Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow

Posted on July 18, 2012 Written by Mark McIntyre 6 Comments

The Culture

Over the last week or so, I’ve tweeted about several stories regarding proposed or approved concessions that the “main line” denominations would make to the prevailing culture. For example is this one:

They wonder why people are leaving?: Rev. Emily C. Heath: The Religious Right (Side of History) http://t.co/mNxyCt69
— Mark McIntyre (@mhmcintyre) July 16, 2012

As Rev. Emily Heath writes in that article:

For Christians in the mainline Protestant denominations, this has been an interesting summer. First, the Presbyterian Church (USA) rejected an amendment that would have opened the church up to blessing same-sex marriages. Then, less than a week later, the Episcopal Church approved a new liturgy to bless same-sex unions and also affirmed the ministry of transgender clergy.

The PCUSA rejection of that amendment was a narrow victory for those who desire to stay true to Scripture.

The Truth

While Rev. Heath and others are euphoric over these monumental changes. I am reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 7:

“Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. “For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.” (Matthew 7:13–14, NASB)

Truth is Narrow — Image via freefoto.com

Truth, is by its very nature narrow. The description of an object is always narrow as compared to what it is not. I have on my wrist a watch, it is not a hammer or a motorcycle or a puppy or a yacht. It is one thing and there are an infinite number of things it is not.

When the New Testament uses the word homosexual, the Greek word from which it is translated is a very graphic term which describes a sex act between men. You can work around this all that you want, but it is the homosexual act that is condemned. The word means one thing and no amount of wrangling of words can make it mean something different. The definition is narrow and specific.

Furthermore, Jesus himself tells us that marriage is between a man and a woman. According to Jesus, it is for the purpose of being married to a woman that a man will leave his father and mother.

Some would see support for homosexual union in an argument from silence because Jesus does not specifically speak against same sex pairing. Yet I would argue that the silence cuts the other way because Jesus specifically identifies a union between a man and a woman as the relationship that God ordains and God blesses. Nowhere can you find any such blessing for a homosexual union. So the argument that Jesus was silent on homosexuality is a sham.

The definition of marriage is narrow. I understand that for those with same sex attraction, this is very difficult. Yet, the difficulty does not relieve us of the burden of proclaiming the truth.

All sin is condemned in Scripture. For example, the Bible condemns religious pride. Those of us who have grown up in the church can look down on others who have less knowledge of Scripture and Christian principles. Scripture condemns this pride and I am wrong when I practice it. When I am proud, no excuse or explanation will make that pride less wrong.

We cannot lightly set aside the clear teaching of Scripture just because we have a desire and a proclivity toward a certain behavior. Whether it be pride or homosexuality, we cannot aquiesce into acceptance no matter how much pressure there is from inside and outside the church.

The Gate

As Bob Dylan so eloquently tells us, “Truth is an arrow and the gate is narrow that it passes through.”

The Truth hurts all of us, but the wound is ultimately for our benefit if we are willing to yield.

They don’t even know how to blush – responding to a lack of shame

Posted on August 17, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre Leave a Comment

A recent ruling in Indiana held that sexually graphic pictures posted by school girls on Facebook are considered constitutionally protected speech. As a result, their school could not submit them to discipline for the photos.

The case was decided in court because the ACLU represented the girls to appeal the discipline that he school implemented in 2009. I assume that the parents of the two plaintiffs were in support of the ACLU bringing the case to court.

This morning I read Jeremiah 8:12, where God says through the prophet,

“Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? No! They were not at all ashamed, Nor did they know how to blush.” The Israelites had lost their sense of shame when they committed indecencies.

Rather than teach the girls that the pictures posted were inappropriate and allowing the girls to face the consequences of a poor choice, seemingly the parents supported the poor choice by electing to go to court. Rather than blushing over their daughters’ indecent behavior, they endorsed it.

The point of this post is not to participate in hang-wringing and finger pointing. The church has done enough of that through the years with little good effect.

The point is that we as Christians need to stop and think about how we contribute to the moral decline in our country. We contribute to the moral decline by not living as if we are created in the image of God and every human life is sacred.

The fact that human life is sacred should play itself out in every aspect of our behavior, not just with regard to procreation and sexuality.

When we think that anyone is beyond God’s redemption we devalue human life. When we ignore injustice we devalue human life. When we support film, television and the arts that depict indecencies and gratuitous violence, we devalue human life. When we think more about our own comfort than the mission God has given us to make disciples, we devalue human life.

What these girls did was wrong and their parents are wrong for supporting them in that behavior. But before we get too exercised about what they have done, we, as the Church, had better make sure that our own house is in order.

I am reminded of a proverb that I first heard from Chuck Colson, “it is better to light a candle than to curse the darkness.” Jesus said, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

Shine on!

I Am Still Ambivalent About Harry Potter

Posted on July 26, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 3 Comments

Keeping some perspective on Harry Potter

I was forwarded a recent article denouncing Christianity Today for not taking a strong Anti Harry Potter stance. While I have had my own issues with some of the writers at Christianity Today and there are things in that CT article with which I do not agree, let’s put all the hyperbole aside and take a deep breath.

If your desire is to remove magic from your kids’ reading list, some of the best literature must be taken away. Need I remind you that Lord of the Rings and The Chronicles of Narnia and just about every other fantasy novel or series have magic in them? Magic is a staple of the genre. In a previous post in this blog, I made some observations about this genre which point to our need for something bigger than ourselves. There is value in using literature to explore the big questions that confront us. These are question such as, who are we, why are we here and where are we going? These are subjects that fantasy literature explores.

With the release of the first Harry Potter book, some in Christendom began predicting that J. K. Rowling and Harry Potter would team up to destroy the faith every child and convert them to occultic practice. I haven’t seen evidence of this. Before we restart the anti Harry Potter hysteria, let’s find some evidence that the predicted impact is in fact taking place. The burden of proof is on the side of the doom-sayers.

So Why Am I Ambivalent?

I am ambivalent because there are some things in the Harry Potter books that I did not like. Like real life, the good characters sometimes do things that are wrong. They break rules, are sometimes disrespectful and tell lies. In this, Rowling has done nothing more egregious than present heroes that are flawed. Yet, at times while reading the books, I wanted to shout “shame on you.”

To be fair, I should point out that heroes are what they are because they get the most important thing right in a particular situation. Pick any hero from sports, war, history, religion, science or the arts and you will find a flawed individual who did well in his chosen endeavor. While I don’t like the flaws, they are what they are and flaws in book characters are consistent with flaws in real people.

Are the Harry Potter books great literature? I’m not qualified to determine this. I can say that they present a compelling story and force the reader to examine important questions. The Harry Potter books are entertaining and engaging; they do draw you in. Yet, I can’t say that I would watch the movies or read the books again. I have lost count of the times I’ve read The Lord of the Rings but Harry Potter does not compel me back in the same way.

The Harry Potter books are here to stay, which is perhaps an indicator of their quality as literature. Since they are here to stay, why not use them as a starting point for substantive discussion as opposed to using them as a jumping off point decrying the general decline of western culture and Christian influence? The books could be a good starting point for discussion about right and wrong, what is important and the purpose of life.

What do you think?

Weird – Because normal isn’t working – Book Review

Posted on May 16, 2011 Written by Mark McIntyre 2 Comments

A Weird Contest Won

One day I saw a tweet which announced a contest to win a new book called Weird. Since free is my favorite price and the title intrigued me, I decided to check it out. One of the ways to win a copy was to promise to write a review of the book as a blog post.

I promised, I won and now I write.

What Weird is About

In the introduction of this book, in a section called “Weird 101”, Craig gives us an idea of where the book is going when he writes:

After a Tuesday night Bible meeting, I walked alone to an empty softball field. NO matter what it cost me – even being normal – I had decided that I wanted to know Jesus and live for him. I wanted to do life his way and not mine. As I knelt beside the dugout and prayed, I left normal behind and embraced whatever it took – being different to the point of the God kind of weird – to follow Jesus. Something melted within me, and I waled away forever changed, with a sense of God’s grace I can’t describe.

To much of society, an all-or-nothing, totally-in following of Jesus looks weird. This is especially true in 21st Century America where we are taught to look after #1, do things our own way and not take direction from anyone.

Too often the church has worked hard at appearing “normal” to the outside world. We try to do things in the way that corporations, civic groups or social clubs do them. We attempt to rely on programs, marketing and techniques, all the normal stuff.

As Groeshel points out, “normal isn’t working.” The churches and individuals that do things the normal way, do not experience the personal and corporate growth (not measured only in numbers) that God wants to provide.

My Perception of Weird

This book convinced me that I may be weird, but not weird enough.

In the book, Craig discusses the impact that a relationship with Jesus should have on our view of time, money, relationships, sex and values. The discussion has challenged me to reexamine the way I approach these topics.

I appreciated the way Craig issued the challenges, even when my initial gut reaction was that he was going a little overboard. For each topic, Groeschel presented principles that apply and gave some clues as to how this worked out in his own life. Craig does this without giving me the sense that he thinks he has it wired and if we only did it his way, things would be OK. By his writing style and the principles he presented, Craig created an environment conducive to considering new points of view.

This isn’t a how-to book. It does not lay out “x steps to spiritual maturity.” What it does provide is thought provoking analysis of what a follower of Jesus should consider as he responds to the challenges of the surrounding culture. The principles are presented and it is up to the reader to work through the principles to figure out how the principles should be applied in his own situation.

Why You Should Get Weird

Near the end of the book, Groeschel writes:

If you have just enough of Christ to satisfy you but not enough to change you, answer his knock and let him make himself at home with you. You’ve purposefully chosen to leave the broad path. You’re gladly traveling the narrow road. Your journey may seem weird to others, but your destination will be infinitely better than anything a settle-for-normal world can offer.

The number one reason I would recommend this book is that it will challenge you in areas where you unconsciously or unknowingly have imbibed the surrounding culture. These areas need to be exposed to the light of Scripture so that we can be “transformed by the renewing of our minds.” (Romans 12:1-2).

This book would be excellent as a small group study resource. The way the material is presented would be conducive to small group discussion.

In Conclusion

Craig Groeschel is right, normal isn’t working. Much of Christendom is disarray and decline. For change to take place, we have to get over our fear of being weird. Weird (the book) is a good place to start.

Weird is available from Barnes & Noble and Amazon in both paper (DTB, Dead Tree Book) and electronic formats.