Toby J. Sumpter's Blog, page 73

Collin & Lizzie

Ps. 20 is a war psalm.

While “the day of trouble” could be applied to any number of situations appropriately, the immediate situation facing David was a battle. Psalm 20 is a prayer asking God to remember those going to war. The banners are those of battalions of troops, and of course, as they go into battle, David is teaching the armies of Israel not to put their trust in horses or chariots but rather in the name of the Lord their God.

As I said, the “day of trouble” can be applied to other situations appropriately. And one of those situations, especially in our day, is the war over the nature of the family.

The first thing to get straight is to recognize that this war is not just an argument over something relatively inconsequential, like whether Pluto ought to be considered a planet or not. There may or may not be a right answer to that question, but the answer is not consequential to our day to day lives. But whether a man and a woman are essential to marriage, whether children are a normal part of a family – these are highly consequential questions. Does it matter if one family is made up of four spouses and another family is made up of two? Does it matter whether it is four men, four women, two of each, or not? Does it matter whether a child is raised by two mothers or two fathers? Does it matter whether we identify a child by its biological sex?

These questions are massively consequential. They have consequences not merely for one particular family, but for all families, not for just one marriage, but for all marriages. These questions strike at what it means to be human, what it means to be male or female, a man or a woman, even how a community is formed, what it means to have friends.

These are questions that only a few decades ago would have been considered outrageous and ridiculous, and they are now questions being asked in college classrooms and on talk shows and news reports by otherwise rather well-adjusted and semi-well-educated members of our culture. But this means that if these folks are not actually insane, then they are actively at war with the way God made the world.

And there are basically three steps to this war being waged: First, the goal is to blur distinctions. This usually begins by raising exceptions: what about a couple that cannot bear children? What about single-parent families? What about when a child is raised by two aunts? And the exceptions multiply, not in order to seek to apply the principles of the ordinary structure of a family to a unique situation, but in order to batter down the principles of the ordinary family structure. If these are families, then your father-mother-child structure is incidental to family. It is just one sort of family structure among many possibilities. Thus, we begin to blur distinctions between what is normal, ordinary, God-ordained and the unfortunate, exceptional, or malformed.

The second play is to deny distinctions. If a grandmother can raise her grandchildren in the absence of a father and mother, if two sisters can raise their nephew, if a single mom can raise her son, then there is really no difference. Family is just whatever kind of human community you choose to create in your home. And the goal here is to make everyone sensitive to making any kind of value statements. Family is whatever anyone wants. There are no distinctions. And therefore, even the roles of father and mother, husband and wife are not essential. If you can have a family without a mother, why can’t you have a family with two dads? There are no distinctions: anyone can be anything they want.

The final play is to seize control. The promise of this kind of free-floating creativity (family can be anything you want) is always a lie because someone has to run air traffic control. What if what that family wants doesn’t line up with what that family wants? Even language must be regulated: what exactly do we mean by boy or girl or father or mother? So in order to keep the peace in this anarchy, there must be an authority who is in charge for everyone’s good. In other words, this whole war is ultimately over authority. Who is in control? Who is sovereign? And this means that in this world, there will always be authority and submission, the only question is who will be the sovereign and who will submit? And will that authority be good and righteous or not?

So, having established that there is a war raging over the nature of what it means to be a family and having established that this war is not trivial but consequential and enormously significant, I want to charge the two of you to lean into this war, to take up your duties as a Christian husband and wife as acts of war. Set up these banners in the name of our God.

First, instead of participating in blurring or denying distinctions, revel in the glory of distinctions. Don’t merely go along with what the Bible says about husbands and wives and family, celebrate what the Bible says. Rejoice in the fact that God made you a man and woman, rejoice in that difference. Many of the most common marital squabbles essentially come down to resenting the difference between men and women, but rather than trying to shorten that distance, rather than blurring the distinctions, rejoice in them. Collin, rejoice in the fact that God has made you strong for Lizzie, to carry her burdens, to carry her weaknesses, and to love her by doing what is best for her in Christ. Lizzie, rejoice in the fact that God has made you lovely for Collin, and do not think of your beauty like the world does, as though it is just an external façade. True, godly feminine beauty is deep and wise and glorious. It goes all the way down into the heart, quiet and gentle and precious in the sight of God, resulting in a glorious fearlessness.

And do not lose sight of the inescapability of authority and submission. Collin, you do not have any authority except as you submit to Christ. And this means submitting to his entire Word, both regarding your sins and your responsibilities. Many men believe that if they admit that they have failed they are undermining their authority, but it’s actually just the opposite. Recognizing that there is a standard above you that you did not meet in one instance is the very same standard that authorizes you to take responsibility for and lead your wife wisely everywhere else. If you deny that standard that will occasionally reveal that you were wrong, you are actually denying that you have any authority at all. Related, do not think of your authority as an unfortunate sort of thing, that only occasionally comes into play when there’s a disagreement. Your authority is always in play, which is another way of saying that authority is not merely being the boss. Authority is not merely making the decisions. Authority does make decisions, but authority also gets up early to read scripture and pray for your family, authority extends kindness and compliments, authority works hard for many years saving for the future, authority shows up with flowers and chocolate, authority changes diapers, authority coaches little league baseball, authority plans for weekends away without the kids. In other words, a Christian husband’s authority looks a lot like love.

And likewise, Lizzie, your submission to Collin’s authority is actually the ground of your authority in the home. A Christian wife is not without authority. The Apostle Paul says that you have authority over Collin’s body. As a Christian woman you have the moral authority of a sister in Christ. And elsewhere in Titus, Paul says that the older women are to teach the younger women to be rulers of their home. Putting all of this together means that a Christian wife actually has a significant amount of authority, but she has this authority from God. And this same God says that she is to exercise her authority in submission to her own husband. Again, do not think that if only you didn’t have to submit to your husband you would have more authority. No, the truth is actually just the opposite: the more a woman resists submitting to her own husband, the more she is resisting the authority God has for her. The very standard that requires you to submit to your own husband in all things is the same standard that grants you authority as a Christian wife.

The world hates the way God has made the world, the way He has created man, male and female, the way He has designed families to work, the blessing of children. All of this is ultimately because the world rejects God and His authority. And every one of us was once an enemy of God too. But while were enemies, Christ died for us. The authority of God sent His Son with the authority to take our sin upon Himself, so that He might authoritatively declare us right and clean. It is this same authority to save sinners that grants authority to a man to lead and rule a family, and it is this same saving authority that grants authority to a woman to submit to her husband and so rule in her home. This is our glory. These are banners that we wave in the name of our God.

“Some trust in chariots, and some in horses, but we will remember the name of the Lord our God. They are brought down and fallen: but we are risen, and stand upright.” (Ps. 20:7-8)

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Amen.

Is It Christian to be Patriotic?

“The game is to have them all running about with fire extinguishers when there is a flood, and all crowding to that side of the boat which is already nearly gunwale under.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

Let me get a couple of easy things out of the way here at the outset:

I am not a fan of Lord’s Day worship services that serve as political rallies. The Lord’s Day worship service is a political event, but it is a cosmic political event in which every nation gathers before the King of kings and Lord of lords. We do come as Americans and Russians and Ethiopians and Mexicans and there will be some indications of that in our worship, but we come as joint heirs, brothers, subjects of one King. I do not have a problem with a church sponsoring a special service that focuses on the needs and blessings of their nation (at another time), and we are to regularly give thanks for the particular gifts we enjoy, apply the word of God to our particular contexts, and to pray for our rulers.

So I’m not a proponent of draping American flags all over the sanctuary and singing all the patriotic songs for the service. Some of the spectacles I’ve seen online really are difficult to distinguish from some kind of idolatry. We do not worship George Washington, the United States, Donald Trump, or the American flag. We worship the Triune God who is not served through flags or icons or statues made with the hands of men, and that should be obvious and clear to anyone who happens to walk into the room.

At the same time, Christians really have to keep their eye on the ball of obedience. And what I mean is that what C.S. Lewis wrote in Screwtape Letters remains clearly true. Christians are constantly being tempted to run for fire extinguishers when there is a flood, to crowd to the side of the boat that is already gunwale under, all in the name of “balance.” While I know there are Christian worship services that look like nationalistic idolfests, Christians need to recognize that those misguided and disobedient Christians are not the manifest problem in these United States. I’m not saying they have no problems, but I’m saying they aren’t the biggest problem. I would even venture to argue that most of the worst forms of nationolatry in our midst are more failures of taste and liturgy than boldfaced acts of idolatry. In other words, if I were a betting man, I’d bet that most of those patriotic services that give me the willies make clear during the services to some extent that God is the object of their praise, not America, the flag, Lincoln, etc.

But we are being conditioned, catechized, and discipled by alien priests and pastors, such that the mere mention of gratitude for America, the mere singing of God Bless America, or the simple, radiant joy in fireworks, hotdogs, cheap beer, apple pie, and taking your guns out to the shooting range conjures up warnings, cautions, and coolshaming from the usual high priestly quarters. Red-blooded American Christians who see all the messes, all the sin, all the hypocrisy, all the bloodshed and perversion, and yet can also see all the good still piled up high in families and friends, churches and trucks, free elections and relatively free markets — instinctively think they ought to give thanks. We instinctively think we ought to rejoice, eat some good food, and shoot some loud colors into the sky — and why not? But the school marms and nannies come running with their warnings. Watch out for nationalistic hubris. Watch out for patriotic pride. Watch out for identifying with red state GOP ideologies. Jesus isn’t a Republican, after all.

And like many warnings, there are elements of truth in all of it, but the cumulative affect is to caution Christians away from obedience into a more watered down piety. Yes, I know lots of American beer is already watered down, but beer with me for a moment. Heh.

And here’s the point I want to make. Christian wisdom and obedience is not less material, less grounded, less situated, it is more material, more grounded, more situated. Our problem is not patriotism. Our problem is actually that we are not patriotic enough. As Lewis says somewhere the reason Jesus could pass through doors after the resurrection was not because He was less material, but because the walls and doors of this world were less material than Him. Jesus had become more material, more solid. As the hymn puts it, “solid joys and lasting treasure, none but Zion’s children know.” The resurrection is not the cosmic rejection of the material world, particularity and historicity, the resurrection of Jesus is God’s downpayment for the redemption of every good thing — and that includes particular nations.

“And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation; And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth” (Rev. 5:9-10).

Christians are called to lean into the resurrection.

And summing up the glories of the resurrection, Paul writes, “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye steadfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Cor. 15:58).

Set your minds on things above, where Christ is seated. We are called to keep our eyes fixed on the prize of Christ, seeking first His kingdom and His righteousness. But God has called us to this task in this material world, in this moment in history, and to my fellow Americans, as Americans. We are absolutely Christians first, and we are lots of other things before we are Americans (e.g. male, husband, father, pastor, etc.), but one of the gifts God has bestowed is the gift of place, the gift of a brief moment of life in the history of this world, the gift of nationhood, the gift of neighbors and stories in a particular locale. And leaning into the resurrection, seeking the prize of Christ is not less than these gifts, it is inconceivably more. It is not less than apple pie and grilling hot dogs in the sun. It is more. It is not less than colorful explosions in an indigo sky. It is more. It is not less than the deep gratitude you have for grandfathers and great-uncles who served, who fought, who died, who loved, it is more.

How do we build a Christian culture? How do we build (or rebuild) a Christian nation? It is not through less identification with the people and places where God has called us. It is actually through a deeper identification with them, a right way of identifying with them that is actually far more patriotic, far more joyful. This is not a blind or mindless patriotism that would vote for yellow dogs if they have the right letter after their name on the ballot. This is a patriotism that sees all the evil, all the horror, and yet also sees with eyes of faith the goodness that God has given and presses in toward that. Understood rightly, true patriotism is just practicing love and loyalty and friendship to our particular neighbors. There’s a pretend neighborliness that projects friendliness out on the idea of hospitality. And then there’s an actual grill with actual meat, and actual drinks and actual chairs, and actual joy. In the former, the idea might be a little more fancy and pristine in your mind, and in the latter, there might be some fussing and ketchup stains here and there that needs sorting out. But in one, real love and friendship and loyalty is been practiced and attempted, however faltering, and in the other, selfishness and isolation and disloyalty is what is actually being practiced, whatever the marching band may be playing in your head.

So what are you practicing for? Are you practicing for the resurrection or for eternal isolation?

Don’t imagine a pretend America, a pretend patriotism in your head with nothing touching the ground, nothing material or historical. Give thanks for the real America, the true America the one on your street, in your home, on your back porch. Christian patriotism is just simple gratitude for those particular moments and gifts. It’s a gratitude that sees the true America sparkling in the eyes of your wife, so you hold her and kiss her like you mean it. It’s a gratitude that hears the true America in the laughter of your family and friends on a sweaty patio with Johnny Cash strumming in the background. It’s a gratitude that smells the true America in the smoke and sunscreen and wheat-tinged air. It’s a gratitude the feels the true America as your hand plays with the wind as you drive down the backroads lined with amber rolling hills.

God gives nations, and God does not give bad gifts. We turn His gifts to evil. We ignore our Maker and we do terrible things. And we have. But this means that our mission is not to refuse the gift. Our mission is to see the gift, to receive the gift, to cherish the real gift, confess our sins, and then lean in deeper. Try to lean in towards the resurrection, towards the New Jerusalem, where all the nations will bring their glory and treasure to the Lamb.

Happy Independence Day, y’all. I’ll be on my back porch grilling in a bit.

 

Photo by frank mckenna on Unsplash

Social Media & Literacy

And I’m back at last to jump into chapter 4 of 12 Ways Your Phone is Changing You by Tony Reinke.

Here, Reinke asks whether smart phones and social media are actually making us smarter — that is, what are these tools doing to our literacy? Reinke cites a nonscientific survey that he conducted with 8,000 Christians via various social media outlets regarding their reading habits. While the results of this study are interesting, and I would be happy to grant may indicate some troubling trends, I think it’s overly simplistic to conclude that “as a result of their phones and social media… it is becoming increasingly difficult for substantial percentage of young Christians to read books” (81).

This may or may not be the case. But there are at least two questionable things in this analysis. The first is that this is all self-reported data. Reinke notes that only half of those surveyed thought that their phones and social media had any affect on their reading habits. But self-reporting is a notoriously fraught venture. We all have better or worse views of ourselves depending on lots of things. The other thing to note is that correlation does not prove causation. There could be any number of other (and more significant) factors at work in our society and culture that are actually causing our slide into illiteracy (or alliteracy — the tendency to skim, especially digital texts). And to be clear, Reinke is careful to frame the survey as nonscientific, but I don’t find the survey to be a particularly strong or helpful argument — just an interesting anecdote.

Next, Reinke cites a study by Ackerman and Goldsmith, published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, comparing the difference in reading comprehension that emerges between paper and electronic reading. The study noted that a difference in comprehension emerged when no time limit was given to the participants. Reinke summarizes and quotes the findings: “The takeaway in the study was simple and yet profound: poor digital reading was not the result of the medium, ‘but rather of a failure of self-knowledge and self-control: we don’t realize that digital comprehension may take just as much time as reading a book.'” (84) I think this gets things exactly right. Where people develop poor habits, I am wary of assigning cause or blame to the technology and/or mediums. The cause and blame should be laid squarely at the feet of people. The responsibility of people is to be self-aware and to practice self-control. This is the nature of living in the world God made.

Imagine living in the Garden of Eden as Adam or Eve. They find lush, juicy strawberries one day. Do strawberries teach and condition Adam and Eve to expect immediate sweetness from everything? I suppose it could. But as they experience the world God made, they will find that there are many different flavors, some vibrant, some subtle. Some are immediate, some are slow. If Adam develops a “jet ski” mentality, that merely skims over creation in search of the easy and accessible, this is not the fault of sweet strawberries. This would be a failure of self-knowledge and self-control, a failure to read and rule the world rightly.

Reinke notes that despite the various lures to embrace triviality and skimming, early returns do indicate that Christians are using their phones to read more Bible. The implications for Christians and societies formed around the Bible have been and continue to be monumental. Reinke argues that Christians are called to cultivate a “covenantal concentration” based on a continual reading, meditation, and deep re-reading of the varying and challenging texts found in Scripture. To the extent that the modern world has embraced alliteracy, the Christian church is called to a counterculture of literacy, because central to her calling, “solid expositional preaching is essentially a model of healthy, slow reading” (89). Reinke rightly closes with the charge: “Our challenge is to use social media in the service of serious reading.”

As I’ve noted previously, I’m generally appreciative of Reinke’s analysis and cautions. Though on the whole, I would wish for a full chapter developing this final charge. There are a number of folks pointing out various weaknesses and pitfalls available to users of this modern technology, and most conscientious Christians know about these pitfalls because the Holy Spirit convicts them. But I really do believe we could do with a heavy dose of Holy Spirit exploitation of these modern technologies. How can social media and smart phones be ruled by wise and faithful and courageous men and women? How can they be harnessed to produce their maximum fruitfulness for individuals, families, churches, and the kingdom?

Reinke notes that he has become a more voracious reader through connecting with readers and authors online. And I suspect that more of this kind of encouragement is needed. Can we cheer one another on as we read the Bible? Can we share “good reads”? What about tasty quotations? What about book reviews? What about audio books? Do we have opportunities to redeem our time while sitting in traffic, while riding the bus, while walking to school? Do we have more opportunities, more possibilities for education, for Christian discipleship, for reading and thinking deeply? I would say so.

But Ackerman and Goldsmith are right. This requires self-awareness and self-control. The medium is a gift, a tool, a piece of semi-tamed nature to be received with thanksgiving, ruled with wisdom, and cultivated for the good of our neighbor and the glory of God.

 

Photo by Alex Perez on Unsplash

When God is Roused

Isaiah 42:13 says, “The LORD shall go forth as a mighty man, he shall stir up jealousy like a man of war: he shall cry, yea, roar; he shall prevail against his enemies.”

One of the regular prayers we pray is that God would send reformation and revival on the Church in this land. There are reasons to believe that God in His mercy is answering that prayer, and yet, we are still far from seeing God fully roused. There are rumbles here and there, but when God stirs up jealousy like a man of war, it is unmistakable. True Christian revival stirs up the hearts of men, and they confess their sins and repent with gladness, and when this happens on a large scale, it shakes the foundations of the earth. It shakes institutions, families, churches, states, business, and nations, causing radical repentance and glad obedience beginning in hearts reaching all the way up and all the way out into the societies and cultures of men. This is what we are praying for.

In the Two Towers in the Lord of the Rings, perhaps you remember when the hobbits, Merry and Pippin, are waiting for the outcome of the Entmoot, the great meeting of all the Ents, when Treebeard is explaining that Saruman has become an evil wizard and joined forces with the orcs.

The hobbits wait while the Ents meet – Ents are not hasty folk, but suddenly on the third day there is a deep silence over the wood, and then a great roar and war drums begin to beat and above the rolling beats and booms, the voices of the Ents come singing high and strong and the Ents go marching, beating time with their hands upon their flanks, chanting that they are going to war. Treebeard explains that the Ents don’t often get roused, but occasionally they can be roused to a terrible and righteous fury.

Our God is somewhat like that. He is not hasty, but He can be roused to a terrible and righteous fury. So as you celebrate this meal, make it your prayer that God would rise up and roar, and that He would stir us up and stir up His Church in this land, that we would see the evils and dangers growing around us and in our own hearts and homes, and the Lord would lead us into battle.

So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

 

Photo by Jeremy Bishop on Unsplash

Kill Your Lust

“27“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ 28But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell. 30And if your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body go into hell.” (Matt. 5:27-30)

How big of a deal is lust? What should Christians do about it? Jesus says to do whatever it takes to kill it. This may mean getting rid of your smart phone, cancelling Netflix, getting rid of cable television, throwing away your computer, quitting your job, moving, or other seemingly radical, draconian measures. Jesus said to cut off the hand that causes you to sin and throw it away.

Related, you need to learn to hate this sin. Have you ever stopped to think about the layers of wickedness involved in the porn industry? How many countless mothers, sisters, and daughters have been treated like flesh to be bought and sold and used rather than human beings made in God’s image to be honored and cherished and protected? How many have been forced to get abortions? How many have been enslaved and trapped by threats and insults and drugs? And every time you click through, you are endorsing that kind of evil.

Part of the enslavement to lust is the cycle of shame and lies. You recognize your sin, you confess, and you intend to never do it again. And two weeks later, you fall into sin again. Now you not only feel awful, but you feel the compounded shame of having failure on top of failure. And then the lie creeps into your head: you’ll never be able to stop. And you feel dirty and wonder if you can actually become clean.

So listen to me now: Jesus died to set you free from lust. He died to wash you completely clean. Do not wallow around in shame and disappointment. Hate your sin, really hate it. Confess your sin and cry out to God for deliverance. Kill your sin, and throw anything away that is leading you into it. And then run toward the light. Put off the old man and put on Christ. Read your Bible, work hard, love your family, practice hospitality, give generously.

 

Photo by Jose Fontano on Unsplash

Failure to Burn the Spoil: A Thought on Revoice

Well there’s been a fair bit of back and forth on the upcoming Revoice Conference, self-styled: “Supporting, encouraging, and empowering gay, lesbian, same-sex-attracted, and other LGBT Christians so they can flourish while observing the historic, Christian doctrine of marriage and sexuality.”

I have several thoughts on all of this, but for the time being, I want to explain just one. You can find a fair bit of other helpful commentary over on the Warhorn Media site, Doug Wilson’s fingers have been busy here, Steven Wedgeworth has also responded, as has Andrew Walker. On the other hand, Matthew Lee Anderson has attempted to hold the two positions closer together, critiquing the critiques here.

I was grateful to correspond with Ron Belgau briefly on Twitter a couple weeks back. Ron is one of the cofounders of the Spiritual Friendship website with Wesley Hill, he has written extensively on the topics of homosexual temptation and spiritual friendship, and is one of the presenters at the Revoice conference. And I may get a chance to summarize more of my concerns at some point, but for now, I simply want to point out one thing.

And that one thing is the importance of understanding and articulating the nature of homosexual sin. Yes, the Spiritual Friendship and Revoice folks state clearly that homosexuality is sinful and that homosexual lust must be mortified. But that is not all that the Bible says. The Bible says homosexual sin is an abomination:

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. (Lev. 18:22)

If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall surely be put to death; their blood is upon them. (Lev. 20:13)

But that particular terminology is not just old KJV for “really bad.” The Bible also explains what abominations are and what they require in response:

For everyone who does any of these abominations, the persons who do them shall be cut off from among their people. (Lev. 18:29)

And you shall not bring an abominable thing into your house and become devoted to destruction like it. You shall utterly detest it and abhor it, for it is devoted to destruction. (Dt. 7:26)

The you shall inquire and make search and ask diligently. And behold, if it be true and certain that such an abomination has been done among you, you shall surely put the inhabitants of that city to the sword, devoting it to destruction, all who are in it and its cattle, with the edge of the sword. You shall gather all its spoil into the midst of its open square and burn the city and all its spoil with fire, as a whole burnt offering to the Lord your God. It shall be a heap forever. It shall not be built again. (Dt. 13:14-16)

So this is my question: In affirming the biblical condemnation of homosexuality, have the proponents of Spiritual Friendship and Revoice sufficiently reckoned with this biblical data concerning the abomination of homosexuality? It is not merely sinful, it is the kind of sin that defiles the land. It is the kind of sin that defiles the whole city. It is the kind of sin that defiles the cattle of the city. It is the kind of sin that even defiles the spoils of the city. It’s the kind of sin the requires such a wholesale repudiation that the city itself must not be built again.

Abominations were not merely sins alongside other sins for which ceremonial washing and sacrifices and restitution might make things right. Abominations were a class of high-handed sin that required radical amputation, complete removal, holy hatred, utter destruction because of the way they bring sin upon the land (cf. Dt. 24:4). In the prophets, it was the shameless celebration of abominations in Israel that served as a central argument for God’s coming destruction of Israel and exile from the land (Jer. 6:15, 8:12, Ez. 16:50, 18:12-13, 22:11-15).

Please understand me carefully: I am not suggesting that we in the Christian era are called to perform these exact punishments or acts of herem warfare on homosexuals today. But I am insisting that these laws are true and faithful expressions of God’s eternal, holy, and fixed disposition towards those sins. And the New Testament makes it clear that God’s holy presence in the New Covenant is not less fierce, but more (Heb. 12:18-29). Therefore Christians are called upon to act with even greater vehemence, holy hatred in confrontation and repentance of this sin. This means we must not only mortify the sinful acts we have committed and the lusts we have harbored, but in the case of these sins, we must figure out how to burn the whole city of sin in our hearts to the ground, including the spoils. God says it is an abomination, and that means we must burn the whole thing down and not rebuild it in any way.

But didn’t some of those cities have nice architecture? Didn’t some of those cities have thriving cattle industries? Didn’t some of those cities have a lot of wealth and riches and thriving economies? Yes they did, and God explicitly said not to take any of it. It was all defiled. Burn it all. Cut it all off. God didn’t say to sift through it all and try to figure out which parts were really virtues underneath all the gunk. Jude seems to have something of this imagery in mind when he exhorts: “save others by snatching them out of the fire; to others show mercy with fear, hating even the garment stained by the flesh” (Jude 1:23).

But what if the garments are really nice garments, carefully woven, rare, or expensive? Hate them because they are stained by the flesh. And note that we do this in order to “show mercy with fear.” Recall also that this general exhortation comes following an explicit mention of homosexual lust: “Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire” (Jude 1:7).

Jude says that Sodom and Gomorrah indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire (Gk. “went after strange flesh”), and they were burned in fire as an example of eternal punishment. Remember also Lot’s wife who looked back and was turned to salt. Lot’s wife was reckoned with Sodom and Gomorrah by her backward glance, and there is no indication that her backward glance was an explicitly homosexual lust. Rather, it was a desire of some sort for the city, for her house, for her life, for her friends back in Sodom. And imagine the theological or philosophical protests she might have made. She wasn’t desiring to have sex with other women, she just liked the culture of Sodom. She knew sexual immorality was sinful, but Sodom really was in a lovely location on the plain — didn’t God create that good location and that natural beauty? Couldn’t she appreciate that while repudiating the sexual sin? No, she couldn’t. Abominations defile the land, and she was called to flee all of it.

My point in all of this is simply to underline the grave seriousness of underestimating the defilement of homosexual sin. The Bible clearly requires Christians not to treat homosexual sin as simply one sexual sin among many. All sexual sin is serious and potent, but the Bible teaches that homosexual sin is a particularly heinous form of defilement that infects not merely the hearts and minds and bodies of those who participate in homosexual lust or acts but everything around them is infected. Everything is defiled, even their cows grazing in the field, even their spoils.

Now, please hear this next part carefully: this means that we are all defiled. I am defiled with the abomination of homosexuality. My city, my church, my family, my nation is all defiled. Nothing is untouched by this stain. And related, the same thing goes for the abomination of abortion, the blood of innocents offered to the false gods of convenience, choice, sexual anarchy, and all the rest. The blood of those millions of babies is on my hands and on yours. We are all affected, and we are all infected. We are all defiled. This is what abominations do. They defile the land, all of the land, everything.

So this is not an exercise in pointing fingers or an exercise in self-righteousness. The point of all of this is to proclaim the only hope any of us have: the blood of Jesus Christ. Only the blood of Christ can make us clean. Only the blood of Christ can take away the uncleanness in our hearts, in our hands, in our minds, and in our land. But the very last thing we need is any kind of sectioning off of any area of our lives or experiences or communities that we claim are somehow not defiled, that are not unclean, that don’t need to be burned down. Yes, I know that there are practical questions about what to do after someone has repented. But despite the protests to the contrary that the Spiritual Friendship guys and gals have taken the biblical data sufficiently seriously, I am doubtful. I see websites and conferences dedicated to rummaging around in the spoils of gay culture. I see homosexually tempted men and women trying to save some of the clothing defiled by their sin rather than a wholesale willingness to hate even the garment stained by their flesh. But this is to exempt some part of their human experience from the trauma of the cross. Jesus demands everything, all that we are. We must be crucified with Christ. Everything we are must die in Christ in order to live. You may not take any part of “gay culture” or “same-sex attraction” with you. That city must be burned to the ground and never rebuilt if Christ is to live in us and raise us to new life.

Finally, our failure to proclaim the shamefulness of homosexual acts and desires, the defiling and degrading nature of those passions, is a failure to proclaim the full gospel. The gospel, the good news of Jesus, always begins with condemnation. It always begins with the bad news, with guilt and shame and darkness. All of the protests regarding the full throated condemnation of homosexuality driving same-sex tempted folks out of the church, all the hopes of being a refuge for homosexually tempted people, to the extent that we do not clearly state the detestable nature of homosexual sin and the way it defiles the land is a failure to proclaim real grace. We are healing wounds lightly, and therefore we are preaching a watered down Jesus. We proclaim the shame of a naked man suffocating on a Roman cross. We proclaim the darkness that covered the earth in the middle of the day. And in that shame, in that darkness God meets us with His mercy.

I actually do think there is something true amidst all of the confusion — I do think that a significant part of homosexual lust is driven by male hunger, specifically father hunger. Boys who are not loved well by their fathers are often left hungry, desiring fatherly/brotherly love. And like a man dying of thirst in the ocean, salt water can look and taste wonderful, and even contain some properties that are needed, and yet the whole thing will actual exacerbate the problem, leaving you more dehydrated in the end, even more starved in the end. So I do want to state emphatically that all men need brothers and fathers, and those men who have lacked those important masculine relationships do need to find them in the Church, in the brotherhood of the saints, in Christian friendship (and there are analogous needs to be met for women). But I also believe that a great deal rides on how we articulate this. And a poor articulation is a set up for disaster.

God the Father summons every one of us from the pig pen of our selfish abominations and degrading passions through the blood of His perfect Son, and when He calls us, He calls us to leave everything behind. Leave everything you thought made you who you were. Offer it all up as a burnt offering, a living sacrifice. Burn the spoils. And be sure: He welcomes every lost son who comes to Him with open arms, but He will not leave you the same. He will change you far beyond what you thought possible.

 

Photo by Denys Argyriou on Unsplash

Kanaan & Lauren

Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints. 2Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King. 3Let them praise his name in the dance: let them sing praises unto him with the timbrel and harp. 4For the LORD taketh pleasure in his people: he will beautify the meek with salvation. 5Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them sing aloud upon their beds. 6Let the high praises of God be in their mouth, and a twoedged sword in their hand; 7To execute vengeance upon the heathen, and punishments upon the people; 8To bind their kings with chains, and their nobles with fetters of iron; 9To execute upon them the judgment written: this honour have all his saints. Praise ye the LORD. (Psalm 149)

The center of this psalm is the line: For the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He will beautify the meek with salvation. This is the central reason for everything that comes before it and everything that follows. Why should the saints sing to the Lord a new song? Why should they rejoice in Him or praise His name in the dance? Because the Lord takes pleasure in His people; He beautifies the humble with salvation. Why should the saints sing aloud on their beds? Why should they execute judgments on the nations? Why should they take up the honor of binding wicked kings with chains? Because God takes pleasure in His people; He beautifies the humble with salvation.

The word translated “saints” throughout this psalm is the word “hasideem” – it’s the noun form of the word “hesed” – a famous Hebrew word that means lovingkindness, mercy, or covenant faithfulness. When the psalms say For His mercy endures forever – it’s that word hesed. It’s a little challenging to figure out how to render this word here. Is it meant in the active or passive sense? Is a hasid man one who has been shown lovingkindness and mercy and covenant faithfulness, or is it a man who shows lovingkindness, mercy, and covenant faithfulness? I want to argue that it’s both active and passive. God’s people are loved and so they love. God has been covenantally faithful to them, and therefore they have become a covenantally loyal people. But this order is really important: The active is built on top of the passive. We love because He loved us first (1 Jn. 4:19). Because we have received love, we know how to love. Because we have received mercy, we are merciful. Because He has been covenantally faithful to us, we can be faithful to Him and to one another. Or, as this psalm puts it, we sing and rejoice and execute judgments because the Lord takes pleasure in His people, because He beautifies the humble with salvation.

One more thing: the word for humble or meek, is used a number of times in the psalms, and it is often translated “poor” and “needy” and “afflicted.” There’s not really any way to make this verse sound like God loves people who are loveable. It’s not saying He rejoices over people who are good or nice. It says He beautifies people who have nothing, who are forgotten, who have been mistreated. In short, He beautifies people who need saving. He beautifies the humble with salvation.

Now, I want to apply this psalm to both of you, Kanaan and Lauren, and then give you a general exhortation for your new family.

First, Kanaan, the Bible explicitly calls you to imitate the love of God by loving your wife the way Jesus has loved the Church. You are to sacrifice your strength for her good. This is how you lay your life down for her. And you do this in order to present her to yourself all glorious, without spot or wrinkle. Paul says that every man instinctively takes care of his own body. No man ever hated his own flesh but nourishes and cherishes it. You naturally seek to improve yourself. Paul says this is how you should view Lauren, as your own flesh, as your own body. All of this is your assignment to lead Lauren and take responsibility for her. Your temptation will either be to be passive or tyrannical, and both are failures to actually lead. While there are real tyrants out there, on the whole, most conscientious Christian men fail to lead by being passive. Since you don’t want to be seen as mean or harsh, Christian men often settle for being nice. But “nice” is not one of the fruits of the Spirit. Of course, “kindness” is one of the fruits of the Spirit, and so is gentleness, but remember Jesus is your standard, not modern sentimentalism. Jesus was kind and gentle, and sometimes He called people names, overturned tables and cracked a whip in the temple, and ultimately, He walked into Hell to crush the head of the Great Dragon for us. Be gentle with Lauren but be hard on sin. You will answer to God for your care of this woman. And you are to do all of this with joy, with the song of salvation in your heart. And as you do this, you are imitating our Lord who rejoices in His people and beautifies the humble with salvation. You are beautifying Lauren.

Lauren, the Bible calls you to receive the love of Kanaan with joy, just as the Church receives the love of God in Christ. And this psalm says that God’s love makes us sing, makes us dance – it makes us bold. As Kanaan imitates the love of Christ and leads you toward Christ, let His love make you joyful and bold. This is what a Christian woman’s obedience to her husband should look like. It isa gentle and quiet spirit, but in another sense, it should make you louder with joy and singing and Christian courage. A submissive Christian wife is not fearful, shy, or mousy. A submissive Christian wife is a godly force to be reckoned with. Our world has far too many knock off versions of this and far too few of the genuine article: genuine feminine submission is joyful and bold. Song of Songs sings: “Who is she that looketh forth as the morning, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners?” My prayer is that in the coming months and years, the answer is It’s Mrs. Trotter coming. Lauren, the exhortation to you is to let your joy be the byproduct of his love for you. Lean into where he is leading you in godliness. A contentious woman, especially a loud contentious woman, is a real drag. But a glad, submissive wife should be a continual invitation to a feast.

And finally, let me give you both a charge for your new family and life together. Unbelievers should see a Christian husband and wife together and think, huh, I bet their house is a fun place to live. But this should not be because you have settled for an Ikea evangelicalism – a saccharine sentimentalism or a tidy, sterile politeness. No, Christian joy is fierce and glad, militant and happy. This psalm begins and ends in praise, but this praise is no impotent praise. This praise is a two-edged sword and chains and judgments for the wicked. And all of this is based on the “judgment written.” What is the judgment written? It’s the Bible from Genesis to Revelation. And what does it say? It says the wages of sin is death. And all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. And while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. When we were enemies of God, we were reconciled to God through the death of His son. This is why it is a great honor to bind the wicked of the earth with chains. It is a great honor to execute the judgments written, to name sin as sin because our Lord Jesus suffered, bled, and died for sinners. And we glory in His cross that takes away our sin.

The Lord rejoices over His people; He beautifies the humble with salvation. Do not settle for a bland emotionalism that quotes Bible verses. You have not been saved through the bland emotional feelings of God. The Lord laid your particular sins on a particular man named Jesus, and He suffered and bled and died for every single one of them. God executed the judgment written on Jesus, so that He might rejoice over you. This is how He beautifies sinners with salvation. He takes our rags, our shame, our guilt, our failure, and He executes the exact justice demanded by His holiness upon His own beloved and perfect Son, and in return, He clothes us in the righteousness of Jesus.

This is our honor. This is our glory. So let your home be a place full of praise: singing and dancing and musical instruments because you are continually telling the truth about sin and telling the truth about Jesus, about His joy in saving you and making you clean. And so live that gospel out in how you love and lead your wife, Kanaan, and in how you receive that love, Lauren. And teach your children how to sing that song. Teach your children the steps to that dance. Make unbelievers jealous. Make them wish they could sing and dance like that.

In the Name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

Do Not Refuse Him

I learned a new word this week – the word is “phubbing” – it’s a combination of the words “phone” and “snubbing.” One writer says that her students are so good at phubbing, they can be texting someone else while maintaining eye-contact with her.

And I want use that illustration as a reminder and a warning not to do that with Jesus here at this table. You can get good at phubbing, pretending to be present, pretending to be paying attention, going through the motions, all while attending to something else or someone else. And that really is snubbing the person standing right in front of you.

What else is there in all the world more glorious, more wonderful than sharing fellowship with the God of the universe and His people? I know it’s a little strange – isn’t it? We can’t see Jesus. We can’t see heaven opened up, with myriads of angels and the spirits of just men made perfect. But they are here. We are there. We have not come to a mountain that can be touched. We have come to Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to Jesus, the mediator of the New Covenant (Heb. 12). See that you do not refuse Him who speaks. Do not snub Him.

Remember, at the beginning of the service, I said: Lift up your hearts! And you said, We lift them up to the Lord! In many of the older services they would actually said that right here as they prepared to take the Lord’s Supper. We say it at the beginning of the service to emphasize the fact that our whole worship service takes place in heaven. But don’t forget. We’re still there. We can’t see it all. But we can see little glimpses of it. We can see it in the fact that we have been forgiven of all our sins. We can see it in the fact that we have been reconciled to God and to one another. What business do we have getting along so well when we’ve sinned against one another so much and so often. And we’re so different, and yet here we are, bound together in the love of Christ by His Spirit. Don’t look away. Don’t be distracted.

Take the bread and the wine, and eat and drink and believe.

So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

 

Photo by Luo ping on Unsplash

Cultivating Joy

Christian joy is a fruit of the Spirit, which actually tells us quite a bit about how to find joy.

So for example: How would you go about finding raspberries? Some of you are thinking: I would go to the grocery store and buy some. Ok, try to work with me here.

Fruit is produced through an organic process. A seed under the right conditions will sprout, and at some point that lively shoot will produce blossoms, and if the flower is fertilized it will close up and begin filling with juice.

And this is my point: joy is cultivated. Joy is a byproduct. Christian joy is the result of the seed of the gospel germinating in your heart, turning you into a new creature born again by God, such that you begin to confess your sins and repent of them and walk in new obedience. You stop being lazy, you stop lying, you stop being jealous, you stop being bitter, you stop getting angry, and you find that joy emerges like the sun breaking through dark clouds, as the Spirit works this repentance in you.

Now, it’s also true that joy is a command. Paul tells the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. How can Paul command us to rejoice when we don’t feel joyful? Don’t we sometimes have to wait for Spirit to produce the fruit of joy in our lives? There are at least two answers to this: First, a Christian can always rejoice in the Lord. You may not think you have anything else to rejoice about, but if you are a Christian, then the imperishable seed of the gospel has taken root in your soul, and you’re alive from the dead. You can always rejoice in that miracle. But second, and somewhat unlike the process of producing fruit, this command tells us that part of the obedience God requires of His children is practicing joy. Sing psalms in your car, around your dinner table, and let me encourage you to sing loudly. Hang out with joyful people. Learn to tell jokes. Read God’s word continually.

Finally, don’t forget that part of the joy we all long for is in heaven at our Father’s right hand. We have true tastes of that joy here and now, but if you’re constantly expecting that joy now, you will be disappointed. Part of real Christian joy now is the fierce conviction and longing for that day when we will see Jesus.

 

Photo by Kelly Neil on Unsplash

Immigration & Emotion

Introduction

By now you may have forgotten the latest outrage cycle regarding Trump’s move to have a “zero tolerance” policy for people seeking to enter the country illegally – specifically, charging those who seek to enter the country illegally with a felony and processing that charge, which in some instances could result in the separation of a child from a parent, placing the child under the care of social services to work a case of reunification with family as customarily happens in our country when a parent is prevented from caring for their child as a result of criminal proceedings. The outrage seems to have been momentarily diverted through Trump’s executive order that apparently returns us to the Obama era practice of keeping families together during their detention and legal processing – although a court ruling has previously called this practice into question.

A Summary of What We Don’t Know

Just a few other details to refresh your memory: First, remember that of the 12,000 underage children held in US custody, 10,000 of them were detained illegally crossing the US border alone– that is, already abandoned by their parents, already separated by their own families. Second, of the remaining 2,000 actually separated from the adults they accompanied, an unknown number of them were actual child trafficking cases. Third, of that remaining 2,000, an unknown number of them were in some kind of obviously dangerous or threatening situation with the adults accompanying them. Fourth, of that remaining 2,000, an unknown number of those children were accompanying adults who were breaking other US laws or were in other ways implicated in other crimes. Fifth, of that remaining 2,000, an unknown number of those children could not be proven to be the children of the adults accompanying them. Sixth, many of the pictures circulating of children behind bars laying on cots with radiant heat blankets were taken in 2014, during Obama’s administration. Finally, the now iconic picture of the little girl crying has been identified by the little girl’s father as not actually being a picture of a little girl being separated from her parents. Thus far, an overview of what we don’t know about the situation.

All Things Being Equal or Not

Now, let me be clear about a couple of other matters. All things being equal, I think law abiding folks should be free to cross into and out of our country as they please. I do not buy into all that scaremongering on the right about taking away jobs and there not being enough room or enough resources to serve everybody. That may or may not be true, but I think we should let natural forces sort that out. I object to the nanny state mothering people in general, and specifically here. If a family wants to make a go of it in the US, I’m a robust supporter of letting them try. I’m also a robust supporter of letting them fail if they can’t find work, can’t keep work, or aren’t otherwise skilled or inclined to learn the skills needed to find or keep work. But I’m in favor of giving everyone the opportunity. That being said, everything is not equal, and the civil magistrate has a duty from God to protect its citizens. Given the world we live in with gangs, drug cartels, Isis, the Taliban, and Jimmy Kimmel running around, we would be fools to simply open the boarders wide without any sort of processing or background checks.

My Distrust-O-Meter

I also want to be clear that I don’t have a great deal of trust in our government to have particularly wise or judicious instincts, policies, or laws regarding immigration. We can’t tell the difference between a blob of tissue and a baby or the difference between a boy or a girl, so I’m very sympathetic with folks who are concerned that our border patrol could misuse their power. Same thing goes for HHS and Social Services. Do I think our Social Services should be trusted with deciding which families are competent to care for their children and which are not? In general, not hardly. My wife and I are licensed foster parents, and we have had some 15 or so children through our home over the last five years. We’ve had many meetings with social workers, interviews, home visits, home inspections, including interviews of our own biological children. While we have been enormously blessed to work with many kind, decent, and reasonable folks (and many Christians in our district), we have also noted how social workers could make life very miserable for a family if they wanted to. All that to say, I don’t believe the government should be running these social services, and neither do I have any sort of rosy colored glasses related to this. We’ve seen the messes bureaucracy can make, and I can easily see how a malicious bureaucracy could cause great harm here.

Compared To What?

But part of Christian wisdom is always asking the question: compared to what? Now this should never be an excuse for breaking God’s law, but when we are doing business in the bogs of administrative obesity, would I rather an iffy administration of a semblance of justice or would I rather the drug cartels and gang lords running the show? Would I rather Isis or Ice deciding which kids go with which adults? Well, at the moment, I lean somewhat towards what we have currently with a Daniel-card in my back pocket ready to defy Nebuchadnezzar in a deuce. But, back to everything being equal: I do prefer the devil we know to the devil we know is far worse. Again, this is in no way to justify any actual abuse of power or cruelty. If kids/families are actually being treated inhumanely that should be reported and investigated. If children are being separated from parents because the ICE officer doesn’t like people from Venezuela, that guy should get the book thrown at him. And despite all the red tape and bureaucratic monkeyshines, the fact of the matter is that there is still a semblance of due process and just weights in our court systems making that possible. These things can be adjudicated. But if we let the pimps and drug lords run the show, I’m not sure how you would go about filing your complaint.

In other words, I’m not saying that our system in America is all sunshine and rainbows (well, it sort of is all rainbows, but in a different way…), I’m just saying it’s basically the system we have everywhere, in every state, and while it certainly can be abused, it’s better than a lot of other setups.

Now to the main event:

“But the Children!” Is No Substitute for Facts

First, and related to the last point, outrage is a bitch. Outrage can turn on you at any moment. The mob is no rational creature to be reasoned with. As noted above, the mainstream media has shown nothing but contempt for the actual facts. Ambiguity, shrill tones, sob stories, and cut-your-heart-out pictures are the order of the day. It doesn’t matter what the facts are, what the actual numbers are, the CHILDREN! The clear effect if not explicit goal of the media is an outrage avalanche, an outrage Molotov cocktail, not a clear or judicious reporting of the – what do you call them? Oh, right, facts. This is easily demonstrated by the lack of clarification of the actual numbers (how many otherwise law abiding families actually had their children taken from them?), the lack of care in naming (no distinctions made between legal or illegal entry), the fear-mongering descriptors (children in cages), and the lack of care for which pictures were being used to illustrate the situation. The reason I say outrage is a bitch is because it can turn on you at any moment. Take that same sloppiness with facts and a similar decibel level of emotion, and you could get a baker thrown in jail for refusing to bake a cake for some dude who wants to celebrate holy matrimony with his cocker spaniel. You think I’m being outrageous? Ok, fine, how about the guy who wants to marry his daughter?

The Heresy of Sentimentalism

To the extent that God stirs up His people to true Reformation and concern for biblical justice in every area of culture and life, there certainly will be a holy fury over sin and injustice, but when that happens it will be something entirely distinct from the outrage mob. Holy fury is not emotion that cannot be bothered with the facts. It is emotion grounded in the facts and rooted in explicit biblical principles of justice. But the heresy of sentimentalism has its tentacles deep in the American evangelical church. Sentimentalism is a parasite that can attach itself to many different worldviews, but in modern western and American demographics it can easily latch itself onto a facade of a “Christian” worldview, where basic Biblical pieties are claimed and mouthed, but sentimentalism always prioritizes the sentiment, the feelings above the Word of God. So, these sentimentalist Christians are good with Christian morals because they seem to line up with their feelings rather than fully submitting their feelings to the Word of God. But this will always ultimately result in justifying cruelty in the name of fluffy feelings. So the whole Pro-Abortion platform is shot through with sentimentalism, claiming to love women and children, all while condoning the murder of the unborn. But many Christians are susceptible to lesser versions of the same thing. How many moms in the name of some romantic notion of homeschooling have boiled their kids in that milk? Or how about sponsoring a conference that proclaims affirmation for the sexually confused in the name of compassion? How many thousands of parents, brothers, sisters, husbands, wives, and children are in the background of Revoice, being crushed by the selfish arrogance of these people? Or in this case, how many children will be successfully trafficked across the US border because a bunch of internet moms screamed about the cruelty of separating children from parents? Sentimentalism is the new Pharisaism: Pharisees do the exact same thing but their emotional idol is a superficial notion of righteousness. They have all the feels for particular rules or laws they think will keep them clean and pure, and in their junior high infatuation with tithing spices, they justify, overlook, or blind themselves to the weightier matters of the law. They strain out gnats with warm feelings in their hearts and tears in their eyes, with chunks of camel hair in their teeth.

“But Abortion!” is A Very Good Answer

And this leads to one of the common objections we’ve heard through all of this hubbub: But can’t Christians be outraged by abortion, sodomite marriage, and children being separated from their parents on the Mexican border unjustly? Or as Robert George tweeted: “Good Lord, people! “But abortion!” is no answer to inhumanity toward migrants. And “but migrants!” is no answer to the inhumanity toward unborn babies. Humanity to all humanity is the answer to all inhumanity.” While it is pithy and may seem to find the moral high ground on first glance, I want to argue that this is a Class A exhibit of why American Christians keep losing ground in the culture war. Yes, Christians can (and should!) stand against all forms of injustice and inhumanity, but the problem is the fact that George and many of the other sophisticates fail to ask the very next question: How shall we stand against all of these forms of inhumanity? His answer is apparently “be humane,” which is a standard with no teeth, no particulars, and in the absence of particulars, “humane” is a vague, sentimental standard. It amounts to doing what seems, what feels humane. But the real trouble with leaving this all ambiguous is that the net effect is to flatten out all of these problems: abortion, sodomy, and detaining illegal immigrants. But these problems (if the last one in fact is a problem) are not in the same league at all. But Robert George has effectively signaled that they are. I suppose if he was pressed, George would likely clarify that he does not actually think they are, but as a Christian thought leader, he is responsible for speaking clearly into the mic.

Yes, it is true that Christians should feel free to work alongside cobelligerents in any righteous cause. A cobelligerent is distinguished from an ally in a war by having a common enemy but not actually being friends. But Christians must not grant any moral authority to Baal or Molech. And this goes both ways: we do not bow and scrape to Trumpian moral authority or Pelosian moral authority. We have only one God. So as a sort of post mortem on this most recent episode how should Christians embody this? 1. Clearly point out the hypocrites. Anyone truly concerned with the plight of children must keep Planned Parenthood and all vocal supporters of abortion and homosexual mirage out of the conversation and away from the steering wheel. If you would not let convicted pedophiles volunteer for the nursery, do not let child abusers near the discussion of taking care of the children of illegal immigrants. They do not know the meaning of compassion. 2. Every effort should be made to deal with any immigration injustice by explicitly appealing to biblical and constitutional justice, not bleeding-heart appeals to what you feel Jesus would have done. What you feel can be countered with what someone else feels. First study what God actually requires in the Bible (also here), then get your facts very straight, and finally ask God to give you faithful emotions that are measured to that situation as far as possible. And 3. Since biblical justice is all of apiece because its ultimate source is the person and character of the Triune God, it must be crystal clear that abortion and homosexual mirage are vastly more clear and more egregious acts of child abuse by many orders of magnitude. While these other alleged crimes against humanity should not justify any other actual crimes, Christians must refuse to be suckered into spending their energy doing Molech’s bidding.

Yes, Jesus says that every cup of cold water given in His name will be rewarded. And Amen. But we are called to be mature in our thinking, and not childish (1 Cor. 14:20).