors that present themselves to Christians regarding this topic are despair and accommodation. We deny God’s sovereignty and love when we give in to despair (and its cousin, anger). We act as if He is not in control, as though He lacks the power to save us in light of our sins. And when we accommodate our beliefs to fit our society’s standards, we deny God’s holiness. We act as if His standards for human conduct are arbitrary and unimportant. Thus, our responsibility as pastors is to help steer our people on a middle course between those common but unhelpful responses to the changes represented by Pride month.
To answer that question, it might be helpful to step back and see where things like Pride Month fit into how the Bible teaches us to understand the world. I suggest it’s important to note three critical data points:
(Romans 3:9-18, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1-3). In our sin, we have all attempted to throw off His authority and live our lives for ourselves and our glory. Except for the Lord Jesus, there is no one for whom this is untrue. This means we understand homosexual behavior to be one particular manifestation of the problem we all share.
In our capacity as rebels against God, we are committed to the delusion that our lives are ours to live as we see fit. But as image-bearers living out their days in a world created by God, evidence of his “eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:19-20) constantly besieges us. This means that all people “by nature” (Romans 2:14) have some sense of God and what He requires of human beings. When we walk in ways contrary to his will – not just in matters of sexuality but in all areas of life – our conscience “bears witness” (Romans 2:15) against us, and we feel conflicted and guilty.
We do this to deal with our inevitable feelings of guilt and shame. If we will not lay down arms and reconcile ourselves to God through Christ, we have no choice but to delude ourselves into thinking that we are right with him. We are forced to “suppress the truth” in our unrighteousness (Romans 1:18) to feel free to do whatever our hearts desire. To do otherwise would require us to repent or live under a crippling sense of condemnation.
Considering these three realities, Christians can understand Pride month as another example of sinners seeking refuge from God. It’s not enough to do whatever the heart wants. We need to build structures and ways of thinking that allow us to feel justified in our lifestyles. These “arguments and… lofty opinion(s)” (2 Corinthians 10:5) create a fortress (Paul calls them “strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10:4) in which we can imagine that we are safe, hidden from God’s sight and beyond the reach of his judgment. Hidden away in these refuges, we can live as we see fit without being constantly haunted by the specter of God’s judgment.
While Pride Month confronts us with the distressing spectacle of sin and righteousness being celebrated in the streets, the Bible reminds us that it is simply a new manifestation of an ancient problem. Locating Pride Month in that Biblical context can help pastors as we seek to serve and equip our people in two ways:
It is right to be grieved when human beings rejoice in soul-destroying, God-dishonoring sin. But we must remember that God’s love is most perfectly seen in his kindness toward those who rebel against him. It is precisely this kind of love that we are called to show others (Matthew 5:44-45, Luke 19:10). In the end, our conflict is not with our fellow image-bearers but rather with the diabolical forces that undergird and buttress their anti-God strongholds (Ephesians 6:12).
Or (to change the metaphor), properly identifying the enemy will allow us to choose the correct battle strategy. Many evangelicals seem to have responded to society’s changes by grabbing the weapons the world leaves readily available: social media, political activism, legal action, and (when necessary) strategic withdrawal. There may be value in pursuing those avenues at certain times, but the apostle Paul reminds us that “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Again, our enemy is not our fellow image-bearer, but the diabolical forces that undergird and buttress his delusional rebellion against God. Our only hope of reaching sinners entrenched in their fortresses of truth-suppression is to wield weapons of a spiritual nature: prayer and the proclamation of the gospel, attended by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 6:7, 1 Corinthians 2:2-5).
The world around us is changing in disorienting and distressing ways. As pastors, we must equip our people to respond in ways consistent with the Bible’s description of the human condition. We cannot accommodate ourselves to the world’s rebellion, but we must not descend into ungodly hatred and anger. Instead, God calls us to move compassionately toward lost people, calling them to abandon their fortresses of Pride and be reconciled to God through Christ.
The post How Should Pastors Respond to Pride Month? appeared first on Focus on the Family.
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This is nothing new
On the one hand, homosexual behavior and the distortion of gender norms are nothing new – these things were around in Biblical times and have always been present in our society. What seems new, however, is the idea that sits at the heart of Pride month – that homosexuality and all the various other behaviors and lifestyles represented in the LGBT acronym are not merely something for society to tolerate but something to celebrate. Pride month is perhaps the most striking reminder that we live amid what the philosopher Charles Taylor called the “nova effect” – the idea that we live in a kind of spiritual supernova, where religious beliefs and personal commitments move and change at an ever-accelerating pace. As pluralism and secularism topple more and more of our society’s long-standing institutions (such as our understanding of marriage and gender), breaking through the next cultural barrier becomes increasingly easy.
Steer our people to the middle course
How should Christian pastors respond to Pride Month and the social revolution that it represents? How should we think about our service to congregations who will likely face significant pressure and opposition in their workplaces, communities, and even in their own homes? In many places, historic Christian beliefs regarding these matters are no longer socially acceptable, and those who refuse to get on board with the new way of thinking may well incur a steep cost. Thus, our job as pastors is to prepare and equip our people to think, live, and love well amid these difficult circumstances.
The two easiest (and thus most common) errors that present themselves to Christians regarding this topic are despair and accommodation. We deny God’s sovereignty and love when we give in to despair (and its cousin, anger). We act as if He is not in control, as though He lacks the power to save us in light of our sins. And when we accommodate our beliefs to fit our society’s standards, we deny God’s holiness. We act as if His standards for human conduct are arbitrary and unimportant. Thus, our responsibility as pastors is to help steer our people on a middle course between those common but unhelpful responses to the changes represented by Pride month.
What does that middle course look like?
To answer that question, it might be helpful to step back and see where things like Pride Month fit into how the Bible teaches us to understand the world. I suggest it’s important to note three critical data points:
1. We are all rebels against God
(Romans 3:9-18, Romans 3:23, Ephesians 2:1-3). In our sin, we have all attempted to throw off His authority and live our lives for ourselves and our glory. Except for the Lord Jesus, there is no one for whom this is untrue. This means we understand homosexual behavior to be one particular manifestation of the problem we all share.
2. The Bible teaches us that our consciences condemn us
In our capacity as rebels against God, we are committed to the delusion that our lives are ours to live as we see fit. But as image-bearers living out their days in a world created by God, evidence of his “eternal power and divine nature” (Romans 1:19-20) constantly besieges us. This means that all people “by nature” (Romans 2:14) have some sense of God and what He requires of human beings. When we walk in ways contrary to his will – not just in matters of sexuality but in all areas of life – our conscience “bears witness” (Romans 2:15) against us, and we feel conflicted and guilty.
3. The Bible teaches us that sinful human beings desperately try to hide from God
We do this to deal with our inevitable feelings of guilt and shame. If we will not lay down arms and reconcile ourselves to God through Christ, we have no choice but to delude ourselves into thinking that we are right with him. We are forced to “suppress the truth” in our unrighteousness (Romans 1:18) to feel free to do whatever our hearts desire. To do otherwise would require us to repent or live under a crippling sense of condemnation.
What to do about it
Considering these three realities, Christians can understand Pride month as another example of sinners seeking refuge from God. It’s not enough to do whatever the heart wants. We need to build structures and ways of thinking that allow us to feel justified in our lifestyles. These “arguments and… lofty opinion(s)” (2 Corinthians 10:5) create a fortress (Paul calls them “strongholds in 2 Corinthians 10:4) in which we can imagine that we are safe, hidden from God’s sight and beyond the reach of his judgment. Hidden away in these refuges, we can live as we see fit without being constantly haunted by the specter of God’s judgment.
While Pride Month confronts us with the distressing spectacle of sin and righteousness being celebrated in the streets, the Bible reminds us that it is simply a new manifestation of an ancient problem. Locating Pride Month in that Biblical context can help pastors as we seek to serve and equip our people in two ways:
1. It helps Christians to have compassion toward and love for people celebrating Pride month.
It is right to be grieved when human beings rejoice in soul-destroying, God-dishonoring sin. But we must remember that God’s love is most perfectly seen in his kindness toward those who rebel against him. It is precisely this kind of love that we are called to show others (Matthew 5:44-45, Luke 19:10). In the end, our conflict is not with our fellow image-bearers but rather with the diabolical forces that undergird and buttress their anti-God strongholds (Ephesians 6:12).
2. The Biblical diagnosis will point us to the proper cure.
Or (to change the metaphor), properly identifying the enemy will allow us to choose the correct battle strategy. Many evangelicals seem to have responded to society’s changes by grabbing the weapons the world leaves readily available: social media, political activism, legal action, and (when necessary) strategic withdrawal. There may be value in pursuing those avenues at certain times, but the apostle Paul reminds us that “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds” (2 Corinthians 10:4). Again, our enemy is not our fellow image-bearer, but the diabolical forces that undergird and buttress his delusional rebellion against God. Our only hope of reaching sinners entrenched in their fortresses of truth-suppression is to wield weapons of a spiritual nature: prayer and the proclamation of the gospel, attended by the power of the Holy Spirit (2 Corinthians 6:7, 1 Corinthians 2:2-5).
The world around us is changing in disorienting and distressing ways. As pastors, we must equip our people to respond in ways consistent with the Bible’s description of the human condition. We cannot accommodate ourselves to the world’s rebellion, but we must not descend into ungodly hatred and anger. Instead, God calls us to move compassionately toward lost people, calling them to abandon their fortresses of Pride and be reconciled to God through Christ.
The post How Should Pastors Respond to Pride Month? appeared first on Focus on the Family.
Continue reading...