SPOILER ALERT

This post is not for children.
This post may offend you.

June is LGBT+ pride month…….a time of celebration for a great many people…….both Christians and secular humanists. This week I’d like to spend some time on the conflict between the church and the LGBT+ community. This conflict is serious and it is growing……major businesses are taking sides……as are some of our schools. Sometimes, it even becomes violent. For this discussion, I will include Christianity, Judaism, and Islam as the church. I will include those who practice non-traditional sexual activities……that is sex outside of marriage between one man and one woman……as LGBT+. For this post I will also include recreational heterosexual intercourse and the trans culture…..because the same logic applies.

First off…….what is this conflict NOT about? It is NOT about love. Fortunately, the church and the LGBT+ community agree on love. It is the most important thing on the planet and we need more of it.

What this conflict IS about…….is the physical expression of sex, including intercourse……and freedom.

Should the physical expression of sex be limited or confined?

It is pretty clear that the vast majority of adults have tried out non-traditional sex. Almost as many have tried traditional sex. So….this is not about ignorance or inexperience. It is about whether we restrain our appetites or exercise them freely. At its core, it is about right and wrong.

Is non-traditional sexual activity right…….or is it wrong?

The argument for wrong is that the three most widely accepted moral codes on the planet…….the Torah, the Koran, and the Bible…….all unequivocally say that it is wrong. These documents claim to be the word of God and God says that non-traditional sex is wrong. It requires an unacceptable amount of logical gymnastics to extort the Bible into condoning non-traditional sex.

The argument for right is just about as simple. Non-traditional sex is right……because we want it to be right……..because we enjoy it……..because we like our freedom.

It comes down to what…..or whom do you follow…….in what……or whom do you put your trust?

God and the Bible………or your appetites.

It comes down to what………..or whom do you reject……or restrict……..God and the Bible……..or your appetites?

Something to keep in mind…….the next time you go to God with a “to do list”.

For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.

Paul, ESV

But because of the temptation to sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife and each woman her own husband. The husband should give to his wife her conjugal rights, and likewise the wife to her husband. For the wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does. Likewise the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does.

Paul, ESV

And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”

Jesus, talking to an adultress, ESV

Some people experience it.
Others never seem to know doubt.

We respect confidence. We like confident people. We often follow them. Most people would say that confidence is a good thing. It certainly feels good to be confident.

But…..it’s not so simple.

I spent 40 years in the field of medicine. For the most part I stayed out of trouble. One thing that helped me….. was doubt……..the ever present thought that my diagnosis might be wrong…….that I might be wrong…….and hurt someone. The last step in my decision making process was to ask…….”what are the ways that I could be wrong……..and what are the consequences of each specific error”. This final step forced me to reconsider answers and outcomes that I thought were wrong……..just in case they were right. Often, it led to additional tests……..just to confirm my suspicions. But, on more than one occasion, this final step saved my patient from harm.

If you take a room full of experts and give them a difficult problem, the guy who gives you an answer and is absolutely confident………is probably the dumbest guy in the room…….because he has stopped thinking. The guy who harbors doubt…….is still thinking.

There are two things to consider.

For the Christian, doubt is OK. It is OK to ask…….is this whole Bible thing legit? God can handle your doubt. He will answer your doubts……and the answer is right there in the “owner’s manual”. Even Jesus asked his father……”Why have you forsaken me?” The key is to keep thinking…….to keep searching……..and, most important of all, to search in the right places. Because, if you exclude sources that you don’t agree with, you will be ignorant………and sometimes…….you will be wrong.

For the non-believer…….the secular humanist……..the key is to respect your doubt. If you are so sure that God is a myth…….that you have stopped searching…….then you may be like the guy in the room who has stopped thinking. You may be that supremely confident guy…….the dumbest guy in the room. My hope is that you will keep questioning…….keep seeking………keep doubting.

The final point in my decision making process was to weigh the consequences of being wrong. And often there was more than one way to be wrong. This is especially important when you just cannot be sure. Because the consequences of the God vs. accident decision are the greatest consequences that you will ever face.

There is some ambiguity in the God vs. accident decision. Both sides are confident. But, neither side has absolute proof of their position…….regardless of what they say. This is not an accident. God wants you to keep thinking. God wants you to come to him because you carefully considered the situation……..and chose him.

And so God gave you the gift……..of doubt.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?

David, ESV

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lema sabachthani?” that is, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

Jesus, ESV

Freedom…..the ability to do and be anything you choose.

Righteousness…….the wisdom to choose to do and be what is moral……to act based on the principles of right and wrong.

Truth……..an idea that is real.

America is a nation based on the ideal of freedom. We hear this all of the time. “Land of the free”. And yet, even a cursory look at freedom clearly shows that absolute freedom is not a good ideal.

Freedom must be tempered……restrained…..by righteousness and truth.

Freedom must be tempered……restrained…..by righteousness and truth.

In America today, we still have freedom. But, what we are losing is righteousness and truth.

In America today, freedom is becoming untethered from righteousness and truth.

When the freedom to express your opinion becomes untethered from right and wrong……..you get the destruction of Portland……you get the January 6th insurrection. Freedom, unrestrained by righteousness, is a destructive force.

When freedom becomes untethered from truth…….you get men dominating and destroying women’s sports. Freedom, unrestrained by truth, is a destructive force.

Freedom, in America today, is becoming a destructive force. To save ourselves, we must deal with this problem.

So……we must deal with the questions:

What is truth…….what is right……what is wrong?

First……let me tell you what truth, right, and wrong are NOT: they are not “whatever we want them to be”.

Unfortunately, this where we are today. We decide what we want. We choose media outlets that tell us that these things are right and true. We choose politicians who promise to give us what we want. Then we throw a fit if we don’t get what we want.

Truth:

Truth is real. It doesn’t change. It is completely external to us. We don’t get to decide if we like it. We don’t get to choose what truths we want (aka “alternate truths”). We are bound by the consequences of the truth…….even if we deny it or ignore it. The truth was here before we were……..and it will be here long after we are gone.

Right and wrong:

Like truth…..right and wrong are external to us. We do not control them. We do not have the authority to choose among them or manipulate them. The authority to decide what is right and what is wrong is outside of our power. If we take something that is wrong and redefine it as right…….that changes nothing. We are still bound by the consequences of being wrong.

So…….what are the specifics……of truth, right, and wrong? Don’t bother trying to figure it out…….those decisions are above your pay grade……mine too. Besides…..we would both find a way to justify the things we want to do as being right and true…….even if they are wrong and untrue.

The best we can do is to subscribe to an external moral code. And I can give you a clue…….if it doesn’t tell you to do something that you don’t want to do…….if it doesn’t tell you to stop doing something that you do want to do……..then you are perfect……….and you are kidding yourself.

I have used several moral codes in my life:

The Boy Scout Oath and Law………in my youth

Whatever makes me happy…….as a young adult

Love God…Love man….aka the Bible…as a mature adult

The Bible is the best explanation of right, wrong, and truth that I have found in 70 years of searching.

The Bible has tempered my use…..and abuse….of freedom. I strongly recommend it. It is a far more honest moral code……….than your appetites……or mine. It is a far more honest moral compass than your favorite politician……..or your favorite talking head.

“Take all of this Book upon reason that you can and the balance upon faith, and you will live and die a better man.”

Abraham Lincoln

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

Jesus, ESV

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

Isaiah, ESV

It’s spring……and time for some annual chores:

Rake the plant beds, spray the weeds with roundup, spread preen.

I know that the weeds are God’s creation……..but I just won’t allow them in my plant beds. I may have to answer for that some day…….but for now…..they are going down. I give little weak weeds a small dose of roundup. But, when I come upon a big strong healthy vibrant weed, I give it a double dose of poison.

It occurred to me that Satan probably behaves the same way. When he comes upon a weak Christian or a non-Christian, he dishes out a small dose of poison. No sense wasting perfectly good poison on a soft target. A little dose of temptation or trials will likely do the job.

But then he comes across a person of strong faith………maybe a Job……he knows that he has his work cut out for him. And he pulls out all of the stops. He really lets Job have it…….with an extra helping of poison. Satan knows that ordinary, garden variety, temptation will have no impact on Job.

Do you ever wonder about big league preachers who mess up. Were they really that bad to begin with or did they just get an extra dose of temptation………a double dose of poison.

I believe that, sometimes, Satan sees a person of strong faith. He sees that person as a threat to his dominion. And his response is to double down on his attack in order to destroy that person. The sad reality is that Satan works much harder to destroy a person of strong faith than he does to destroy a weak Christian.

The irony here is that it may very well be…….that the stronger your faith……..the more viciously Satan will attack you. It is just possible that the misfortunes that befall you are a sign that you are doing something right.

So……when temptation……or outright tragedy befalls you, understand that you may be receiving a compliment………from your enemy. Satan may be telling you that you have moved up a spot or two on his list of problems.

A warrior is measured by the quality of his enemies.

Native American proverb.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.

Peter, ESV

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.

Paul, ESV