A Different Spin on The Gay Marriage Debate.

Hear me out, not here to attack or the make people feel bad about themselves, however, if I can paint a better illustration I will try.

Suppose you got a new car with a diesel engine. And suppose the owners manual said, “This car does not drive on regular ethanol gasoline.” Would you be angry at the dealership that sold you the car and say they were being hateful? Probably not.

Or suppose you got some electronic device and it said, “Do not leave out in extreme temperatures and do not expose to moisture.”

We see warning labels all the time such as, “Surgeon General Warning, This product can cause cancer”- Are you going to call up the Surgeon General and say he is a tobaccophobe? No.

The Bible is God’s guide to life and godliness so why do we get angry when God puts warnings in there? Is it not in our sin nature to try to challenge him? Yet all the instructions in that book are for our ultimate good and there is a way the world was programmed to work and when we go against the laws of nature and Scripture we will get hurt.

Just like driving the wrong direction on a highway will cause a catastrophic wreck. All sin is just that whether homosexuality or not. Lying, gluttony, uncontrolled anger, sexual sin, and whatever else would harm us.

I will be the first to say I am not sinless, when I got out of control with my spending and over drew my account a few years back I got myself into a huge mess and it was not fun. So I would like to just state this is no personal attack on any of my friends who struggle with temptation of homosexual or bisexual nature.
We are all born with a sin nature, a set of sinful tendencies and inclinations we may never have asked for but just were born with. I’m not saying that that makes them any less sin but I for one can understand the plight of fallen man since I too am one. If I may be real, even at the age of just three I struggled with many temptations that most three year olds never would even contemplate. I also was a short tempered kid so I would lose my temper a lot of the time. Part of that was aggravated by mild Autism but I was also born sinful.

Psalm 51:5-6 Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Yet you desired faithfulness even in the womb;you taught me wisdom in that secret place.

What does it mean to be born “sinful”- well we are all by nature bent on rebelling. We are stubborn and defiant. Try telling a toddler how to do this or that and he will give you a run for your money. Where on earth do children learn such things? Their inherited sin nature. Parents in the room, did you take your kids to pre k lessons to teach them how to lie or be selfish? Probably not, and if you did your a crappy parent! Ha!
The greatest news ever though is even though we are all born twisted and bent, God loves us and wants to save us from the penalty of sin and give us power to live in victory over it. He does not say, “Well, I hate you, you jacked up piece of…”

No, “For God so loved the world that he gave His only Son that whosoever shall believe in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

We are all born going down the wrong lane of the highway straight for destruction, everyone of us whether rich or poor, black or white or asian or hispanic, both male and female.

Romans 3:23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,

(Romans 6:23) For the wages of sin is death,

Thats the bad news. It’s inescapable, but wait, don’t change that dial.

but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 6:23 Continued)
Wages we earn, yet a gift is ours free of charge and what we must do is receive it.

God is not unfair in the sense he would just say, “Em, your doomed and going to hell, feel sorry for you buddy”
No! He pays our debt and then gives us His righteousness as a GIFT. You cannot be good enough to receive God’s love but will you be wise enough to thankfully receive it and then let the Lord enable you to live differently?

Being tempted itself is not sin. But when you act on it or mull over it with delight in your mind then the temptation is not just an obnoxious sales man at the door but rather a guest you invited in for tea and crumpets- that is if he were an English sales man, Ha!

But but what if the temptations are still there? Fair question. When I became a born again Christian temptation did not just totally fly out the window. Yeah I still get tempted but the thing that has changed is I have a new power to resist temptation and I have the desire to please God. Remove those two things and I’d be stuck still trying to hook up with girls left and right and fooling around with all sorts of sins and foolishness. I would not want to live different, and even if I did I could not bring myself to resist the inward driving force that pushed me farther and farther into the mud.

Biblical Submission vs The Worlds Deffinition.

We live in a world where people do like to exercise authority, privilege, and the upper hand over others for self interest or gain. But this is not how God calls his children to live. According to Romans 12, it says, “Do not conform any longer to the patterns of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind”

Many people cringe at the idea of submitting to ANYONE, and that is because many of us view this as being ordered here and their and being controlled. What makes that even more difficult is the idea of following or submitting to anyone who does not have our best interests in mind but comes from someone who just likes to be in control. I do not blame anyone who thinks submission is that for having a negative reaction. The truth is that submission and trust are not easily divorced from each other without negative results! In my mind, Id say, “Why submit to someone who does not really care about my feelings or needs but only likes a power trip.”

God is not like that! Oh never! His every word is meant for our benefit and not harm.

Jeremiah 29:11 (NIV)” For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Biblical submission is very different than the world’s idea. Imagine being madly in love with someone, so in that case bending over backwards and going the extra mile is no chore, no! On the contrary! Its a joyous privilege!

In Mark 10:42-45, Jesus called them together and said, “You know that those who are regarded as rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be slave of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” 

Well imagine that! The God of Heaven in the incarnation of Jesus Christ serving the ones who owed him? He washed their feet, and in the end was brutally tortured and hung on a cross, not because he had to but because we needed it.

In the same way a godly man is willing to forfeit any rights to comfort he may have to see his wife well nourished emotionally and spiritually. He is not going to be overbearing or demanding! Love does not demand its own way but voluntarily yields itself for the better of them it loves.

(1 Corinthians 13:4-8) Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 

Christians and Starbucks.

Some of you may already be aware that Starbucks has according to many sources come out in strong support of gay marriage. Some news outlets even say that Starbucks wants no business from those who support traditional values.

I am not afraid to say I opposed to the gay lifestyle as a follower of Jesus Christ. In fact Im not for any lifestyle that scripture clearly condemns as sin. No, Im not writing to attack anyone on how they live because ultimately they have to answer to Christ not me.

However, my point in writing this is hopeful to enable some of my fellow believers some scriptural wisdom when it comes to the common asked question. “Should we Boycott Starbucks?”

Well first off. I cannot answer that, but scripture can. Im reminded of Romans chapter 14, and 1 Corinthians chaprer 8

Romans 14:1-23 Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. One person’s faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand. One person considers one day more sacred than another; another considers every day alike. Each of them should be fully convinced in their own mind. Whoever regards one day as special does so to the Lord. Whoever eats meat does so to the Lord, for they give thanks to God; and whoever abstains does so to the Lord and gives thanks to God. For none of us lives for ourselves alone, and none of us dies for ourselves alone. If we live, we live for the Lord; and if we die, we die for the Lord. So, whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord. For this very reason, Christ died and returned to life so that he might be the Lord of both the dead and the living. You, then, why do you judge your brother or sister? Or why do you treat them with contempt? For we will all stand before God’s judgment seat. It is written:“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,‘every knee will bow before me;every tongue will acknowledge God.’” So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God. Therefore let us stop passing judgment on one another. Instead, make up your mind not to put any stumbling block or obstacle in the way of a brother or sister. I am convinced, being fully persuaded in the Lord Jesus, that nothing is unclean in itself. But if anyone regards something as unclean, then for that person it is unclean. If your brother or sister is distressed because of what you eat, you are no longer acting in love. Do not by your eating destroy someone for whom Christ died. Therefore do not let what you know is good be spoken of as evil. For the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking, but of righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit, because anyone who serves Christ in this way is pleasing to God and receives human approval. Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification. Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. All food is clean, but it is wrong for a person to eat anything that causes someone else to stumble. It is better not to eat meat or drink wine or to do anything else that will cause your brother or sister to fall. So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God. Blessed is the one who does not condemn himself by what he approves. But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. 

A few highlights.

• The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. Who are you to judge someone else’s servant?

• Do not destroy the work of God for the sake of food. 

• But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. 

First bullet point: 1.) The one who eats everything is not to judge him who does not and the man who has objectiom to certain foods should not impose his standard on him who does eat everything. Pretty basic, do not judge another believers personal convictions on not clear black and white scriptural matters. We see this happen with music, or even the occassional drink a believer might have, the Bible speaks of drunkeness but not a glass of wine on occassion. Some believers I feel try to in away without realizing it become the other person’s conscience or play Holy Spirit. Whether or not one drink is a sin or not, or whether as some may say, “punk rock is sin!” is not really ours to decide for every individual believer or not. God gave us the Holy Spirit to guide and convict, he gave us his word also as a standard of all rigtheous living. So Id say if its not clearly spelled out in the Word of God as transgression than we become the measuring sticks, and not God’s word, and that is not our place.

2.) “Do not destroy the work of God over food” basically, Paul is suggesting that something as insignificant as a meatball sub should not destroy or get in the way of the ultimate work of God. Can you guess? Why did Christ come to this earth, live the life of a man, die on a cross and ressurect? Was it so we could argue about a lame Starbucks coffee. Was it so we could quarel about boycotting this or that business and fight over whether heavy metal is of the devil? Was it so we could bicker and fight about this that or the other? Can we all agree as Christ’s disciples that the thing that brings God the most glory is the repentence of a sinner who in faith trusts Christ for his or her salvation? Can we agree that as Paul wrote in 1 Thessalonians that God’s will is our sanctification? Our holiness and love for him and all people?

3. AGAIN, I will say, it is from my understanding of scripture, that whether or not you chose to refrain from buying from this or that company is between you and God and there is no sense airing dirty laundry to the world, especially them who do not know Christ. As it says, “But whoever has doubts is condemned if they eat, because their eating is not from faith; and everything that does not come from faith is sin. ”  So really if you are unsure whether buying from a business that supports sinful agenda’s is God’s will, then bojollies listen to your doubts and do not violate your convictions. However, if you see Starbucks as just another place in a fallen world that cannot make you any closer or further from God. Then do what your faith allows. Do not announce it one way or the other, nor go there if your with a Christian who feels strongly against it. Don’t be legalistic but at the same time do not tempt a brother to disobey God’s personal word to them either.

1 Corinthians 8:1-13 Now about food sacrificed to idols: We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up. Those who think they know something do not yet know as they ought to know. But whoever loves God is known by God. So then, about eating food sacrificed to idols: We know that “An idol is nothing at all in the world” and that “There is no God but one.” For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth as indeed there are many “gods” and many “lords”, yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live. But not everyone possesses this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that when they eat sacrificial food they think of it as having been sacrificed to a god, and since their conscience is weak, it is defiled. But food does not bring us near to God; we are no worse if we do not eat, and no better if we do. Be careful, however, that the exercise of your rights does not become a stumbling block to the weak. For if someone with a weak conscience sees you, with all your knowledge, eating in an idol’s temple, won’t that person be emboldened to eat what is sacrificed to idols? So this weak brother or sister, for whom Christ died, is destroyed by your knowledge. When you sin against them in this way and wound their weak conscience, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if what I eat causes my brother or sister to fall into sin, I will never eat meat again, so that I will not cause them to fall. 

Does Christianity Really Oppress Women?

 

Some say Christianity oppresses women, well if that were the case then why did so many women weep when they saw Him nailed to that rugged cross. Some of the first witnesses of his resurrection were women.

Granted, some  have a warped view of Christ because someone who maybe claimed to know him abused the His words!

There will always be those who claim to know Jesus, and profess to be sheep, really actually be wolves in disguise.

Matthew 11:28-30 “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

Do not run from the shepherd who died for you because some man or person who claimed to know him behaved in an abusive spiritual, emotional, or physical fashion. The Bible says, “Husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church”

Did Christ abuse his bride? Did he abuse his authority and leadership over his Church? Is he kind when she is ungrateful? And is he patient when she is difficult? Does he punish us as our sins deserve? Does he condemn us when we have a difficult day? No, he died on that cross so he could adorn his bride with a garment of glory and righteousness! He gave her the ornaments of peace, joy, and hope! He lavished her with his loving kindness and betrothed her to himself.

Do not let someone in your past history drive you from the lover of your soul!