Bible

Life from the Margins: Abnormally Normal

Among the battle-grounds in the same-sex marriage debate was an elusive, sought after quality called “normal.” For centuries, those with same-sex attraction were labeled as abnormal, so much so that society cut them off from what Justice Kennedy described as the “foundational” rights to love and marry. But that has now changed. In a 5-4 vote of the Supreme Court, the label of abnormal was officially removed. The White House, Coca-Cola, Cinderella’s castle were among the millions proclaiming their joy and support with rainbow gleam. Our culture celebrates when that which was abnormal is embraced as normal.

Among many Christians, there is a deep seething. You likely won’t see it marching down streets, hash-tagged, or acknowledged in the news. But, as a pastor, I have never seen such despair in the hearts of church-goers, especially those who remember America before the sexual revolution. They are depressed and frustrated; they feel betrayed, lost, and abnormal in their own country. Many of them feel they are being cut off from the “foundational” rights to exercise free-speech and faith. It is a painful irony that many in our culture also celebrate when the normal becomes the abnormal.

As a graduate of approximately 6,500 Christian worship services and 10,000 sermons, I have an observation: American Christians have been obsessed with being normal! We desire Jesus, love, grace, and the blessings of the cross, but we have often run from the scorn that accompanies His message. Have we forgotten that Jesus’ own culture wanted to kill him? The message of Jesus has always been abnormal. In our quest to be relevant, we have often abandoned our heritage and embraced the superficial. We have tweeted self-help with a twist of Jesus and unfriended the substantive preaching of sacred Scripture. We have envisioned church as an amusement park where we ride the Jesus-coaster to our preferred destination instead of a community of believers who profess that Jesus is the destination.

Where has our obsession with normal gotten us? Well, fewer people are now going to church, fewer people are being baptized, our cultural voice is on mute, churches are closing at an alarming pace, and we have a shortage of godly pastors. Meanwhile, our congregants struggle to understand page-one truths of Christianity like: life is a gift from God, gender as divine design, marriage and family as foundational to society and well-being, sexuality as an expression of biblical marriage, and new-life as both the destination of redemption and the action of God’s love. (https://lashbanks.com/2014/10/25/5-gifts-of-covenant-marriage/)

Now Christians are being forced to the margins of the discussion, perhaps we should take a deep breath, familiarize ourselves with our new surroundings, and realize that the margins are our earthly home. Genuine believers in Christ are not normal; we are abnormal. Remember the words of Jesus:
“If the world hates you, understand that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own. However, because you are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of it, the world hates you. Remember the word I spoke to you: ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will also keep yours. But they will do all these things to you on account of My name, because they don’t know the One who sent Me (John 15:18-21,HCSB).

As Christians, we have a unique place within the social order. Our faith is anchored in sacred truth. For centuries, millions have lived their lives, loved their families, and cared for the world guided by the truths of Scripture. We understand that the 100 year window of earthy life is not the tense of past, present, and future. Our lives here are but a vapor and our future is with Christ in eternity. The cross is the place where the normal become abnormal; heaven is the place where the abnormal become normal.

When Good News Gets Twisted

I’m currently leading a Bible-study on the book of Galatians.  Galatians is one of my favorite books in the Bible, because it teaches us what it means to find freedom in Christ. Ultimately, our freedom is anchored in the gospel, and so Paul begins Galatians with a passionate plea to never twist the gospel or “good news” of Jesus.

Christ has rescued us from the world by giving Himself for our sins according to the will of God. Those who repent of sin and believe in Christ, receive the grace and peace of God and live for His glory forever and ever. This is the heart of the true gospel that Paul describes in Galatians 1:3-5:

3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

The gospel of Christ is the most uniting force on earth because it answers our universal problem of sin and our most basic need of forgiveness. The gospel empowers me to live a life of true significance where success is measured by eternal rather than earthly means. The gospel causes me to lose control and discover the joy of life beyond the box. It demands that I take the risk of faith and get beyond my sanitized world of control and power. The gospel frees me from the prison of self. To be God’s means that I no longer have to spend all of my energies trying to be God. “I do because I am not in order to be.” I pursue holiness because I am God’s child rather than attempting to be God’s child through my holiness.  Talk about good news!

In Galatians 1:6-7, Paul dropped his jaw in amazement that those who have experienced the liberating power of the gospel, abandon freedom in favor of enslavement to selfishness and pride. Paul wrote:

I am amazed that you are so quickly turning away from Him who called you by the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel — 7 not that there is another gospel, but there are some who are troubling you and want to change the good news about the Messiah.

False gospels are subtle, because they wear Christ’s robes while stripping His message, they speak Christ’s language without God’s dictionary, embrace Christ’s love while ignoring His holiness, and desire the benefits of the cross but not the savior.

In Paul’s day, the Judaizers were luring the young, Gentile Christians of Galatia to a false gospel that taught Jesus + Judaism = Salvation. Today, the equations of apostasy may read like this:

Gospel of Friendship--Church Activities + Friends = Community
Gospel of Accommodation--Your goodness + Jesus’ love = Success
Gospel of Legalism–Jesus + Rules = Control
Gospel of Self–Jesus + Opportunity = Admiration
Gospel of Exhaustion–Pleasing People + Doing Good = God’s Love

Paul’s response to the false gospel was, to say the least, rather firm in Galatians 1:8 he wrote:

But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach to you a gospel other than what we have preached to you, a curse be on him!

Now, just in case you missed it or thought maybe Paul was just blowing off some steam. Paul and, if you have a high view of Scripture, the Holy Spirit say it again in verse 9: As we have said before, I now say again: If anyone preaches to you a gospel contrary to what you received, a curse be on him!

False Gospels are such a BIG deal that they make Paul curse! In Greek, the word translated “curse” is anathema. The root idea is that false gospels should be banned, excommunicated, shunned to extinction. What gets really scary is that if we plunge into our souls there are times when all of us are tempted to settle for a message that only resembles the true gospel. It is often comfortable, encouraging, self-empowering, containable, and rewarding to listen to or communicate. False gospels can win friends, draw crowds, increase budgets, provide comfort, build careers, and elicit cheers. But, in the end, they fail to satisfy, fall short of grace, and enslave you into a prison of works producing a heritage of pride of selfishness.

So Paul brings us to the eternal conclusion in verse 10:

For am I now trying to win the favor of people, or God? Or am I striving to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a slave of Christ.

Christ has rescued us from the world by giving Himself for our sins according to the will of God. Those who repent of sin and believe in Christ receive the grace and peace of God and live for His glory forever and ever.

Let us shun to extinction any other gospel.

Rescued

Tonight I begin leading a new Bible study through the book of Galatians.  The study-group meets from 6:30-7:30 on Wednesdays at Murphy Road Baptist Church.  Galatians is a goto book in the Bible for me, because it teaches me what it means to find freedom in Christ.  Take a look at the opening statement:

Galatians 1:3 Grace to you and peace from God the Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, 4 who gave Himself for our sins to rescue us from this present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father. 5 To whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

Have you ever been rescued from something? If so, you remember the overwhelming feelings of gratitude and joy when your liberator freed you from danger. The Bible says that Christ “rescued us from this present age “when he “gave Himself for our sins.” The vividness of this picture is a stark contrast to how we often envision salvation. Being rescued from evil, sin, and the shackles of this age is so much more than adding Christ to your life, getting dunked, finding religion, going to church, cleaning up your act, or knowing the ABC’s.

Repenting of sin and believing in Christ as Lord and Savior means all things become new: Christ rescues me from the prison of me. I am no longer shackled to my sins or confined the trap of the temporal. Instead of justice and law, God brings the freedom of grace. Instead of conflict and angst, the Father brings comfort and the calm of peace. Instead of chasing my glory to my grave, I exist for His glory forever and ever.

5 Gifts of Covenant Marriage

The Christian Scriptures begin with the words “In the beginning God created.” Before the first cup of coffee is finished in my reading of Genesis, the Scriptures reveal five gifts that for centuries have been the genesis to the Christian understanding of big questions like personhood, family556855_3584754975744_1232987464_n, sexuality, community and the beautiful gift of covenant marriage.

Gift 1—The Choice of Creation (Genesis 1:1–“In the beginning God created”)—The opening line of Christianity proclaims that life is not an accident; it is a gift. God designed it and infused it with purpose. Life is not merely a survival of the fittest quest toward nothingness: life has a divine purpose through which I find faith, hope, and love. I didn’t choose life; God chose to give me life.

Gift 2—The Complement of Gender (Genesis 1:27–“He created them male and female”)—Repeatedly, the Scriptures proclaim that humankind is created in the “image” of the creator: male and female. Human Beings are unique in that we seek the spiritual and search for deeper meanings. We communicate and create. Beyond the coldness of cause and effect, humanity seeks the beauty of art and the complexity of love. The simultaneous equivalency, distinctive, and complement of gender expand the reflection revealing more clearly what it means to be made in the image of God.

Gift 3—The Bond of Marriage (Genesis 2:24—“This is why a man leaves his father and mother and bonds with his wife, and they become one flesh.”)—Marriage is the foundational human relationship through which family and community are built. Marriage compels a man and a woman to leave the homes of their youth and bond with one another in a life-long covenant. Marriage is a life-long covenant between husband, wife, and God, that unites them as one family.

Gift 4—Covenant Sexuality (Genesis 2:25—“Both the man and his wife were naked, yet felt no shame”)—Beyond drive, attraction, expression, or feeling, sexuality is an intimate display of the life-long, loving bond of marriage: a private renewing of public vows. It is mortal love’s most powerful act: bonding souls, expressing love, extending pleasure, and forming family. It exposes a couple’s mutual vulnerability and created compatibility revealing a passion that is not learned but instilled with divine intent.

Gift 5—Children (Genesis 1:28–“Be fruitful, multiply.”)—A beautiful baby lying gently in a mother’s arms is inherent to the Bible’s creation and redemption stories. New life is the product of divine creation; it is the destination of redemption and the action of His love. It is through new life that our past finds forgiveness, our present finds meaning, and our future finds hope. It is through new life that the ancient remains modern. Through the birth of a child, the stories of creation and love are readily seen. Through the welcoming of a child into the bond of family, the story of redemption is quietly proclaimed.

As a Christian, my belief in God and Jesus Christ as Savior is not a hobby or vehicle for political power. Nor, is it new thinking: the by-product of greater connectivity, mobility, and awareness. My faith is foundational to who I am as a person and grounded in centuries of heritage. I understand that not everyone is a Christian. But, religious or not, we all have a worldview; it’s how we process life’s ultimate questions: Where do I come from? Why am I here? What happens when I die? What should I value? How should I treat others?

For 2000 years, in the lives of millions, these page-one gifts have formed the fabric of how we understand marriage, family and community. They have been viewed as givens: inherent to the human experience and not to be unraveled. Today, there are many, even within Christianity, who feel that these gifts must be scorned or, at best, repackaged, for society to progress. But before pronouncing these gifts as ancient and irrelevant inviting them to kiss goodbye, perhaps we would first do well to remember what Jesus said, “what God has joined together, man must not separate (Matthew 19:6).”