• Home
  • About This Blog
  • Contact Me
  • Subscribe
  • Comment Policy

Attempts at Honesty

Reflections on the interplay of the Bible and Culture

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
Home Christianity and Culture Why call your religion Christian if you don’t want to obey Christ?

Why call your religion Christian if you don’t want to obey Christ?

Posted on July 31, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 9 Comments


Why call it Christian?If you are going to go against the plain reading of Scripture and two thousand years of tradition on the core issues of Christianity, then why bother to claim your religion as Christian?

I understand that those who identify more closely with current cultural norms have conflict with traditional Christianity. The most obvious example of this is the current protest against the definition of marriage as a one-man-one-woman relationship. Yet this is the traditional view of Christianity and the stated position of the Church’s founder, Jesus Christ.

Now, if you do not want to submit to the teaching of the church,  no-one is forcing you to attend or otherwise associate with any Christian church or organization. You are free to choose whatever expression of religious devotion that appeals to you. But, if you choose to embrace Christianity, please know that Christians are called to be obedient to Jesus Christ and we do not have the freedom to pick and choose which Scriptural commands we will obey.

Christianity has operated within the boundaries established by Scripture since its foundation. We may argue over some of the lesser points, but there is a core of belief that all Christian groups share. That core of belief is what C. S. Lewis referred to as Mere Christianity.

To operate outside these core beliefs, the belief system then ceases to be Christian. One of these core beliefs is that marriage is the foundation upon which society is built. Marriage is an institution established by God and designed by God to join one man to one woman. If you doubt this, please check the first two chapters of Genesis.

You will also notice in Genesis 1 and 2 that marriage was established before man sinned. Marriage was God’s plan from the beginning. The fact that we have tarnished the institution through divorce and infidelity does not reduce the importance that God places upon marriage. Nor does our inability to do marriage well provide just cause for the redefinition of it.

Jesus told us in John 14:15, “if you love me, keep my commandments.” While none of us keeps them perfectly, we should at least have the stated desire to keep them and should be working to grow in obedience to them. If you do not want to submit to the demands of Scripture, then why claim to be Christian? Feel free to call your end product whatever you want, but it will not be Christianity.

Perhaps I do not understand the intensity of the difficulty that same sex attraction must present. It is never easy to be told that what you want is contrary to what God wants for you. I do not pretend that dealing with this is easy. I am sure that it is not.

But, we are called to fight against our rebellious tendencies and submit to God, even in the areas in which it seems impossible to do so. Sexuality is at the core of our being and difficulties with sexuality are hard to overcome. Yet, difficulty does not relieve us of the responsibility to pursue the right path.

So, Episcopalians and other groups that have already compromised or are soon to do so, understand that by fighting against traditional marriage, you are fighting against the very Christ you claim to serve. It is at that point that what you pursue ceases to be Christianity and we would all be better served if you just called it something else.

God is not fooled, we are not fooled and a world that has a desperate need for the love of Jesus is not fooled. The manipulation you do to Scripture can best be compared to a bad comb-over. Only the bald guy is fooled into thinking that it looks good.


Filed Under: Christianity and Culture

About Mark McIntyre

A follower of Jesus Christ who shares observations about how Scripture should impact the church and the world. Mark is the original author and editor of Attempts at Honesty.

Follow Attempts at Honesty

Honesty in your Inbox

How do we choose our heroes?

Rather than desiring to do big things for God, perhaps we should just focus on being obedient in the small things and let God worry about the rest. We can be encouraged in this obedience by the example of Joseph.

Moses

Moses as Leader – Do the right thing even when it’s not appreciated

Looking at Moses as Leader, it is clear that Moses did the right thing for his people. What is the application for leaders today?

Ed Stetzer – Legalism, “The Help,” and a “Woman’s Place”

I haven’t seen “The Help”, it really didn’t seem that interesting to me. But I like what Ed Stetzer says in this blog post and offer the link for your edification. Legalism is dangerous and inhibits spiritual growth. Ed Stetzer – Legalism, “The Help,” and a “Woman’s Place”.

Standing in the Light – Four Considerations for Defending the Faith

While Driving this morning, I had a chance to listen to an Apologetics 315 podcast featuring an interview with Peter Kreeft. If you have not subscribed to the Apologetics 315 podcasts, I strongly suggest that you do so if you have any interest in Christian apologetics. Brian Auten does an outstanding job of interviewing apologists […]

Mind the Gap

Mind the Gap

I am appalled and a good bit chagrined at the gap between what I believe and how I act. For example, I readily acknowledge the theological truth that there is nothing good in me that caused God to choose me as one to be saved. I fully believe in the Reformation idea that salvation is […]

Post Series

  • Westminster Shorter Catechism Series
  • Sermon on the Mount Series
January 2023
SMTWTFS
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
293031 
« Dec    

Categories

Archives

Blogger Grid
Follow me on Blogarama

Copyright © 2023 · Focus Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in