Don’t be a Moron

 I experienced another confluence today that got me thinking. My Bible reading is in the first chapters of Romans where Paul harshly criticizes unbelievers for ignoring what can be known of God and living lives of unrighteousness and debauchery. He certainly pulls no punches. Then my devotional reading of Charles Spurgeon took off from the verse, “The sword of the Lord and the sword of Gideon.” Spurgeon developed the idea that believers must rely totally on God to accomplish His work (the sword of the Lord), and at the same time do whatever is humanly possible to bring God’s will to pass (the sword of Gideon).

The problem came when Spurgeon said, “go out personally and serve with our flaming torch of holy example, and with our trumpet tones of earnest declaration and testimony.” I am mostly successful in living a life that is a worthy example of a believer, but the second half of the admonition gives me trouble. If Paul’s condemnation in Romans is an example of “earnest declaration,” I can’t see how that will win many friends or influence people to turn to Christ. I used to be quite bold in that regard, and I was told to go someplace hot and uncomfortable on several occasions. I even had fellow-believers tell me to tone it down.

The problem is that many people, perhaps most people are not aware that they are “lost in sin.” The entire concept of sin has been mostly washed from the consciousness of our modern society. “Values clarification” as taught in public schools has strengthened the natural inclination of humans to go their own way regarding moral structures. Unfortunately, sin and its consequences are not frequent topics of sermons even in evangelical churches. In our post-modern society where truth itself is scoffed, telling someone they are wrong is a sure way to lose an audience.

The situation has become even more difficult with the codification of politically correct speech standards and the criminalization of certain topics. There are places in America where a sermon on Romans 2 would be considered hate speech and place the preacher in jeopardy of criminal charges. It has already happened in Canada and the UK. I am not suggesting we go as far as Pastor Steven Anderson and call for stoning, but the simple message that God disapproves of homosexual behavior is no longer safe under First Amendment protection.

It is not only pushing legal boundaries to speak the truth (in love, of course), but the workplace is being gradually converted to a no-speak zone. I have spent the last two years working at an organization that would reprimand me, and should I not cease, fire me for proclaiming the Bible standard for sexual relationships. I was required to take annual harassment training that explicitly forbade any judgment of a person’s sexual preferences. The same type of training was required at the academic institution where I last taught. A similar prohibition exists for recommending the biblical roles of husband and wife, and biblical parental discipline has been criminalized as well. The list of things believers cannot talk about continues to grow.

It is ironic to the point of hypocrisy that the tolerance and inclusion demanded by political correctness specifically excludes Christian, biblical proclamation. We are being asked to tolerate everything except the beliefs that are based in biblical truth. I see the enemy’s hand in this situation so clearly that I am disappointed that Christians have not stood up and cried foul. Biblical standards of behavior and expressions of faith are being systematically removed and forbidden from Western society.

The situation I have been describing is built into the political platform of one of the major parties in this country. I have written previously that I am disturbed by the fact that thinking Christians can say there is no difference between Republicans and Democrats. I read a blog recently that called for Christians to be tolerant of fellow-believers’ differing political affiliations. The writer believes that any vote is a vote for the lesser of two evils. This may be true, but when one of the “evils” involves openly denying the right of Christians to express and live their faith while encouraging infanticide (aka abortion), homosexual lifestyles, deficit spending, disrespecting law enforcement and celebrating anarchy (calling it patriotism), this “evil” cannot be a legitimate choice for a believer. Each of the positions I mentioned plainly tramples a biblical principle.

My Christian friends are all over Facebook complaining about the flood of political ads we are being subjected to. I am there too; I mute them or change the channel, especially when they are so easily recognizable as distortions of the truth (aka lies) that anyone who cares to investigate can discern. But we must not tune out to the point of idiocy. It would be idiotic, moronic to use the biblical term, not to seek the truth and vote our convictions.

A biblical moron is one who does not make the attempt to follow God. I believe that there is a more godly choice in the upcoming election – note I did not say a more godly man; all the candidates are human and therefore fallible. But if a Christian votes for a platform rather than for a candidate, there can be only one choice. That is an intolerant statement. Paul was explicitly intolerant in his Roman letter. Jesus was quite intolerant of the hypocrites of His day. If I offend, I do not apologize; Jesus was called the stone of stumbling and the rock of offense. What I am offended by is morons – in the biblical sense.

Related articles: “Christians are Responsible to be Politically Engaged” “What Does it Mean to be an American” “How Could a Christian Vote for Hillary?” “Hooray! We Won. Now What?”