A Way that Is Right and a Deadly Way that Seems Right

Wow, how unkind is that kind of language? The biblical author is actually telling the reader that, regardless of what he or she thinks, there is a way they may think is right but actually leads to death. Not just sorrow or some vague misfortune. That might be somewhat tolerable in our culture. No. It clearly says, “This way you think is right and good is actually going to kill you in the end.”

Have you left for your safe space yet?

We have a culture that cannot tolerate such language. It feeds off of so-called tolerance and acceptance at the expense of anything that falls outside the culturally accepted values and systems of thought. In other words, if you aren’t accepting of what we accept, then we will not accept you into anything.

Do you need any proof? Remember the Christian bakers who refused to make a wedding cake for a homosexual couple seeking to have a faux wedding? I said faux intentionally because Scripture makes it clear that God has defined what weddings really are, and they are between a man and a woman (Gen. 2, Mark 10). The case I am referring to is Klein v. Oregon Bureau of Labor and Industries, which you can look into and see is still ongoing. The Christian owners of the business simply refused a service they believed would go against conscience, a conscience held captive by Scripture. For this, they have lost their business and have been fined. You can look at any, and I mean any dictionary and not find any definition of tolerance that looks anything like this.

Why is this such an issue? Why is it that when parents instruct their children according to Scripture, they are accused of forcing intolerant beliefs on their children? Why is it that when anyone protests the abortion of a baby it is considered unkind towards women? Why is it that when black Christians speak against the mass genocide of black babies by murder mills (a.k.a. abortion “clinics”) they are told that those lives actually don’t matter? I’ll tell you why. It is because America became an anti-christian nation a long time ago. It didn’t just happen when prayer was taken out of school, it happened when we were okay with the kind atheist teacher teaching our children that 2+2=4 without God at the center of it, not even realizing we just told them they can be practicing atheists and that’s okay.

Okay, I understand that could use some explaining. In Colossians, Paul writes:

For by [Christ] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.  And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 

Colossians 1:16-17

All creation and all that pertains to it was made by God for His glory. Not only so, but it is held together by Him. 2+2=4 because God intended it to tell us something about Him. He is consistent, logical, and dependable just like mathematical equations are just so. Creation glorifies God because it tells us something about God. We have paid the government to train up our children for generations without such a doctrine at its core. We have been okay with atheists and liberals (not that every public teacher is such) raising our children up to be practicing atheists just as long as they are never told “You must renounce Christ” at any point. But here’s the truth, that is what they have been told in practice. You cannot divorce the creation from its Creator without having a marred image of who God really is.

Is that a big deal? You better believe it. This inevitably leads us to where we are today. You don’t want to bake a cake that God strictly forbids to be made? Too bad, your baking days are done. You don’t want your children told being gay is okay? Too bad, you’re a bigot who probably shouldn’t have your own children anyway. This is all because tolerance towards all that opposes God seems right in their eyes. We are supposed to believe that just because homosexuality looks different, those feelings are genuine and good and ought to be expressed. They aren’t hurting anyone, are they? And what about abortion? Don’t we care about the careers and lives of the mothers and their decision of when to have children and when not to have them (as if that was the real issue)? This all seems right to them.

But it isn’t. In fact, anyone who holds to this line of reasoning is dead wrong. God’s Word establishes at the very beginning what marriage really is. It reinforces this thought when Jesus says God is the one who has joined together men and women in marriage (Mark 10:9). Furthermore, when Paul wants to demonstrate just how evil humanity has become in their sin, he says:

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Rom. 1:16-27 ESV

“Contrary to nature.” This phrase points back to how creation tells us something about God. When Scripture speaks about the relationship between Christ and the church, it refers to Jesus as the Bridegroom and the church as the Bride. Do you really think that God, who predestined such a thing to come to pass before time, would really add this description randomly in the middle of time as though it’s another adjective to use to describe the church? No, from creation God was using the created order to bring worship to Himself. Everything has its purpose, including the care that God has shown to His children with His careful detail of forming each baby. Psalm 139 says, “For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well” (Ps. 139:13-14). The goodness of God’s purposes inspires worship in the hearts of His people. This is primarily why sin is wrong. It rebells against God’s purposes and plays God instead. It is self-idolatry.

So what’s the bottom line? God’s Word is the supreme authority, and it’s about time we either start believing that or dealing with it. For the church, a bit of both is probably needed. It matters what the Bible says about the creation of the universe in a week. It matters what it says about Adam and Eve. It matters what it says about how worship should happen. It matters what it says about the Trinity. It matters what it says about the family. Everything matters because God matters above all. When 2 Tim. 3:16 says all Scripture is “God breathed,” that places supreme value and authority on all Scripture. You can’t go around making up what seems to be okay to satisfy the demands of culture or your whimsical desires. Need to buy a car? See how God says you should do it (hint: it doesn’t involve going into debt cf. Proverbs). For the unbeliever, I would like nothing more than for you to be saved. But if you refuse to bend the knee to Christ, then it’s time you deal with the fact others have and will keep their knees bent except to rise a few times to stop people like you from turning whole nations away from Christ and leaping into hell. We will not stop teaching our children about Him. We will not stop seeking to save babies from dismemberment or dying from chemical burns. We will not stop turning those who claim to believe but are openly gay from your poisonous lies about their rebellion being okay. I’ve seen too many family members and friends listen to you, and it’s time I and every other believer takes a stand and tells you to back off.

If that’s not loving enough to you, I’ll start flipping some tables next time.