“There Has Been an Awakening”

I was finally able to watch Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Tuesday with my good friend, Jon Wharton. I thought it was a great movie but today I do not want to write about why I enjoyed the movie. Rather, I want to briefly consider how it relates to something larger than mere entertainment. Now of course we are talking about a fictional world here but it does, like all good art, accurately reflect reality. So what exactly am I talking about then? Well this blog post got me thinking about the fact that The Force Awakens in many ways ruins the happy ending of The Return of the Jedi. The original trilogy ends with the defeat of the Empire and a celebration. But this victory of the Rebellion was really only one battle. The war had not been won, and in a short 30-something years the evil Empire has been replaced by an even worse First Order and the victorious Rebellion is a seemingly even smaller guerrilla force called the Resistance. The Jedi have disappeared. Things have not become better but worse! The blog post I linked earlier calls this the sadness of expanded universes. As the story continues the happy endings are no more. That writer compares The Force Awakens to a work that J. R. R. Tolkien started but never finished called The New Shadow that took place a century after The Return of the King. He quotes Tolkien’s reason for never finishing,

I did begin a story placed about 100 years after the Downfall, but it proved both sinister and depressing. Since we are dealing with Men it is inevitable that we should be concerned with the most regrettable feature of their nature: their quick satiety with good. So that the people of Gondor in times of peace, justice and prosperity, would become discontented and restless — while the dynasts descended from Aragorn would become just kings and governors — like Denethor or worse. I found that even so early there was an outcrop of revolutionary plots, about a centre of secret Satanistic religion; while Gondorian boys were playing at being Orcs and going around doing damage. I could have written a ‘thriller’ about the plot and its discovery and overthrow — but it would have been just that. Not worth doing.

The Force Awakens is similar only it was actually finished. While we thought there was peace, justice, and prosperity at the end of The Return of the Jedi there was actually only more evil, injustice, oppression, and death. It does prove to be both sinister and depressing. There is sadness in this extended universe and even more so when you consider how this mirrors the actual world we live in.

Do a quick flyover of history since sin entered the scene and there has always been “new shadows” after the “happy endings.” Evil dictators die and are defeated only to be replaced by others like them (or worse). Genocides end only to be followed by more murder and death. World War II brings the Holocaust to a close only to be followed mere decades later by the present holocaust we call abortion. Wars cease only to be followed by more war. Tolkien was right. “Since we are dealing with Men it is inevitable that we should be concerned with the most regrettable feature of their nature: their quick satiety with good.” Sure we can zero in on bright spots in history, but they are bitter-sweet because we know the truth, deep down, that more shadows are coming, and often the new shadows are deeper and darker than those that came before.

This is true of all except one Bright Spot, the Lord Jesus Christ. He, God himself, entered in the shadow. He, the Creator of all things, became one of his creations, a human being. He did this out of love because even though our rebellion against God, our sin against his perfection, was the very thing that started this cycle of shadow, Jesus chose to die for our sins. Jesus allowed the darkness to kill him so that he could take the punishment of death that we deserved. But the darkness could not hold him. “In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it” (John 1:4-5). Death could not keep him and he rose from the grave. In so doing he broke the cycle of darkness. Yes, we see the shadows still but they are not so deep and dark. There has been a true awakening. Jesus rose from the grave and raises other from the dead as well, those who were dead in sin but now are made alive together in Christ Jesus. We too pass through shadows now, but a day is coming when the shadows will be no more. All the wicked who have refused to turn from their sins to follow Jesus Christ will be cast into hell and the darkness will no more attack the light. Those who Jesus rescued from the darkness will be with him forever in a new heavens and new earth where his glory shines forth so that no shadows remain. There will then be eternal peace, justice, and prosperity. History will end with the final defeat of evil and an eternal celebration.  Now that is story worth finishing. 

Silent No More

I can no longer remain silent. While I have always seen what should be obvious to anyone – abortion is a terrible evil that robs a helpless child of life – I have not always been vocal about it. That is coming to an end; no matter the cost to me; no matter what you will think of me; no matter what anyone does to me; no matter what relationships are affected; I will be silent no more. The plight of these murdered unborn boys and girls must be broadcasted for all to hear, and while I might not have a large audience I’m going to shout it from the proverbial rooftops and pray that someone hears.

We must act to end this atrocity. We must boldly challenge the lies thrown at us from those who foolishly defend this unspeakable evil. This is not about women’s health. This is about the brutal murder of unborn children. We are not saying that the lives of the babies are more important than the lives of the mothers. Quite the contrary, we are saying that both lives are of utmost importance. It is those defending abortion who are claiming that one life is more important than the other. The vast majority of the time it is not even the life of the mother that is being threatened but rather her lifestyle. I want to be clear here. I understand that there are times when having a child would cause a significant burden to the mother or even be life threatening; but the answer to these situations is not to kill the child. The difficulty of raising children, the health risks of pregnancy, even the stark probability of a life of poverty, or whatever terrible situation could await the life of a mother or child never – I repeat never – justifies the killing of a helpless, unborn child.

There are so many different paths I could travel down at this point. I could write about the horror that is Planned Parenthood and the videos that are continuing to be released, shining light on this dark, evil organization. I could address the asinine arguments of those who seek to defend PP because of the other services that they provide for women. These arguments have been adressed well elsewhere so I’ll pass for now. I could speak about the fact that it is a baby, a life, a human child inside the womb and that abortion is murder; not simply the removal of a clump of cells. Watch the videos exposing PP. They know they are human being because they discuss the sale of their organs and body parts. It is obvious that they are not discussing merely “a clump of cells.” I’d be happy to talk about any of these issues in a private message or in person if you are in Louisville. However,the path I want to travel with you now is the narrow one. The path of God’s amazing grace.

You see, I am not afraid to call out the evils of abortion. I will remain silent no longer. I’m not afraid to call abortion doctors murderers for that is what they are. I’m not afraid to say that women who have abortions and the men who encourage them to have them or do nothing to stop them are complicit in murder as well. I’m not afraid to declare these truths, not because I think I’m morally superior, but because I’m a murderer as well. Jesus says in Matthew 5, “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” Jesus is asserting here that hating another human being enough to curse them makes you worthy of the same judgment as someone who takes the life of another human being. This is because the same sinful heart is at the root of both actions. The person who actually takes the life of another has simply taken his actions further than the one who curses another. Both are guilty before the perfect Creator and Lord of all. I have hated others. I have cursed others in my heart. So in a very real sense I am no different than a mother who goes to an abortion clinic. We are both guilty before God.

If you are reading this and have had an abortion, I want you know that you are a murderer; but I do not say this with hate. I say this with love because Christ died for murderers. If you would only confess your sin and turn away from it while turning to Christ he will forgive you of all your sin. If you have defended abortion; Christ died for you. If you have performed abortions; Christ died for you. He offers you forgiveness and eternal life because when Jesus died on the cross he took the guilt of my murder and the guilt of all the murders of those who trust in him and nailed them to the cross so that no guilt remains. There is blood on your hands, but if you turn to Jesus your hands will be washed clean. That is the primary reason why I will no longer remain silent. I want to see many convinced of this truth. There is blood on your hands like there was blood on mine; but Jesus removes this blood by spilling his own blood on your behalf. I pray that you would turn to him.

To Jesus be all glory both now and forever. Amen.

Love is Intolerant

We are currently living in a culture that is constantly preaching a message of love. Being a follower of Christ you might assume that I would be wholeheartedly behind this, but nothing could be further from the truth. Now let me make this clear, I am wholeheartedly in support of preaching the message of Christ’s love, but I need to make it equally as clear that this is not the message the world and culture are preaching. When the culture preaches love what it really means is tolerance. And what it mean by tolerance is not the actual definition of that word – recognizing and respecting another person’s beliefs – but rather the complete acceptance of another person’s beliefs or worldview at the expense of your own personal beliefs, convictions, and worldview. This is what they mean by love and if you do not conform to their definition you will quickly learn that they are not very loving in return. You will discover that this culture that preaches “love” and “tolerance” is actually quite unloving and intolerant itself.

Not only is this the dominant message of the culture, but it is slowly creeping into the church as well. Instead of shining the radical light of the  gospel of Christ, the church has largely bowed its knee to the shifting winds of  popular opinion. Sex before marriage and living with your boyfriend/girlfriend? That’s no longer sinful. Divorce? Of course that’s ok. Why are we even talking about it anymore? Drunkenness? What’s wrong with having a little fun anyway? Homosexuality? Who are we to keep  people apart who love each other? At each point, the church in America has largely abandoned any semblance of standing upon the truth of God’s Word on these issues. And sadly, even when we have stood for truth we have often been unloving in the way we do so. But both abandoning truth in the name of love and abandoning love in the name truth is damnable. Rather, Scripture calls us to a loving intolerance and as I pray you’ll soon see, this love is far greater than anything this world has to offer.

To show this from Scripture I’m going to go to Romans 13. Of course, this is really the message of the whole Bible, but we’ll just focus on this one passage for now.

Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,’ and any other commandment are summed up in this word: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.

(Romans 13:8-10 ESV)

Paul makes clear here that the whole law of God is about love. If you wanted to sum up the commands of God in four words it would simply be “Love God. Love others.” This is essentially what Jesus says when he was asked what is the greatest commandment in Matthew 22:35-40. Now our culture likes to rip this from it’s context in order to justify it’s sinful behaviors. The issue of homosexuality is a prime example. If God is a God of love and if Jesus loves everybody than homosexuality should be accepted as morally legitimate. Because love has been redefined as tolerance and tolerance as complete acceptance, rejection of homosexuality is immediately construed as unloving, intolerant, and even homophobic. Now I will be the first to admit that there have been cases where all three of those have been true in regards to Christianity’s response to this issue, but I will also submit to you that a follower of Christ will be lovingly against sin, whether it be homosexuality, sex before marriage, divorce, greed, lying, etc., both in their own lives and in the lives of others. Let’s read further in Romans 13 to see the truth of this.

Besides this you know the time, that the hour has come for you to wake from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we first believed. The night is far gone; the day is at hand. So then let us cast off the works of darkness and put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly as in the daytime, not in orgies and drunkenness, not in sexual immorality and sensuality, not in quarreling and jealousy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to gratify its desires.

(Romans 13:11-14 ESV)

A true follower of Christ will cast off works of darkness (sin). They will put on Christ, that is put on faith in his grace offered to us that he doesn’t count our sin against us but counts his own goods works as our own. Out of love they will desire that others do the same. This means calling people to cast off their sexual immorality (whether it be same-sex or opposite sex), drunkenness, anger, worry, jealousy, greed, etc. There is no room for any kind of tolerance against sin. In fact, nothing could be more unloving than tolerating sin. This does not mean that Christians are hateful and it does not give the Christian any license to be hateful. As I said before there has been Christian responses to homosexuality that have been unloving, intolerant, and truly homophobic but the culture is dead wrong in asserting that this is always the case. As we see in Romans 13, when sin is being cast off,
when Christians are intolerant of their own sin and of the sin of others, they are actually displaying a truer, purer love than the world could ever know apart from Christ. They are displaying the truth that love is indeed intolerant.