Wednesday, April 27, 2016
“No one can serve
two masters.
Matthew 6:24a(NLT)
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The following is a
rather odd quote from 1982; it isn’t odd in word or thought – just that I’m
quoting my own words from that time:
“Today we live in an extremely
complicated and complex society with lightning fast computers, space travel and
lifestyles. It seems that in all the
hurry-up and confusion of our modern existence, some Christians tend to
compromise on what is sinful, passing off what used to be called sin as acceptable
social behavior.”
I wrote those words
34 years ago as a young pastor; true words then, and no less accurate today.
An issue that is
constantly in the news media today, and therefore, agonizingly highlights the timeless
reality of human compromise of core principles of the Christian faith, is LGBTQ
behavior; in particular, same-sex marriage.
For the
denomination I serve (United Methodist), this past Saturday (April 23, 2016) in
Charlotte, NC, a door was opened in this ongoing conflict which will be
impossible to ignore, much less close. Two
men exchanged wedding vows and were legally recognized by the state as
married. Those officiating at the
ceremony were a retired bishop and the current pastor, both ordained in the
UMC.
What was door-opening
about this ceremony is that it was held inside the sanctuary of First United
Methodist Church of Charlotte. The
actions (both using a denominationally-owned building, and officiating the
ceremony by UMC clergy) are clearly in violation of the denomination’s rules,
The Book of Discipline of the United Methodist Church.
A larger, and for
me more disturbing reality, is that this isn’t the first time for the bishop,
Melvin Talbert. This wasn’t his first
same-sex marriage rodeo, or as I call it, denominational and ordinational
disobedience.
Here are more 34
year old words from my note file:
“…some Christians have lost the
Spirit-guided ability to distinguish between what is and isn’t sin. They see things as grey – not black and
white. However, the Bible says we cannot
serve two masters.”
Marriage between
two persons of the same sex is counterfeit.
Just like forged currency is supposed to trick you into thinking you
possess the real thing, two men or women standing before a preacher at a church
chancel does not result in marriage in any sense of the Biblical meaning; it is
merely an appearance of the real thing.
Whatever the state
does or doesn’t do in recognizing the “marriage forgery” of same-sex unions –
and whatever the UMC legal entities do or don’t do concerning appropriate consequences
for the bishop and pastor who have violated their sacred vows of ordination, my
prayer is that Christ is lifted up for the whole world to see. Because in that witness is contained either
condemnation (for those who choose to “ordain a forgery”) or a witness of the
Gospel of Jesus Christ which is, according to Paul(Romans 1:16) the
power of God unto salvation.
In all, may all men
be brought low, and Christ’s name be praised.
For You Today
Homosexuality isn’t
the only failure to honor God in our culture today.
You chew on that as you hit
the Rocky Road today…and have a blessed day!
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