Food for Thought

One of the things I do at work is archive the articles that are a part of Dr. Mohler’s The Briefing. This is how I stay up-to-date on current issues, which is nice since I don’t watch TV and rarely listen to the radio. But it can also be quite depressing and discouraging. America’s culture is becoming more and more hostile to Truth (and Jesus Christ is Truth – John 14:6) and less and less clear in its ideals, laws, and definitions. Things that used to be taken for granted (like our Constitutional Rights to bear arms, practice religion, and free speech) are now being redefined and threatened. Almost every day I read some article that leaves me saying, “Really? Don’t people see how ridiculous this is?” And, of course, they don’t because the god of this world has blinded them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Jesus Christ (2 Corinthians 4:4), who is the truth, and if you don’t know truth, you don’t have a basis for anything. No wonder America is in the downward spiral she is in.

It never seems to fail that the headlines cover one of three topics: homosexuality/marriage, gun control, and abortion. Our society and government is grappling with how to deal with all three based on their own rationale and humanistic reasoning. Those who write the articles would have you think that two of these issues (homosexuality and abortion) should be from all restrictions and that the other issue (gun control) should have every restriction. What really strikes me, in the case of homosexuality and marriage, is the amount of energy, effort, time, and attention being dedicated to it. Less than four percent of people in the United States consider themselves homosexual/bisexual/transgender. That’s less than the amount of people who are unemployed, which I rarely hear or read about (unless it’s election time). I was actually shocked that so few Americans were homosexual, etc. Based on the amount of media and political attention dedicated to their perceived rights, I expected the percentage to be much higher. But it’s not. And it makes me wonder: why are we catering to so few? What if we did that to every single faction of society? They have the same Constitutional rights as every other American citizen, so why are they getting such special treatment (and they are getting specialized treatment)? I’m not totally sure what the answer to these questions are, but it definitely has something to do with lobbyists in the capitol and the secularization of our country.

The word that keeps reoccurring in these articles is rights. It seems like that is the big talk: rights of women, rights of homosexuals/bisexuals/transgender/gender-confused people, rights of animals, rights of nudists, and the right not to be told what to do. So, basically, the right to do whatever one thinks is right in his/her own eyes (Judges 21:25). But, of course, the word rights does not apply to gun owners or evangelical Christians or unborn babies or people who know what it means to male or female. The truth is, though, that none of us really have a right to anything. Jesus Christ has all rights and authority, and as God He makes the rules. He determines what marriage is and what life is and how we should treat one another. The only way to know what are “rights” are are to key off of Him because He earned our rights for us (Ephesians 2:8-10; Galatians 5). He is our Creator and He gives us the rights we think we deserve.

It’s amazing how much our culture has changed just in the last ten years, and it’s becoming more and more ridiculous. Consider two of the current hot topics in our society: gender identity and gun control. The liberal arguments for both are extreme and illogical (though they don’t see that). The idea that there is no distinction between male and female goes not only against God’s creation and design (Genesis 1:27), but against science, biology, sociology, and psychology (all of which are pretty naturalistic in their views). The studies of each of these fields have proven over and over again that men and women are different. This is not to mention experiential observations. Can’t you just tell by interacting with the opposite sex that they are different? Even if you refuse to admit it, it’s obvious that God created men and women differently, and we glorify Him uniquely by embracing the gender He gave us. He could have made humans beings asexual like amoebas, but He didn’t. He created humans male and female, and it’s a beautiful thing.

Then there is gun control. I can remember growing up playing violent video games (namely, Tomb Raider) and shooting water guns and BB guns. My sister and I even had a fake, plastic knife that’s blade retracted when we stabbed it into each other. We even used fake blood for dramatic effect. We thought it was awesome, but I am sure nowadays that that kind of play would have sent us straight to the psychiatrist because that's what's been happening recently. Consider these two articles:

"Not Always Fun and Games" by Jesse McKinley and Matt Richtel from The New York Times [“What am I going to do when he asks for one [a Nerf rifle]?” a mother asked. Um, say no. And that seems to be the problem. We don’t know how to say no to anything.]

"The Pop-Tart Terrorist" by George F. Will from The Washington Post [Pop-tarts – really? Does this mean I should stop giving my kids Pop-tarts in Sunday School? I don’t want to encourage terrorism…]

All this is just another reminder that this world is not my home. I belong to another kingdom whose King executes justice perfectly and always rules in complete sovereignty, wisdom, and benevolence (Isaiah 9:6-7). This King, my King, IS Truth, Peace, Freedom, Joy, Right and Righteous. He is good and does good always (Psalm 119:68). This is not true of our government or any other government in our world, and any good we see in any political entity is only a shadow of the True Kingdom which is to come. I close with these final words from George F. Will’s article, cited above:

Government is failing spectacularly at its core functions, such as budgeting and educating. Yet it continues to multiply its peripheral and esoteric responsibilities, tasks that require it to do things for which it has no aptitude, such as thinking and making common-sense judgments. Government nowadays is not just embarrassing, it is — let us not mince words — inappropriate.

Oh the Oddities

Yesterday I woke up (to my surprise) to a beautiful layer of snow on the ground. The most snow we’ve had all winter by far. It was truly beautiful, but it's crazy to think that just last Friday, it was 70 degrees with severe storms. And today was in the sixties. You know what that say about March coming in like a lion…

There seems to be a floss shortage in Louisville. I have been to two Targets and two Walmarts, on opposite sides of Louisville, and they have all been out. My sister and I do use a particular kind of floss due to our gum problems, but these stores have been out of almost all varieties of Reach floss. Crazy. I blame Target. They apparently had a sale on floss, which I think spawned this whole epidemic. I am going to try Kroger this evening. I might have to have my mom mail me some. :)

On a much more serious note, there are some things happening in our culture that are not only odd and illogical and even ironic, but horrifying and incomprehensible. One of the things that I really enjoy about my job is that I get stay up on the latest national and international news because I am in charge of printing Dr. Mohler’s The Briefing. If you have kept up with the latest articles, you probably noticed that most of the headlines have to deal with either homosexuality or abortion. These issues are very important and the Bible takes a clear stance on both (both are wrong and sinful). Unfortunately, the government has been trying to render judgment in these areas where it has no business. These are moral issues not political ones.

I almost cannot believe the extreme decline our culture has shifted into in the past few years. It hasn’t come without warning or notice though. The more secular the US becomes, the more issues like these will come into view. I find it extremely ironic that the institution of marriage among heterosexuals is falling apart, but the fight for marriage among homosexuals is raging. The one could care less about getting married; the other could care for nothing more. The one almost refuses to get married; the other almost refuses not to not get married. It is all so disheartening because it is an attack upon Christ and His Church. Marriage is a picture of the Christ-Church union and our culture’s refusal to honor marriage, in either respect, is the work of Satan to destroy this picture and attack Christ Himself. Several states have already legalized the marriage of homosexuals and more are sure to soon follow.

The other top headline, abortion, continues to spiral out of control. Not only are more and more women getting abortions; not only is the process to get an abortion easier and easier; not only is mandating vaginal ultrasounds considered rape (I mean, really???); but now some people, who have a voice in this society, are pushing for after-birth abortions. This is a modern day holocaust. It is nothing short of legalized child abuse and murder. The argument used to be that unborn babies were not “persons.” An illogical, Satanist logic that has been bought into by many. Now, the logic goes like this: babies can’t communicate or anticipate the future, therefore they have no say in society and cannot contribute to it, therefore they are not persons, therefore their mothers have the right to end their lives if it is in the mothers’ best interest to do so. How can this even be considered right? Then, on the other hand, there are articles like the one in the Washington Times about the baby that almost lived through the recent round of tornadoes, but didn't and it is considered "tragic." You can't have both views. If its not murder to kill a baby because of inconvenience after he/she is born, then it's not tragic that this baby died. On the flip side, if this baby dying in the tornado is tragic (and it is!), then babies being aborted is tragic as well (and it is!). How can our culture have such a double standard? There is only one answer:

And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God's righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. Romans 1:28-32