I have heard three sermons lately on the same
subject. Usually when that happens it
means something’s up. There’s something
that needs my attention. And this time
there is. All three sermons were saying
that as Christians we have to speak the truth.
We have to call a spade a spade, so to speak. And I agree with that. But the spade this time was the whole
transgender bathroom issue. And I’m not
sure I know what truth is in this case.
I have never spent any serious time with a
transgender individual, that I know of, only know what I know from tv and
radio. I am not a Bible scholar, and I
don’t know that the Bible addresses this issue, although I’m sure there are
Bible scholars who could point it out. I
do know that the two verses that I try to keep foremost in my mind, God is Love
and Judge Not, don’t allow me to disparage someone just because they have made
choices I wouldn’t make.
But back to the speaking the truth thing, we
should call a sin a sin. We shouldn’t
pretend for the sake of being nice or politically correct that we don’t believe
the things we believe.
But not everyone agrees what a sin is. I believe a sin is an act that hurts yourself
or someone else or shames God. Harming
yourself or others is usually pretty obvious, and while there may be grey areas
and wiggle room, it’s not too hard to figure out that punching someone in the
face, using heroin or gambling away the kids’ lunch money are all sinful
acts. Shaming God is a little trickier.
But if I were ministering to someone I think it
would be more beneficial to them to say Here is God, Here’s how much He loves
you, Here’s what He wants for you. Here
is Jesus, Here is His Truth, Here’s what He’s done for you. And not address any particular sin, and let
the love of God direct them to less sinful behavior.
One of those Bible scholars might jump up and
say But you can’t ignore Verse Such and Such.
No, I can’t ignore it, but I may not necessarily lean on it either. Truth might not change, might not, but
interpretation does.
And times change. Society changes, what we need from God
changes, our relationship with Him changes.
Paul said women were to keep quiet in
church. It’s right there. It’s in the Bible. But women’s role in society has changed. So now women speak in church. And that’s not against God. Things changed. Our relationship with God changed as our
needs changed. And if you don’t think
someone like Joyce Meyers has the anointing just because she was born female,
you are not paying attention.
When
the Supreme Court decided the Marriage Equality Ruling, a lot of people who
wanted to oppose it chose verses from Leviticus particularly , as their
support. I don’t want to get into a
debate about whether the Supreme Court has the right to determine the legal
definition of marriage in this country.
They have, and they did, so that argument is over. And I don’t like politics preached from the
pulpit, and for what it’s worth, this is my pulpit.
Put
that aside.
Whenever someone quotes one verse to support
their position, I always want to know if they’ve read the whole passage. Everything that went before it and all the
verses after. Many verses can be
misrepresented when taken out of context.
But when someone brings up Leviticus, I want to
say Read the whole book. Read all of it,
and I promise you that at least once you will say Wait a minute, if not That’s
just crazy.
Almost everything is a sin in Leviticus, and
many of those sins are punishable by death.
I’m sure none of us would have a problem not offering our children up to
Molech, whoever he might be. We don’t
have to worry about trimming our beards unless we’re Sons of Aaron, who are
basically rabbis. Tattoos might be an
issue for some of us, but according to Leviticus, we can’t wear a tweed jacket
with leather patches on the elbow.
All sexual sins are punishable by death. Men with men, having sex with your in-laws,
bestiality. All punishable by death, for
both parties, including the animal who probably had no choice.
But let’s be honest.
If we are going to write laws according to
Leviticus, which we can’t because we’re not a theocracy, Verse 19:34 ends the
whole Immigration Debate. “The alien who
resides with you shall be to you as the citizen among you; you shall love the
alien as yourself, for you were aliens in the land of Egypt; I am the Lord your
God.”
Oh, you say they aren’t talking about Mexicans
crossing the border illegally, and I’m gonna say My point exactly.
So, you say How can you, who profess to be a
Christian, dismiss the Book of Leviticus.
Here’s how.
I am a Christian of the New Covenant. The Old Covenant, the one that Leviticus was
part of, is gone. The Israelites
couldn’t do it, and there is no longer a need for symbolic and ritualistic
purity. There is a new covenant. And the new covenant says that the Law will
be written on our hearts.
And my heart tells me to act in love. And love says to accept people as they are,
and listen to their point of view.
Return to
me and I will return to you. Malachi 3:7
