Public Contempt For Biblical Convictions (February 20, 2005)

Former senatorial candidate Allan Keyes' daughter Maya recently announced that she is gay. In committing herself to homosexual behavior - without shame, confession, penitence or desire to change - she has rebelled against God. She has landed herself in the sinful chamber of horrors that St. Paul describes in Romans 1: "God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones...God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents" (Verses 26,30).

Has anyone in the media denounced this wayward daughter for defying God, holding her father in contempt and subjecting him to public ridicule? Not on your life. Rather, it is her father, a conservative Catholic Christian, who has been the target of withering scorn and “Bibliophobic” venom. In vain I’ve read the papers to see if there is an ounce of sympathy for the heartbroken man. There is none. Instead you will find headlines such as the one in Monday's Chicago Tribune, "Anti-gay bias hits home in the Keyes household." The father is the villain (for believing homosexual practice is wrong), and Maya is the courageous crusader for sexual dignity. Good and evil have been recast in opposite roles. It reminds me of missionary Donald Richardson's stunning revelation of an Indonesian tribe that regarded Judas as the hero of the crucifixion because of the crafty way he befriended Jesus before betraying him. In the media's glad reception of Maya and hateful denunciation of her father, the prodigal son story has been re-imagined. This time the son returns home with a bevy of prostitutes in tow and announces, "You are not worthy to be my father. I and all those who share my values are taking over, and we cast you away along with your hopelessly bigoted prejudice against loose living." Three cheers. Kill the fatted calf.

When I was in college my Sunday School teacher said that persecution comes to all devout Christians. Though he could quote Scripture on that (1 Timothy 3:12: "Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted"), I frankly doubted that it applied to our culture. But now I am beginning to see the universality of persecution - though of course it comes with varying intensity. We don't have it so bad compared to most eras and cultures. But the world's general love for wickedness and contempt for God guarantees that sooner or later anyone who loves the Lord and takes a stand on Scripture will suffer for it. Be prepared for that, and don't be surprised. In the first century you could lose your life for saying, "Jesus is King"; in the 21st century you could (merely) lose your job
for saying, "Homosexual behavior is wrong." That day is coming, and may already be at hand. Don't back down. Loving the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind and strength necessarily includes accepting the Bible's teaching on sexual morality. Do this even if your own family members turn on you as the world applauds their courage.