Gregory Koukl's Blog, page 48

More Resources for Understanding and Discussing the Marriage Decision

Tom Gilson of Ratio Christi has gathered together ���Top Christian Resources on the Marriage Debate (Books, Articles, Videos, Podcasts on Gay Marriage/Same-Sex Marriage).��� Take a look and spread the word.

The decision itself and the four dissenting opinions are a lot to get through, so here are a few short cuts for you: 

Explainer: What You Should Know about the Supreme Court���s Same-Sex Marriage Ruling ��� Joe Carter, Acton Institute


50 Key Quotes from the Supreme Court���s Same-Sex Marriage Ruling ��� Joe Carter, Acton Institute


What���s in the Same-Sex Marriage Ruling ��� Orin Kerr, Washington Post


Here Are the Key Excerpts on Religious Liberty from the Supreme Court���s Decision on Gay Marriage ��� Sarah Pulliam Bailey, Washington Post

One more recommendation: I���ve been reading Anthony Esolen���s book Defending Marriage: Twelve Arguments for Sanity. It���s very good, and probably unlike anything you���ve seen. While the excellent What Is Marriage? appeals to the logical "left brain," Esolen���s Defending Marriage approaches the subject from the other side, using primarily literary imagery to reveal goodness, truth, and beauty in his attempt to restore the vision of marriage that we���ve lost.

As I���ve read the bits of literature and poetry he uses to paint the glorious picture of marriage as it���s meant to be, I���ve been moved to tears. I hadn���t realized how desensitized I���ve become to what we���ve done to marriage over the last sixty years. Seeing the stark contrast between the ancient Christian view of marriage and today���s common view is startling. It will grieve you. Read this book, and you will long to be part of restoring it.

Supreme Court Ruling on Marriage

No doubt you���ve heard the ruling. I���ve been praying and thinking about how we as Christians and STR people move forward. We���ve got good arguments, and the issues may change over time that need to be responded to, but the people we are to be as Christians doesn���t change. 

God isn���t surprised by this ruling, and by His sovereign will He���s allowed this to happen. And He���s put us here in this time for a purpose. 

I���ve been thinking about the Christians in the first few centuries who were at odds with the culture, ostracized, and often persecuted as a result. They lived out the Gospel and distinguished themselves, and therefore their message, because of it. I���ve specifically been thinking of how they saved baby girls who were abandoned because they were not wanted or valued, disposed of to die of exposure. And how Christians cared for the sick when they were left for dead during plagues that hit the cities. 

They carried on and lived in a way that honored God, showing love to all people, standing firm. Even though they were despised by the culture, they carried on doing what was right before God and loving those who persecuted them.

Now, more than ever, is the time to be conscientious of wisdom and character in KWC (Knowledge, Wisdom, and Chraracter in the Ambassador Model), offering all of our reasons and arguments with gentleness and reverence. 

It���s tempting to get angry at this decision that goes against God, nature, and our Constitution, but that won���t help. It���s tempting to despair, but that won���t help either. God has a purpose for us now in this time, and we���ll faithfully continue to honor God and live out KWC in our own lives, as a team, and in teaching other Christians.

We���ll answer sin and anger with patience and kindness. We���ll love the people who make us their enemies, just as Jesus did. And God will give us the wisdom and grace we need to do this. As Alan Shlemon consistently reminds us, let���s answer with truth and compassion. In the end, it���s right back to the Gospel���there are lost sinners who need to be reconciled to God, just as we once were.

Our times are in God���s hands (Psalm 31:15). Our job is to be faithful and trust Him in all circumstances.

Here are some resources that will help you as we move forward.

Is Marriage about Love?
Homosexuality: Know the Truth and Speak It with Compassion
Is Same-Sex Marrige a Good Policy Decision? (video)

InterVarsity Is Back on Cal State Campuses

Here is some good news. You may recall that the Cal State University system derecognized InterVarsity clubs last fall because InterVarsity���s policy of requiring club officers to hold Christian beliefs went against Cal State's nondiscrimination policy. In a happy turn of events, InterVarsity has announced they���ll be allowed back on CSU campuses without having to compromise their commitment to having Christians lead their Christian groups on campus:

���Following substantive and cordial ongoing conversations, CSU clarified the intent and reach of Executive Order 1068,��� said InterVarsity president Jim Lundgren. ���We are confident we can choose leaders who are qualified to lead InterVarsity���s witnessing communities throughout the Cal State system.���

Christianity Today explains more:

"Cal State has not changed the language of their 'all comers' policy," said Greg Jao, vice president of campus engagement. "They have clarified that the policy only requires that (a) we allow all students to become members, which we have always done, and (b) we allow all students to apply for leadership positions.

"We have been assured that we can have a rigorous selection process which reflects InterVarsity���s mission and message as a Christian ministry," he told CT. "We���re confident in our ability to choose leaders who reflect our mission and message."

InterVarsity has also posted an audio interview with Jao on the resolution.

From that interview:

What the administration was able to do was interpret how they will apply the law in a way that we think actually increases the diversity of campus by ensuring that religious voices remain on campus and remain distinctively religious. 

I do find this bit from the Christianity Today article odd and even concerning:

Just under half (44 percent) of evangelicals told LifeWay Research recently that student groups at public schools should not be allowed to require their leaders to hold specific beliefs. Only a third (36%) of evangelicals said the same of groups at private schools. 

I don���t know how to account for that large percentage. Relativisim and a belief that religious truth is subjective? A knee-jerk reaction against creeds? A hyper-individualism that resists any submission and conformity to an outside standard? Or was it merely a badly-worded poll question? Unfortunately, I wasn���t able to locate the study to investigate further. It certainly makes a difference whether or not the question was specifically worded to be about requiring leaders to hold particular beliefs in clubs centered around those beliefs. I would rightly speak out against a math club in a public school requiring particular religious beliefs, but it seems to me to be common sense that it���s appropriate for a Christian group to require the people who lead it to hold Christian beliefs. 

Regardless, this is certainly good news overall. Let���s thank God today for this!

June Newsletters

Tim���s, Alan���s, and Brett���s June newsletters are now posted on the website:

Praying for Unsaved Loved Ones by Tim Barnett: ���The thinking goes, ���If only I were as gifted as William Lane Craig or Greg Koukl, they would come to believe.��� But this just isn���t true. Even the most brilliant apologists have unsaved family and friends in their lives. This should give us pause���. We need to turn to the Living God in prayer. That���s right, we need to put aside the apologetics books, get down on our knees, and pray. I���ll be the first to admit that I am not very good at this. It is much easier for me to argue with the lost than to pray for the lost. I���m prone to devote my time to refuting the unbeliever���s arguments rather than raising them up in prayer. So, how should we be praying for those who disagree with our fundamental convictions? I���d like to offer you five practical ways that we can pray for our unsaved family and friends.��� (Read more.) 


Muslim Authority by Alan Shlemon: ���Virtually every conversation with a Muslim comes down to one issue: authority. No matter what you say about Jesus and the Gospel, you���ll likely get the same Muslim response: ���I can���t trust what you���re telling me because the Bible has been corrupted.��� This is not only the most common objection you���ll hear from a Muslim, but it���s also the most significant. That���s because the essentials of your message to a Muslim ��� Jesus and the Gospel ��� are all found in the Bible���. If the Muslim rejects that source of authority from the get-go, then you���ll have a hard time making any headway. I wrote about this point (and how to respond to the objection) in my book The Ambassador���s Guide to Islam. Having been to a lot of mosques and talked to a lot of Muslims, I want to offer three examples that demonstrate how authority is the key issue.��� (Read more.)


Don't Play Defense, Ask Questions by Brett Kunkle: ���As I answered objections to Christianity, it was interesting to watch the body language of the Christian students. At first they seemed timid, as if they were fearful and beaten down by such challenges. They allowed the skeptical students to dominate much of the conversation. Their forlorn looks indicated a resignation that most objections cannot be answered. However, as I stood toe-to-toe with the challengers, offering firm yet gracious responses, the Christians seemed emboldened. The worried looks lifted from their faces. They began to jump into the conversation more. Finally, one girl recounted a regular challenge her atheist friend had been throwing at her, for which she had no answer. ���Religion is the source of all wars.��� Clearly, she wanted to answer this challenge, but had no rational defense to offer. And it was here I offered her and the other Christian high schoolers a simple tool to stop many challengers in their tracks���questions.��� (Read more.)

You can subscribe to their newsletters here.

No Broadcast this Week

Greg is out of town and our other speakers are on the road, as well, so no broadcast today and no podcast this week.

Every Parent Is in Youth Ministry

I believe parents are responsible for their children���s spiritual training. Of course, pastors, youth leaders, and Sunday school teachers can help. But parents have to do most of the work. Frankly, that makes me nervous. I���m still going to try my best, though.

Last month, I took my son to the center of UCLA���s campus during an abortion protest and had him engage abortion-choice advocates that were twice his age. I know that sounds a little crazy, but I���m a firm believer in the principle of inoculation.

Inoculation against false ideas works similarly to the way we inoculate against a virus. To vaccinate against polio, for example, you ingest an attenuated (weakened, but alive) virus. Your immune system responds by producing antibodies, killer cells that seek and destroy the virus. That way, when your body is exposed to polio in the real world, your immune system isn���t caught off guard. It neutralizes the threat with its army of antibodies.

Inoculating young believers against a false idea works the same way. You teach them the errant view, why people believe it, and what���s wrong with those reasons. That way, when they come across someone who holds the view, they���re not surprised by the person���s arguments. The young believer easily recognizes their reasoning and is ready to respond.

That���s what I did when I found out former Stand to Reason speaker (and my good friend) Steve Wagner was bringing the Justice for All exhibit to UCLA. Their ministry uses graphic images of abortion to spark conversations about abortion on university campuses. In anticipation of their arrival, I spent three days teaching my son the basics of embryology, some arguments for abortion, and a few pro-life tactics of persuasion. Then, I role-played an abortion-choice advocate to get him familiar with how the material is applied in conversations.

After he was comfortable arguing with me, I asked my wife to make a case for abortion to him. That way, he was exposed to a different person���s thinking. He struggled a little because she thinks and responds differently than I do. I gave him feedback on his performance, and we prepared for the next stage.

Justice for All provided an all-day training for pro-lifers who wanted to become better equipped or were planning on attending the campus protest. I took him so he���d learn pro-life training from different people. This would solidify material he was familiar with, provide nuances to training he knew, and expose him to new arguments. More importantly, he got to role-play with strangers (both students and adults) who thought even more differently than my wife.

Field training was next. Our two-hour road trip to UCLA gave us time to reflect on his training and pray for the upcoming hostile encounters with real people who would disagree with him.

My son���s first encounter with an abortion-choice advocate occurred while he stood next to Steve during a conversation. Although he got to mostly see Steve model the pro-life tactics he learned days before, he also contributed a little to the conversation. His second encounter was with me. My son saw a college student nearby and, without any prompting, approached him and started talking to him. I stayed completely out of the conversation, allowing my son to wrestle with the man���s arguments and formulate responses.

After a few conversations, his confidence increased. While I was talking to a couple of other students, I heard some girls laughing behind me. I turned around and noticed my son who, on his own, had started talking to two abortion-choice advocates. They were disagreeing with him, but having fun in the process. He had about a dozen conversations that day.

To be honest, I was a little skeptical he���d be able to traffic with college-aged students, but he handled himself nicely. He was able to identify tangents and prompt the abortion-choice advocate to focus on the question of whether the unborn was human (which is what he was taught to do).

The process of inoculating against an idea is a progression. For my son, I taught him content first. Then, I had him role-play with me, my wife, and strangers who were pro-life. Then, he watched experienced pro-lifers model the tactics with people who disagree. Finally, he engaged abortion-choice advocates himself. I gave him feedback at every step and helped him process every encounter.

I���m not saying every parent needs to do the same thing with their 10-year-old. I���m not even saying at what age they should start or with what topic. My point is to give you an example of inoculation. Parents (AKA youth leaders) can apply the same principle with other ideas their kids will encounter.

I���ve made a video explaining a similar point about inoculation. Also, I recommend these quick-reference guides (here, here, and here) as good starting places to become familiar with opposing ideas. Plus, they're only one page (double-sided), and so they're very accessible.

Responding to Transgender Suicide

How should we as Christians respond to transgender suicide?

Is Same-Sex Marriage a Good Policy Decision?

Our new motion graphics video is here:

Today we���re going to look at a controversial policy issue. As Christians, we believe it's our responsibility to stay informed about our faith and understand how our views translate into not only our personal lives but also our culture and government. One of the most debated topics in our country is same-sex marriage, and we think there���s a respectful, loving, and logical way to address this subject, so that's what we're going to do���

 

Links Mentioned on the 6/19/15 Show

The following is a rundown of today's podcast (no links today):

Commentary: Engaging the Culture and the Invisible World (0:00)

Questions:

1. How do you make Christianity real to all aspects of life? (0:17)

2. What is the power of the Gospel? (0:32)

3. How can you establish credibility with a youth pastor quickly in order to teach apologetics? (0:43)

4. Is Hell just for Satan and the demons, and are there levels of Heaven? (0:51)

Listen to today's show or download any archived show for free. (Find links from past shows here.)

To take part in the Twitter conversation during the live show (Tuesdays 4:00���7:00 p.m. PT), follow @STRtweets and use the hashtag #STRtalk.

No Comparison between SSM and Interracial Marriage

Jonathan Rauch, a defender of same-sex marriage, explains why the comparison to racist laws that banned interracial marriage are not parallels to objections to SSM. From his article "Opposing Same-sex Marriage Doesn't Make You a Crypto-Racist":

By contrast, marriage has not always been racist. Quite the contrary. People have married across racial (and ethnic, tribal, and religious) lines for eons, often quite deliberately to cement familial or political alliances. Assuredly, racist norms have been imposed upon marriage in many times and places, but as an extraneous limitation. Everyone understood that people of different races could intermarry, in principle. Indeed, that was exactly why racists wanted to stop it, much as they wanted to stop the mixing of races in schools. In both intent and application, the anti-miscegenation laws were about race, not marriage.

For more on this issue, see here and here.