Being a Light unto the Online World

Today in Sunday school we talked about an article from the February/March 2008 issue of byFaith Magazine entitled “Redeeming Hate,” written by Carl R. Trueman of Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, PA.

In between references to not one, not two, but four different movies based upon their villains’ embodiment of hate¹, we talked a lot about, well, hatred and how it ought to impact a Christian’s life.

Society today tells us hate is bad. Tolerance is excellent and acceptance even more so. But no matter what someone does, don’t hate them.²

What little society knows about God can be boiled down into the Santa Claus god who is full love love, kindness, patience, joy, happiness, and little else — certainly not any hate or wrath or judgment.

Frankly, society’s god is far too small and is no more worthy of worship than the fingernail clippers to my right or the large cardboard cutout of Optimus Prime atop my computer desk.³

But what society does know (or think it knows) about God presents a problem for Christians. How can we associate ourselves, let alone God, with hate, when we know that “God is love”?

That is, after all, a biblical expression. God is love, and He is overflowing with it.

But does God also hate? Should we? [click to continue...]

1. See if you can guess the movies based upon the villains: Khan, Anakin, the Emperor, and Joker. [↩]
2. Exceptions are given in the case of child molesters, who seem to get it worse from society than even murderers. [↩]
3. If that last part surprises you, please go up and reread the second word in this site’s title a few times. ;-) [↩]

Sandi, I haven’t forgotten about the verse you happened upon on Wednesday, but I’m going to put it off for at least a day. I let my own fingers do the walking, and chance & providence have tonight led me to Matthew 9:9–13.

As Jesus passed on from there, he saw a man called Matthew sitting at the tax booth, and he said to him, “Follow me.” And he rose and followed him.

¹⁰And as Jesus reclined at table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and were reclining with Jesus and his disciples. ¹¹And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” ¹²But when he heard it, he said, “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. ¹³Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.’ For I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” Matthew 9:9–13

Just glancing across the pages of my Bible at this point, it’s very apparent that not only had Jesus been very busy, but He has been very public. Check out some of these headlines:

• Jesus Cleanses a Leper
• Jesus Heals Many
• Jesus Calms a Storm
• Jesus Heals Two Demon-Possessed Men
• Jesus Heals a Paralytic

And just prior to all of that, He gave the sermon that ought to be the bedrock of our lives, the chapter-spanning, life-altering Sermon on the Mount.

At the start of our passage, Jesus calls Matthew, and a short while later He’s kickin’ back around a table with His disciples.

Before long, other people started to show up… Sinners, no less, and tax collectors.

The Pharisees were riled. [click to continue...]

It has been requested of me to share what the Bible has to say about homosexuality, so if you are reading this and are thinking that I’m just picking on gays (or one of my readers in particular)… I’m just fulfilling a request. (Because, you know, I take requests!)

You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Leviticus 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. Leviticus 20:13

Interestingly enough, the word “abomination” is only used twice in all of the Levitical code, both times referring to homosexual sex. The word translated “abomination” comes from a Hebrew word meaning “an abhorrence” or “disgusting” and can also refer to idolatry. Much later in the Bible, as we will see in a bit, the Apostle Paul very much links homosexuality with worshiping the creature rather than the Creator.

Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, ¹⁰nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 1 Corinthians 6:9–10

One of the questions posed to me earlier was if I thought there was forgiveness for someone who has been gay; to answer that, I’ll quote the next verse from the previous passage:

And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. 1 Corinthians 6:11

Who comprised the early church? Who were the Christians Paul was writing to at Corinth?

They were a group filled with people who had once been gay or thieves or idolaters or drunkards… people who were on the fast track to Hell but were rescued — indeed, transformed — by He who is powerful to save. [click to continue...]

Another exercise in chance & providence, I again closed my eyes, opened my Bible, and pointed to a verse. The result:

By mere words a servant is not disciplined, for though he understands, he will not respond. Proverbs 29:19

Do you know anyone like this? They go to work, but they just don’t give it their all. They make mistakes, and when their masters (today we call this “management”) reprove them, their behavior does not change. “In one ear and out the other,” we may say. [click to continue...]