(Audio Version)
Introduction
Introduction
In case you
don’t know or have forgotten, I’m a huge sports fanatic. I love the competition
and love watching the beauty of the best athletic talent on display. Over the many
years of following sports, I realize that the world of athletics is a microcosm
of our culture; always trying to be sensitive to cultural changes and demands.
You know what else I’ve come to realize? The church is constantly being pulled
to become a reflection of the culture as well. Let me demonstrate: The culture,
particularly here in the west, is currently obsessed with the desire to
normalize homosexuality. Like the culture at large, sports has followed suit as
the first college football player announced his homosexuality in advance of
this year’s NFL draft. If he his drafted, he will become the first openly gay
professional football player. Not to be outdone, last week an NBA team signed
the first openly gay basketball player to a 10-day contract. The sports world couldn’t
get enough of the new, inclusive, progressive, and enlightened attitude of
professional sports. Then this past week, I read an article that described how
two-thirds of 18-33 year-olds have abandoned their faith because the church, at
least in most places, is teaching that homosexuality is a sin (as though that
has somehow changed over the last 2,000 years or something). In response to
this exodus by young people, some church leaders have been wringing their hands
and have begun to re-evaluate their attitude toward homosexuality. Their
distorted logic behind the re-evaluation is that “times have changed, so maybe it’s
time the Church change too.” The purpose of this lesson is not to tell you what
I think about homosexuality. What I think doesn’t matter. The only thing that
matters is what the Bible says and that’s pretty simple. Let me offer you a few
verses that represent the framework for the Bible’s teaching on the topic and
then we’ll get to the purpose of this week’s lesson which really has nothing to
do with homosexuality specifically:
Genesis 19:1-11
1The two angels arrived at Sodom in
the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gateway of the city. When he saw them, he got up to meet them and bowed down with his
face to the ground. 2“My lords,”
he said, “please turn aside to your servant’s house. You can wash your
feet and spend the night and then go on your way early in the
morning.” “No,” they answered, “we will
spend the night in the square.” 3But he
insisted so strongly that they did go with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them, baking bread without yeast,
and they ate. 4Before they had gone to bed, all the men from every part of
the city of Sodom—both young and old—surrounded the house. 5They called
to Lot, “Where are
the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us so that we can have sex
with them.” 6Lot went outside to meet them and shut the
door behind him 7and said, “No, my friends. Don’t do this wicked thing. 8Look, I
have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let me bring them out to
you, and you can do what you like with them. But don’t do anything to these
men, for they have come under the protection of my roof.” 9“Get out of our way,” they replied. And they said, “This
fellow came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the
judge! We’ll treat you worse than them.” They kept bringing
pressure on Lot and moved forward to break down the door. 10But the men inside
reached out and pulled Lot back into the house and shut the door. 11Then they
struck the men who were at the door of the house, young and old, with blindness so that they could not find the door.
Leviticus 18:22
Leviticus 20:13
13“If a man lies with a man as one lies with a
woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will
be on their own heads.”
Romans 1:18-32
18The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven
against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by
their wickedness, 19since what may be known about God is plain to them, because
God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God's invisible
qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being
understood from what has been made, so that men
are without excuse. 21For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God
nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish
hearts were darkened. 22Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools 23and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to
look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles. 24Therefore God gave them over in the
sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their
bodies with one another. 25They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and
worshiped and served created things rather than
the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen. 26Because of this, God gave them over to shameful
lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural
ones. 27In the same
way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with
lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received
in themselves the due penalty for their perversion. 28Furthermore, since they did not think it worthwhile to retain
the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to
do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil,
greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice.
They are gossips, 30slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they
invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31they are
senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless. 32Although
they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
1 Corinthians 6:9-10
9Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom
of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor
adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders 10nor thieves
nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the
kingdom of God.
Jude 1:7
7In a
similar way, Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding towns gave themselves up to
sexual immorality and perversion. They serve as an example of those who suffer
the punishment of eternal fire.
Let’s not
be so naïve as to think that the issue of homosexuality is new to our time and
culture. Let’s also not be so arrogant as to think that our wisdom with respect
to homosexuality or some other sinful behavior has, with time, somehow exceeded
God’s wisdom. Homosexuality has been an abhorrent behavior that God has
condemned from the first book of the Bible to the last. What’s happening today
with respect to homosexuality, like many other matters specifically forbidden
by the Bible, is a spiritual battle between the truth contained in God’s Word
and the lies perpetuated by a corrupt culture. As you can see by the verses above,
there are many behaviors condemned right alongside homosexuality. However,
homosexuality is the behavior du jour
that the culture is attempting to normalize as an alternative lifestyle much
like abortion or sex outside of marriage. However, the culture can be very
selective with respect to the behavior it would like to see normalized. Let me
demonstrate: Take a look at some of the behaviors in the verses I identified
above and let’s see if you’d like to see them normalized as an alternative
lifestyle: Do you think greed is an appropriate alternative lifestyle? How
about adultery? How about prostitution? What about a lifestyle of lying,
cheating or stealing? Or how about being a slanderer or a gossip? Wait, I
know—How about the glamorous lifestyle of being a drunk? Now I’m not saying
that people don’t engage in this kind of behavior and some have, in fact,
adopted one or more of them as part of their particular lifestyle. However, it
is hard to imagine any group of people, Christian or not, that would actively
seek to normalize any one of them as an acceptable
alternative lifestyle! But our culture, including many in our churches, have
decided that God might be right about all these other behaviors but He’s wrong
about homosexuality. However, that option is not really available to us. With
God it is an all or nothing prospect. We are either obedient to Him or we’re
not. However, in the case of homosexuality, being obedient to God can be
difficult especially when that lifestyle has been adopted by someone we look up
to; someone we admire; someone we seek to emulate; a co-worker; a friend; or a
family member. Nevertheless, following Jesus in all matters is not optional even
though it may be difficult; even though it may cost us a friendship or become
an obstacle in our relationship with a family member. We might be hated for
being obedient to the Gospel; the culture might call us names or even cause us
bodily harm. However, we must be prepared to chose what is more important—being
accepted by the culture or being a faithful follower of Jesus Christ in all ways
and in all matters regardless of the cost. We can’t have it both ways—we can’t
conform to a culture that demands we accept sinful lifestyles while at the same
time insisting that we are faithful followers of Christ. Jesus will not allow
that. Jesus didn’t come so we could have both. Being a faithful follower of
Jesus Christ means that we have to Pick
A Side! Jesus talked about this as he prepared his disciples for the
persecution they would inevitably face by following Him. Jesus made it clear
that they would be faced with some very difficult choices in the future and
some of the choices would bring unrest—privately and publicly. Nevertheless,
Christ insisted that they, and be extension we, are required to Pick A Side!
Subject Text
Matthew
10:32-39
32“Whoever acknowledges me
before men, I will also acknowledge him before my Father in
heaven. 33But whoever disowns me before men, I will disown him
before my Father in heaven. 34Do not suppose that I have
come to bring peace to the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35For I have come to turn ‘a
man against his father, a daughter against her mother, a daughter-in-law
against her mother-in-law—36a man’s enemies will be the
members of his own household.’ 37Anyone who loves his father
or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves his son or
daughter more than me is not worthy of me; 38and anyone who does not take
his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39Whoever finds his life will
lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”
Context
Jesus’
words are a harsh reminder of his expectations of us as faithful followers.
Considering His dramatic instructions, it is important that we understand the
context for those instructions. At the beginning of the chapter we see Jesus
empowering the disciples to go out only to the Jews to vanquish evil spirits
and heal their various illnesses. Additionally, Jesus instructs them to preach
that “the kingdom of heaven is near.” This was the disciples’ first mission of
evangelism. They were to go out to the Jews and heal them physically but also
offer them the opportunity to be healed spiritually by believing that the
long-awaited Messiah had come in the person of Jesus Christ. Jesus instructed
them to focus their energy on those who were receptive to their message and not
get sidetracked by those would reject their message. Jesus warned His disciples
that they would be abused by the religious leaders. In fact, Jesus warned that
they would be brought before the highest rulers and authorities of the land
where they would have the opportunity to preach the gospel on the biggest
stage. Jesus promised that their message would incite unrest between those who
accept the message and those who reject it—even to the point where family would
betray family. For all their devotion and hard work, Jesus said they could look
forward to be hated and in some cases put to death. However, for those who
maintained their faith to the end, the prize of salvation awaited them. Jesus
encouraged them not to fear those who could hurt them physically of even take
their lives—pleasing God through their obedience and persevering faith should
be their primary concern. And it is this last instruction—the command to be
obedient to the Gospel message to the end takes us into our Subject Text.
Text Analysis
Jesus’
proclamation in vv. 32-33 seems pretty straight forward at first glance doesn’t
it? If we “acknowledge” Jesus publicly then He will be our defense at the final
judgment before the Father. But I submit that Jesus means something more than
simple acknowledgement because even the demons acknowledge Jesus publicly and
I’m pretty sure Jesus will not be defending them at the final judgment. So what
is meant by acknowledging Jesus publicly? The key to understanding these two
verses can be found in three Greek words contained in this portion of the text—homologEsei, emprosthen, and arnEsEtai.
“HomologEsei—[means] to confess, to
acknowledge, to affirm solidarity with Him in action and even in death…[when]
used with the preposition emprosethen—before…[it]
has the sense of a confession in a legal setting…[whereas] arnEsEtai—[means] to deny, to declare that one does not know or
have dealings with someone.”[1] It seems quite clear that
Jesus intends more than a basic acknowledgement. “Acknowledgement” in this case
implies a relational element as does “denial.” Through our acknowledgement we
are related to God and through our denial we are related to the world. We are
either reconciled to God through our confession of faith in Christ and our
actions as faithful followers or we remain separated from Him through our
rejection of the Gospel message and our actions as faithful followers of the
world’s ways. “As the people turned away from him, Jesus focused on whether we
are willing associate with him under the public scrutiny of other people. We
might say that Jesus was asking, ‘Will you really by my friends and loyal
followers, no matter what other people think, say, or do to you?’ If we will,
we will find in him an even more faithful friend—in fact, a brother. And a
rewarder. Every act of our lives will come under the scrutiny of the judgment
seat of Christ (2 Cor 5:10). If we refuse to speak up for Christ because of
fear or intimidation, we will suffer the loss of reward from him (2 Tim 2:12).”[2]
It goes
without fail that people trying to hide their own sin or trying to normalize
someone else’s sinful behavior want to present an image of Jesus as some weak-kneed
pacifist who’s unwilling to confront someone with their sin. Their Jesus is
about peace and love. After all, one of the names for Jesus is the “Prince of
Peace” so surely nothing He would say or do or command would be confrontational
right? Wrong! Nothing could be farther from the truth. It is true that Jesus
did not come to condemn anyone. Jesus came with a message that anyone and
everyone who accepts Him as their Savior is welcome in God’s Kingdom. However,
“Savior” isn’t the only title to describe Jesus—He is also “Lord.” And as Lord,
He insists that we are followers according to His way and no other way. And it
is for this reason that Jesus says in v. 34 that He comes bearing a sword. And
that sword will serve to divide not only those who accept Him as their Savior
from those who reject His offer of salvation but it will also divide those who
have made Him the Lord and Supreme Authority over their lives from those who
are a lord unto themselves and acquiesce to the culture as the authority over
their lives. Mind you, Jesus is not promoting violence so don’t mistake his
reference to the “sword.” The sword is a metaphor for the divisive nature of
the Gospel message. “The inferior text of Luke 2:14 in the KJV [King James
Version] has led generations of people celebrating Christmas to promote the
false notion that Christ brings ‘peace on earth, good will to men.’ Instead,
Jesus promises peace on earth to men of
good will, namely, to ‘those on whom his favor rests.’ To those who welcome
him, he offers eirēnē ([Gk.]
‘peace’—from the Hebrew concept of shālôm). Such peace brings the wholeness of
restored relationships with God (Rom 5:1) and interpersonal reconciliation
within the community of believers (Eph 4:3). Jesus’ peace does not preclude
wars between nations, conflicts among unbelievers, or persecution of Christians
which Jesus has already predicted. In fact, not only does Jesus not come to
eradicate all human conflict but he actually promises hostility. His ministry
proved so confrontational that he either attracted people to himself or visibly
repelled them. The ‘sword’ of v. 34 is therefore metaphorical. Hostility
against Christians results not from their making themselves obnoxious but from
the sad fact that, despite the peacemaking principles of 1 Pet 2:12-3:22,
sometimes the gospel so alienates unbelievers that they lash out against those
who love them for Christ’s sake.”[3]
I have two
beautiful daughters that I love more than my own life. I have a very different
perspective when I read vv. 35-37. I picture their faces when I read these
verses and can’t even imagine having to make the choice between my love for
them and my commitment to them as their father and my love for Christ and my
commitment to be His faithful follower. I’m thankful I don’t have to make that
choice since Jesus is also their Savior and Lord. Nevertheless, the thought of
it raises my level of anxiety. Unfortunately, some families are forced to make
the choice between a family member and Christ. The principle holds true not
just for family but for friends or any relationship we prize. Is it any wonder
why those seeking to normalize homosexuality or some other sinful behavior invoke
deep personal relationships to illicit an attitude of vacillation from those
who were at one point certain about what they believed to be true. I mean, what
kind of heartless person would condemn the seemingly harmless behavior of a
family member or a friend’s “alternative” lifestyle as being sinful? What’s
more important than the love of family or the bond between friends? And there
must be some exception when we’re talking about the people we admire; the
people that inspire us; the people we look up to; the people we seek to
emulate? There has to be some kind of exception for them right? No! No
exceptions—not for family, friends, lovers, heroes, mentors—no one. Christ
makes it clear that He comes first and everyone and everything else comes
after. The disciples would have been very familiar with Jesus’ words because he
recites the words of the Old Testament prophet Micah (Mic 7:6) in vv. 35-36.
“The context of Micah 7:6, cited here, describes the awful evils in the land
and the untrustworthiness of even the closest relatives and friends that would
continue until the Lord would come to vindicate those who hoped in him. Given
the belief held by many Jewish people that a time of sufferings would precede
the end, the disciples would probably have understood this saying as suggesting
that they were already experiencing the sufferings of that time. Jesus…expounds
on the text…to make a point virtually inconceivable to most of his hearers.
Loving family members, especially parents, was one of the highest duties in
Judaism; the only one who could rightfully demand greater love was God
himself.”[4]
But Jesus
isn’t done making radical demands on his followers in v. 38 when he says that
anyone who won’t take up their cross and follow Him, is not worthy to be His
follower. Over the centuries, the cross seems to have lost some of its radical
symbolism. It’s understandable since the cross hasn’t been widely used as a
means of criminal punishment or political intimidation for hundreds years even
though it has been recorded that the Nazis at Dachau and the Khmer Rouge in
Cambodia used its brutality on occasion to make a point. However, the disciples
were well aware of the practice in their day as a common form of
punishment—brutal and inhumane but common nonetheless. To add insult to injury,
those who were sentenced to be crucified were required to carry the instrument
of their torture and eventual death, the cross, to the appointed place of their
execution. However, Jesus was using the illustration of the cross as a metaphor
for the extent to which the disciples were to go in their commitment to follow
Him. Jesus knew it wouldn’t be easy for those who decided to follow Him and be
bound to Him. Nevertheless, allegiance to Him required unreserved obedience to
Him. “Man is expected to obey. He is not given the opportunity to decide for
himself. This hard line view of external supernatural authority is resented by
modern humanists and existentialists alike, because it interferes with man’s
freedom of choice. But is Jesus’ view of man’s accountability to God so totally
unacceptable and therefore irrelevant for our present age? It was not palatable
in his own time. It required total commitment, nothing less than taking up a
cross. If a man were to please himself he could never do this. The obedience
that Jesus demands is not a shackle placed on the free spirit of man, but a
whole-hearted commitment to the perfect will of God. This is not a limiting
process, but is seen as the ideal for which man was made in the image of God.
Jesus himself was the perfect example of this complete obedience to God. He
carried his own cross both literally and spiritually. Those who do not like the
imposition of a greater and nobler authority than man himself must part company
with the view held by Jesus.”[5]
In one of
the great paradoxes of the Bible, Jesus teaches us is that when we desperately
hold onto our lives; the lives we love so much, we actually lose our true
lives—the lives we were created to have. However, when we give up the life we
want in exchange for the life God created us to have, that’s when we’ll find
our true life. It’s easy to talk about in theory but unbelievably difficult to
put into practice. Human beings have a never-ending capacity to rationalize and
justify their lives—and Christians aren’t exempt from doing so. We all hold on
to the lives that satisfy us and make us happy and rarely consider, at least
not for very long, if we are holding on to the life we want or the life Jesus
wants for us. We spend our days chasing after money, sex, and power and numb
ourselves with alcohol, drugs, video games, music, television or anything else
that will drown out Jesus’ voice calling us to let go of the things we think
make us happy and instead follow Him. And following Him means that life won’t
get safer or easier but harder and more dangerous. It will mean we will have to
do and say things that are unpopular and antithetical to the views and beliefs
of the culture at large. But it will also mean that life will have true
meaning; meaning that can only be found in a life fully committed to following
Jesus. “Without question, to follow Jesus in discipleship is costly. The proclamation
of the kingdom may well mean the sacrifice of some human relationships, even of
the most intimate kind. There is an absolutism in the call to Jesus and the
kingdom that can seem unattractive, if not unendurable. But this is only half
the story, for the rewards are beyond calculation. There is a remarkable
paradox in all of this. The way of the world—well illustrated by the incessant
quest for “self-actualization” [Self-actualization is the process of realizing
your fullest potential by indulging in all the things that you believe define and
satisfy you. Only after you have given yourself fully to pursue the deepest
desires of your heart will you become who you were meant to be.] in
contemporary pop psychology—leads only to a shallow and temporary fulfillment.
The seeking of ‘life’ at this level has left many in frustration and
disappointment. On the other hand, and strangely, those who give up this
useless quest, who instead yield themselves fully to the service of God and the
kingdom—who willingly follow in the steps of Jesus—they are the ones who
paradoxically find life, i.e., fulfillment and deep, abiding joy. And though
the best of this fulfillment awaits the eschaton, it is already experienced
proleptically in the present. Thus those who do not seek self-actualization as
understood by the world, who love Jesus and the kingdom more than themselves
(and in that sense alone ‘hate’ their own life), are alone the ones who realize
true and lasting self-actualization and obtain personal fulfillment and the
goal of their existence.”[6]
Application
It is
important to remember that grace is available to any and all who seek Jesus
Christ as their Lord and Savior. Jesus came not to condemn people and we
shouldn’t either. However, Jesus, while accepting people who sought to be
saved, was not accepting of sin. Furthermore, we must not fall into the trap of
being silenced by the accusation of judgmentalism as though we all don’t make
value judgments every day in our lives. For example, we would judge as being
inhumane (aside from being criminal) a driver who would knowingly and willingly
run down a child playing in the street and then drive away. We would judge a
man as being abusive who beats his wife. We would judge a woman as an
adulteress who sleeps with a man other than her husband. So don’t let a
screeching culture attempt to silence you with some foolish argument about not
judging—we are commanded in the Bible to avoid that which is wrong and to do
what is right. It is not possible for us to do what is right if we do not first
judge that another path is wrong. I’ll make this easy for you—our judgment
should be reserved for the behavior of people while the judgment of people
should be left to Jesus. With this attitude we can love people without accepting
or condoning their sin—for sin is what we do not who we are.
I began this lesson seeking to
demonstrate how our culture is making a desperate attempt to normalize
homosexuality as an alternative lifestyle but I hope you realize that the topic
of homosexuality it far too narrow for the broad, all-encompassing command
contained in our Subject Text.
Homosexuality just happens to be the most popular of the abhorrent behaviors currently
trying to be normalized by our culture (Much like abortion was normalized by
euphemistically describing it as a woman’s health issue or a woman’s “right to
choose” issue). And the Christian community is not immune to the pull of the
culture where greed and personal prosperity in the Christian community has been
normalized by defining it as receiving God’s material blessings as a reward for
being a faithful follower. The biblical teaching on homosexuality is not open
to any subjective interpretation—it is objectively described and forbidden as
sinful. But that’s not really the point of our Subject Text, is it? The purpose of the text is to demonstrate that
Jesus insists on total and unreserved allegiance to Him and Him alone—attempting
to be a faithful follower of Christ while at the same time knowingly accepting,
condoning or participating in some form of sin is not an option. We can’t on
the one hand bow to Jesus as Savior and Lord and on the other hand bow to the
sinful desires and demands of the culture. I’m not saying that taking a
position in opposition to homosexuality or abortion or greed or drunkenness or
any number of sinful behaviors in our secular society or in our churches will
be easy or without pain, but then the cross was neither easy nor painless and
the cross is what we are called to take up in matters where following Christ
becomes difficult. Jesus makes it clear that we have the choice to accept him
publicly or reject him: accept Him as being preeminent in our lives above even
our own families, and relinquish control over our lives to His will as Lord of
our lives, or attempt to maintain the illusion of being control over our own
lives as a god unto ourselves. Jesus does not give us the option of having it
both ways. Jesus is calling us to decide; demanding that we Pick A Side!
[1] Cleon
L. Rogers Jr. & Cleon L. Rogers III, The New Linguistic and Exegentical Key
to the Greek New Testament, (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House,
1998), p.
[2]
Stuart K. Weber, Matthew—Holman New
Testament Commentary, (Nashville, TN: B&H Publishing Group, 2000), p. 148.
[3]
Craig L. Blomberg, Matthew—The New
American Commentary, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1992), p. 180.
[4]
Craig S. Keener, The IVP Bible Background
Commentary—New Testament, (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1993), p.
75.
[5]
Donald Guthrie, New Testament Theology,
(Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1981), pp. 154-155.
[6]
Donald A. Hagner, Matthew 1-13—Word
Biblical Commentary, (Dallas, TX: Word Books, 1993), p. 293.
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