The common tale says you can’t drop a frog in hot water
because he will jump out. However, if you put the frog in cold water and
gradually heat it, the frog will allow itself to be boiled to death. This is a
perfect analogy for what is happening to Christians in modern culture. The
culture around us has been becoming more secular by increments for at least a
century and maybe even longer.
This has been occurring in many areas, but the one that best
illustrates it is women’s fashion. I recently saw a picture of a public Lake
Michigan bathing beach in Muskegon from the late 1900’s. The women were
basically covered from neck to ankle in form-disguising attire. By the middle
of the twentieth century, women were still covering their torsos, but the suits
had become more form-fitting. No one needs to be told how scantily clad many
women are on today’s beaches. The postage stamp size patches on strings hardly
qualify as attire, bathing or otherwise.
I am not a prude; my wife and daughters have worn and still
wear what we like to call “modest bikini” fashions. But I find it difficult to
attach the biblical term “modest” to a bikini. Christian women who wear them
(and the men who go along) have allowed themselves to be deceived by the
surrounding culture into thinking that such attire is acceptable. The Greek
term translated “modest” literally means “not chaotic.” All you have to do is
imagine the hormonal chaos created in a normal male upon seeing a woman in a
bikini. Distraction, temptation and outright lust are almost inevitable. This
is chaos.
Hold on; I am going to make a turn that may cause your head
to spin: I think the same thing has happened in other areas of our Christian
witness. Science is full of examples; reproductive technology is one. I
honestly don’t know the exact point at which we should have called a halt to in
vitro embryonic technology. Once we reached the point of creating embryos
specifically for experimentation, we had certainly crossed an ethical line in
my opinion. Few Christians are opposed to in vitro fertilization and
re-implantation, especially for childless couples. Perhaps few realize that
multiple embryos are fertilized and implanted; if more than one attaches to the
uterine wall, excess numbers are culled – aborted in point of fact.
Politics is another area of concern. (You knew this was
coming.) Again there is a perfect example. The trouble began with the removal
of the Bible and prayer from public schools. Then religious expressions were
banned from public areas. Then the Ten Commandments were “outlawed.” Last year
Obama tried to force Catholic institutions to offer birth control. We learned
in recent weeks that the IRS was asking certain applicants to reveal the subjects of
their private prayers as one aspect of their investigation. It will be only a
short time before some conservative preacher is hauled to jail for preaching
“hate” from Leviticus or Romans regarding homosexual practices. (It has already
happened in Canada.)
I read recently that Missouri (among other states) is
attempting what is called nullification of federal requirements of gun control.
They are being tricky, saying the feds can only impose their sanctions through
the interstate commerce clause, so Missourians can have complete freedom with
guns made and sold in Missouri. Some states have tried a similar tactic with
Obamacare’s insurance mandate saying the state has the sovereign right to
control commerce within its borders. In other words, people are finally getting
a sense of the near boiling point of federal intervention in our lives, so they
are jumping out of the pot.
Why couldn’t Christians do something like this with
abortion, school prayer and other religious freedom issues? There are still
states where Christians could wield majority power if they wanted to. Imagine
“nullification” of Roe v. Wade. Christians often claim they want to do
something, but the problem is too big and Washington is too far removed. State
politics are more easily influenced. One need only consider the effect of the
Tea Party movement to see that much can be accomplished through grass roots
organizing. Despite the Obama win in 2012, many states elected conservatives to
their state houses and the US House of Representatives remained under Republican control.
2016 seems like a long way off, but there will be mid-terms
in 2014. In today’s political atmosphere, it takes a long time to build a
really effective movement. If Christians really feel the heat, it is time they
jumped out of the pot. The task is daunting, but nothing will change if apathy
reigns. If we wait until the week before the election to get “involved,” our
vote still counts, but we will have squandered an opportunity to effect real
change. There is another fable about the mouse that fell into the milk bucket;
he worked so hard to get out that he churned the milk into butter and was saved
from drowning. Whether frog or mouse, the lesson is clear; if we do nothing,
we’re cooked.
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