The Christian And The Politician (August 31, 2003)

Recently I saw the documentary Bowling for Columbine, where writer-director Michael Moore struggled to discover the reasons why we have so many murders in the U.S. It turns out (what a surprise!) it is because we are not liberal enough. Michael Moore hates all things conservative, and sees in every misfortune an opportunity to score political points and bash the Right. You may remember how he savaged President Bush during his acceptance speech at the Academy Awards.

Of course we see raw hatred go the other way too, as conservatives threw fits for years about the behavior of Bill Clinton. At my former church I confiscated a video somebody had planted in the foyer that claimed Vince Foster did not commit suicide - Clinton obviously had murdered him!

In the face of such hostility toward the powers that be I like to remind people that we've got it pretty good here. Last week I talked with a Haitian friend who told me about how badly his country is deteriorating under the hopelessly corrupt regime of Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Aristide is no better than renowned thug Duvalier. Also last week, with the death of Idi Amin, we were reminded of that African reign of terror where hundreds of thousands of Ugandans were killed. And “time would fail me” to tell of Pinochet and Pol Pot and Saddam Hussein and Kim Jong Il.

Few nations (no nations?) in history have had better leaders than we. Thank God today for our leaders - both those on the left and those on the right. And pray for them. 1 Timothy 2:1-2 says, “I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.”

For a primer on how to pray for leaders it is hard to improve on what Tertullian wrote nearly 1800 years ago: "We pray for all the emperors, that God may grant them long life, a secure government, a prosperous family, vigorous troops, a faithful senate, an obedient people; that the whole world may be in peace; and that God may grant, both to Caesar and to every man, the accomplishments of their just desires." If Tertullian could pray so graciously for emperors hostile to Christ, how much more should we pray, with grateful hearts, for all our leaders - regardless of whether they share our political convictions.

Happy Inconveniences Versus The Joyless Pursuit Of Pleasure (August 24, 2003)

A few days ago my son Peter brought me Time Magazine's August 25 issue (about a blackout in the eastern states), and showed me a picture of more than three dozen stranded New Yorkers hitching a ride on a long flat-bed truck. Peter noted (I thought it was an inspired observation) that nearly every person in the photograph was smiling.

What were they smiling about - wasn't the blackout supposed to be a miserable inconvenience for everybody? Sure it was. But somehow even in the midst of that un-air-conditioned traffic nightmare these people found an occasion for joy. (Peter thought it had something to do with their not watching TV) I remembered something my mother used to say about working in a sweatshop for 40 cents an hour during WWII. She said there was a group of black ladies, segregated from the other employees, who were made to work in the hottest part of the factory. What amazed my mother was that these women were so happy - they laughed all day long as they enjoyed one another's company.

By contrast I think of something my brother Dave once told me about his experience aboard a riverboat casino. "Those are joyless places," he said. Rows and rows of slot machines reflected the grim faces of men and women giving away quarters like they were pieces of their souls. Snap a hundred photographs in such a place and see if even one shows as much happiness as that of stranded New Yorkers sharing a ride.

Genuine fun is nearly always a by-product of community. Though we tend to seek fun in a place (a casino or an amusement park) or before a screen (a movie or video game), it is much more likely that fun will find us if we give it a chance to materialize by spending some time together.

The Sin I Never Hear About (August 17, 2003)

There are two types of sexual sin, but unless I'm missing something, there is only one type that I hear condemned from pulpits, confessed at Promise Keepers or discussed on Christian radio. That is the sin of having sex when you shouldn't. Examples include adultery, fornication, homosexual practice, rape, pedophilia and lust. (Lust - even where there is no sexual contact - is included in this list because Jesus identified sexual covetousness as "adultery of the heart" in Matthew 5:28.)

But I think the other kind of sexual sin has been getting a free pass in evangelical circles. That is the sin of not having sex when you should - the sin of withholding legitimate sexual pleasure from your married partner. When was the last time you heard a sermon condemning frigidity?

As Christians we are often ridiculed by the world because our insistence on purity is interpreted as a slam against sex. “You think sex is dirty!“ No, far from it - we don't hate sex - but I do wonder if we feed the world's contempt of us by (1) neglecting to celebrate the delights of conjugal ecstasy and (2) neglecting to condemn the sin of withholding such delight.

The Bible isn't shy about celebrating sex. Many who read the Song of Solomon for the first time respond with a "Wow! I can't believe the Bible says that!" Things also get a little heated in Proverbs 5:18-19: "May you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer - may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love."

Nor is the Bible shy about condemning the (marital) refusal of sex. 1 Corinthians 7:3-5 says, "The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife's body does not belong to her alone but also to her husband. In the same way, the husband's body does not belong to him alone but also to his wife. Do not deprive each other except by mutual consent..." I believe that last line is an oft-disobeyed commandment. The assumption in the minds of many is that there needs to be mutual consent to engage in sex - but this text teaches the opposite. It says that there needs to be mutual consent to refrain from sex. Marital abstinence is acceptable only if both parties agree to it. But if one party desires sex, it is wrong for the other to withhold it.

Years ago in college my roommate and I laughed out loud as an uninhibited friend told us of his desire to marry. "I have a real strong sex drive," he said. "I can't imagine being single the rest of my life. I want to have sex SO bad." Well there is nothing wrong with that. The Bible says "It is better to marry than to burn with passion" (1 Corinthians 7:9). Marriage, among many other things, is God's channel for what might otherwise be a reckless, uncontrolled torrent of passion. I haven't seen that college friend in 20 years, and I don't know how things turned out for him. But I do hope that he conscientiously confined his sexual delights to his wife, and that he was blessed to marry a woman who, as necessary, chose obedience to 1 Corinthians 7:3-5.

Heaven And Hell Are At Stake (August 10, 2003)

Gene Robinson is going to hell.

I've read many news reports about the newly confirmed (and actively gay) Episcopal Bishop of New Hampshire, and I've heard many responses both from other bishops and from church laymen. The comments run the predictable gamut from joy that the church has stepped forward to include God's gay children in leadership to dismay that such a sinner could ever be given ecclesiastical authority. And of course both sides are concerned about the political fallout and potential for schism in the Anglican/Episcopal fellowship.

What I haven't seen yet (and it is possible that I just haven't looked hard enough) is the simple, direct, brutally offensive statement:

Gene Robinson is going to hell.

So I'll say it. I'll speak the unspeakable. Not from joy, not out of a desire to see him go there, and certainly not from hatred for him. With God as my witness I do not hate the man. Though I don't know him, I do love him in the sense that I desire what is best for him. What is best for him is that he repent and trust Christ and be saved.

But he has not trusted Christ and he is not saved, and he shows that he is lost by steadfastly refusing to repent. Such behavior on the part of a religious authority is nothing new - you will see in Scripture how the Pharisees also sinned scandalously, took offense at being called evildoers, maintained their religious posts and refused to change their ways. Jesus did not say they were saved anyway - he pronounced the judgment of hellfire against them.

St. Paul pronounced that same judgment in 1 Corinthians 6:9-10: “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.”

To "not inherit the kingdom of God" is to be shut out of it. There are no intermediate kingdoms - there is only the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. We pick. Indulge the sins listed above with an unrepentant heart, seeking no forgiveness and desiring no change, and you will have made your choice for the kingdom of the devil.

I urge fellow Christians not to be embarrassed about what the Bible teaches on this matter, not to be bullied into silence, and not to fear being labeled “intolerant.“ The stakes are too high. What is at issue here is not denominational politics or the public perception of conservative Christians, but the eternal destiny of the souls of men.

My Octogenarian Hero (August 3, 2003)

Some time ago I paid a hospital visit to one of my heroes, 86-year-old Vivian Cabatari. Vivian's arms were all black and blue from the hypodermic needles that a nurse had plunged into her in vain attempts to find veins. But Vivian wasn't complaining. In fact, she told me that she felt sorry for the nurse, and after two failed attempts to draw blood Vivian said, "Third time's a charm! Try again." The nurse offered to get somebody else to do it, but Vivian said no. She told me she wanted to encourage the young woman, and "not have it go on her record that she couldn't manage a needle."

When I hear something like that I know that I am in the presence of greatness. If I ever get old, I want to be like Vivian Cabatari. I want to have grace to pity well-meaning interns 60 years my junior who can't find my veins, and utter not a word of complaint lest it make them feel bad. I want to work hard to suppress a cough at night (as Vivian did) lest it disturb the patient in the bed next to me. Long after I can no longer preach from Philippians 2:4 (“Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others"), I hope to God I can live it like Vivian.

And I hope I'll be able to laugh at myself the way she does. Vivian gleefully told me how she tried to get down three pills that a nurse gave her even though she had some chewing gum in her mouth. She tucked the chewing gum behind a molar and managed to swallow two pills, but the third got lodged in the gum and dissolved into it. That pill made the gum "bitter as gall," she said, “But I chewed and chewed on it in order to get the full benefit.”

It so happens that chewing medicinal gum is a good metaphor for Vivian’s life. She has suffered some truly awful things through her eight and a half decades. But somehow she emerged from her trials not as a bitter old hag but as a winsome saint who inspires those around her to be better people. She has trusted God and calmly chewed the gall of life's heartaches in order to get full benefit from them. Praise God Almighty for delightful souls who do that as well as Vivian Cabatari.