Don't judge? Denounce!

This Christmas I was uninvited to a family gathering because of my support for my church's position on human sexuality and morality. I was told that I was to follow the Biblical admonishment to not judge. 

Of course I was being judged, but I didn't bother to point that out.

Everyone makes judgements. When is it appropriate to say something?

The following quotes from Crisis came to me in a timely post, 

We live in an age that regards the identification of sin as the worst of all sins. As Regis Nicoll points out, “Today instead of 10 commandments, there is just one: thou shalt not judge.” Even within Christian circles, it is common to hear the phrases “Don’t judge” or “I’m not judging.” So afraid are we to commit this transgression called judgment that we hesitate to call out even the most blatant of wrongs...

....The truly tragic thing about this moratorium on judgment is its ironic consequence of creating a vastly more judgmental world. The “nonjudgment” worldview holds that behavior is mostly OK, so long as it doesn’t have negative consequences for other people....

When we allow fear to eclipse our responsibilities to admonish grave wrongs and encourage virtue over vice, we abandon duties central to Christianity. Instructing the ignorant and admonishing the sinner are spiritual works of mercy that we seem to have abandoned due to the misguided notion that it harms rather than helps our neighbor.

...If our culture succeeds in sanitizing our discourse of moral values, of appeals to the good, all that will be left to govern our future is power. We cannot leave our future to the hands of whichever perspective manages to amass the most power—void of any criterion on which to judge the value of that viewpoint. So, let us own our prophetic call as Christians and, with it, our right to denounce certain practices and promote others according to the criteria of love and goodness established by the Word of God. 

For the sake of individual souls as well as the future generations we will never know, we must refuse to be silent. We must raise our voices, however “unsafe” our echoes may resound in delicate ears. When they accuse us of judgment, let them. 

Let them!

 

John 1

The first Sunday of Christmas brings us the first part of the Gospel according to John, John 1:1-18.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through him, and without him not one thing came into being. What has come into being in him was life, and the life was the light of all people. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not overcome it.

 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. 8He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light. The true light, which enlightens everyone, was coming into the world.

He was in the world, and the world came into being through him; yet the world did not know him. He came to what was his own, and his own people did not accept him. But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God.

And the Word became flesh and lived among us, and we have seen his glory, the glory as of a father’s only son, full of grace and truth. John testified to him and cried out, ‘This was he of whom I said, “He who comes after me ranks ahead of me because he was before me.” From his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. The law indeed was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has ever seen God. It is God the only Son, who is close to the Father’s heart,* who has made him known.

Note that at the very beginning of the Gospel, John introduces one of his major themes, one that will recur several times, and that is the theme of light versus darkness. 

Let your light shine! 

Merry Christmas Everyone!

 Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!

Meanwhile in England: University students stage "‘A Gay in A Manger"

From Premier Christian News,

 There has been outrage among Christian students at a university in York following a controversial portrayal of the traditional nativity.

York St John University’s LGBTQ network put on a production called ‘A Gay in A Manger’ in which the baby Jesus and his parents Mary and ‘Jo’ were depicted as homosexual.

The plot saw Mary and Jo being close friends with ‘Queen Herod’ as they called for a party across the land.

The description on the student union website reads: 'Mary and Jo packed their pride flags and set off on the long journey to the best gay club this side of the Red Sea – Heaven.'

A second-year politics and international relations student, Josiah Diamond, wrote to the university to raise concerns that the play was discriminatory.

He had also added that such performances would not be tolerated if they were to target other religions and faiths.

The student union responded, claiming there was no difference in treatment and that it was a ‘reinterpretation of a religious theme’, therefore protected under artistic expression.

Mr Diamond responded in a letter writing: “This portrayal is not only blasphemous in a direct sense, but of a particularly offensive and violating nature to adherents of the faith and openly opposing doctrine.

“By allowing this performance to go ahead, the university is supportive of groups who chose to openly mock the Bible.”

Responding to the claims by Mr Diamond, Donna Smith, the chief executive officer of the student union, said that whilst they are proud of their Christian heritage, they are committed to being inclusive.

She had also added that, according to UK law, she has found 'no evidence' that the play constitutes unlawful harassment, discrimination, or hate speech.

No evidence that the play constitutes unlawful harassment, discrimination, or hate speech?

Imagine if the students had put on a play starring a homosexual Mohammed. 

Oh yeah, that would have constituted those offenses you can rest assured of that.

Plus the University and the students would have been attacked by mobs of outraged Muslims. 

But Christians have been taught to turn the other cheek and to pray for our enemies.

Thank God for that.

Christmas is near

This Sunday's reading from Matthew 1:18-25 is the lead in to Christmas,

Now the birth of Jesus the Messiah took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, but before they lived together, she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a righteous man and unwilling to expose her to public disgrace, planned to dismiss her quietly. But just when he had resolved to do this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for the child conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.’ All this took place to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet:

 ‘Look, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,

   and they shall name him Emmanuel’,

which means, ‘God is with us.’ When Joseph awoke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him; he took her as his wife, but had no marital relations with her until she had borne a son; and he named him Jesus.

Meanwhile in India: Franklin Graham is persona non grata

Christian suppression continues in India, 

From Anglican Ink,

The Indian government has denied a visa to American evangelical leader Franklin Graham, who was due to take part in an event organised by the Kohima Baptist Pastors’ Fellowship on 30 November. The incident has provoked a strong wave of indignation in Nagaland, an Indian state with a Christian majority. The Naga Students’ Federation (NSF) has called the decision ‘selective and discriminatory’ and described the refusal as ‘deeply offensive to the feelings of the Naga people’.

In its statement, the NSF highlighted the contradiction of the central government, which on the one hand decided to relax the requirements for obtaining a Protected Area Permit (PAP) for foreign visitors attending the Hornbill Festival, Nagaland’s largest cultural event. On the other hand, however, it denied a visa to Graham, son of Billy Graham, a well-known Baptist preacher who became popular in the last century. ‘This inconsistency is indicative of a discriminatory mindset,’ the federation reiterated.

Nagaland, governed by the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party (NDPP) in alliance with the BJP, is one of the few Christian-majority regions in India. Chief Minister Neiphiu Rio personally wrote to Home Minister Amit Shah on 28 November to urge the issuance of permits for foreign visitors during the festival.

However, Franklin Graham did not receive the green light. The preacher is considered a controversial figure due to some of his past statements. In 2010, for example, in an interview with USA Today, Graham described Hindu gods as incapable of offering salvation: “No elephant with 100 arms can do anything for me. None of their 9,000 gods will lead me to salvation. We are deluding ourselves if we think that all we need to do is organize a big kumbaya ceremony, hold hands and everything will be better in this world. It will not get better.”

Advent 3: More than a prophet

 This Sunday's reading is from Matthew 11:2-11,

When John heard in prison what the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples and said to him, ‘Are you the one who is to come, or are we to wait for another?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Go and tell John what you hear and see: 5the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them. And blessed is anyone who takes no offence at me.’

As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds about John: ‘What did you go out into the wilderness to look at? A reed shaken by the wind? What then did you go out to see? Someone dressed in soft robes? Look, those who wear soft robes are in royal palaces. What then did you go out to see? A prophet?* Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. This is the one about whom it is written,

“See, I am sending my messenger ahead of you,

   who will prepare your way before you.”

Truly I tell you, among those born of women no one has arisen greater than John the Baptist; yet the least in the kingdom of heaven is greater than he.

To be the least in the kingdom of heaven must be a great thing indeed.