Good News

Yesterday I had a discussion about God with a colleague at work. He brought it up – I didn’t.

Mike grew up in a Christian home, was educated in Christian schools, and even attended a Christian college. Today he’s agnostic.

He believes there’s a God. He even thinks God probably loves him. He’s just not sure what God is like or what God expects of him. He doesn’t think the Bible is authoritative because it was “written by men with an agenda.” He thinks everyone follows the same God – Christian, Jew, and Muslim. He’s also not sure what to believe about Jesus. He likes his teachings but just doesn’t trust what others have written about him.

If you ask Mike what keeps him from Christianity, he’s quick to respond – it’s Christians.

You see, Mike has a bad history with Christians. It started in his teen years when his sister committed suicide. At the funeral, while trying to share the gospel with those present, the minister made it clear his sister could not be in heaven because of her actions. Mike was incensed. Is this what God was all about? Follow the rules or be on the outside.

Mike’s parents made him go to a Christian college even though he didn’t want to. More rules. Little grace. Mike broke as many rules as he could and got himself kicked out.

He sees all Christians as setting up rules and forcing everyone else to follow. Think Moral Majority. It’s not lost on me that I haven’t been able to change his perception. At least not yet.

The gospel is supposed to be good news. Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28; New Living Translation) We can do nothing to save ourselves. Christ has done it all. And yet, for some reason, we often imply that more needs to be done. When we do this, we add weight to the weary. Instead of rest, we wear them out.

God isn’t finished with Mike. He’s not finished with me either. There’s not a thing either one of us can do to earn God’s favor. This is good news.

Who’s Really Intolerant?

We often hear today that Christians are intolerant – you know, how all they want to do is force their beliefs on everyone else.

Which brings me to the Miss USA pageant held this past Sunday in Las Vegas.

Miss California, Carrie Prejean, had made it to the final fifteen and was supposedly one of the favorites to win it all. Having made it past the swim suit and evening gown rounds, she now came to the part of the competition where she had to answer a single question in front of the five judges.

Her questioner? Perez Hilton, a celebrity blogger, openly gay self-described ‘queen of all media’, and one of the competition’s judges. The question? “Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?”

After a brief pause, Prejean replied:

“Well I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. We live in a land where you can choose same sex marriage or opposite marriage. And you know what? In my country, in my family, I think I believe a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think it should be – between a man and a woman. Thank you very much.”

How did the crowd respond? They booed.

How did Perez Hilton respond? After the pageant he called Miss Prejean a dumb bitch on his blog and went on to describe her as having half a brain. He also said he would have stormed onto the stage and ripped off her tiara had she won. Nice.

How did Carrie Prejean respond after her answer may have lost her the title and she was named runner-up? She said:

“I have no regrets about answering the question honestly. He asked me for my opinion and I gave it to him. I have nothing against gay people, and I didn’t mean to offend anyone in my answer.”

Now I have no idea whether Miss California’s answer cost her the crown. That’s not my point. What I find ironic is the same people who call Christians intolerant will not themselves tolerate any disagreement with their agenda.

To Perez Hilton, it doesn’t matter if Carrie Prejean has anything against gay people or whether she meant to offend anyone. To him, her position is intolerable.

And who’s trying to force whose beliefs on everyone else?

Hard Hearts

The controversy over Pope Benedict XVI’s recent comments on the use of condoms in the fight against the spread of AIDS in Africa continues. For those of you who missed it, the pontiff essentially said you can’t resolve the AIDS problem with the distribution of condoms. The answer, he said, is a responsible and moral attitude toward sex including abstinence and monogamy.

The predictable outrage from activists and government officials ensued. French human rights minister Rama Yade said she was "dumbfounded" by the pope's comments. Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner called them "the opposite of tolerance and understanding." The Belgian parliament passed a resolution calling them "unacceptable" and demanded Belgium's government officially protest.

What did they expect from the leader of a church that holds the position that sex outside of marriage is wrong?

The whole affair reminds me of Jesus’ teaching about divorce in Matthew 19. The Pharisees came up to Jesus and tested him by asking, “Should a man be allowed to divorce his wife for just any reason?” Jesus responded that marriage was instituted by God and “let no one split apart what God has joined together.” The Pharisees thought they had him where they wanted him. “Aha! Then why did Moses say in the law that a man could give his wife a written notice of divorce and send her away?” Now Jesus had them right where he wanted them. He said:

“Moses permitted divorce only as a concession to your hard hearts, but it was not what God had originally intended.”

Not what God originally intended. That says it all, doesn’t it?

God originally intended that man and woman would stay together for life in a committed relationship and would not have sex outside that relationship. Once again, mankind has rebelled and gone his own way.

Should condoms be condoned to slow the spread of AIDS? Only as a concession to our hard hearts. It is not what God had originally intended.