A Facebook friend recently requested feedback on an online post by Benjamin Sledge entitled "Let's Stop Pretending Christianity Is Actually Relevant, Okay?" The post actually is similar to some other articles I have recently read, so I think it is especially worthwhile to consider Mr. Sledge's point of view.
The Good Points
I think the article makes some good points but I also disagree strongly at some points. Since this is intended as a response to the article, I am going to spend most of my time discussing the points of disagreement. However, I like what Mr. Sledge has to say about how radical Christians in Roman times were in living out their faith, holding to Biblical morality in sharp contrast to the culture around them and demonstrating astonishing love and compassion at great personal risk toward those suffering from the plague. He is right that we can learn much from the early Church's commitment to Christ. I also agree with his point about the importance of Christians today demonstrating Christ's love and grace toward others by our words and actions and how that can attract people to Christianity. And he makes a great point about the fact that for a long time there has been a cultural Christianity in this country which has resulted in a lot of professing Christians that are not genuinely followers of Jesus. The increasing hostility of our culture toward evangelical Christianity is resulting in healthier churches, since the only people likely to identify with the Church in the future are genuine believers in Christ. God has always used persecution and hardship to strengthen His Church.
Being Judgmental or Being Biblical?
However, there are many things about the article that concern me as well. I don't care for the author's occasional use of curse words and rather snarky style. While the post purports to be speaking to other Christians, the way it is written makes me think that it is actually intended as a reassurance to non-believers that the author is not one of those mean, judgmental Christians that they've heard about and seen posting on Facebook. Mr. Sledge uses the word "we" but at times it seems fairly obvious that he really means "they." It's ironic to me that right after acknowledging that the early Church was viciously persecuted for their counter-cultural moral and theological beliefs, he seems to be trying very hard to avoid persecution from the present culture by being pegged as one of those narrow-minded bigoted Christians.
Here is a major red flag for me. Mr. Sledge refers derogatorily to Christians "reminding people of what the Bible teaches (which, just for clarification, the church is currently split over)." The author is implying that biblical teaching regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage is not clear, and this is simply untrue. As my pastor pointed out very clearly on Sunday, biblical teaching on homosexuality and marriage is actually very clear, and the Christian Church throughout the ages as well as all Bible-believing Christian denominations in the present day remain committed to to that clear counter-cultural teaching. Yes, certain churches have recently changed their opinion on these issues (and the way the author writes makes me wonder if he belongs in that category), but those churches almost exclusively belong to mainline denominations that have also departed from the Bible in many other areas including those fundamental to the Gospel. And, while it is certainly possible to remind people of Biblical teaching in an inappropriate way or at an inappropriate time/place, I think in general that affirming Scriptural teaching is deserving of praise rather than condemnation. And when is affirming Scriptural teaching on a particular topic more relevant than when the entire culture is already discussing that topic?
Whose Values Are Being Forced on Whom?
The author makes a big deal about how Christians think they need to force their values on others even though non-Christians never try to force their values on us. He must have been living under a rock for the past ten years to make this extremely misguided claim. The truth is that gay pride is being shoved in our face at every turn. You cannot watch most TV shows or movies, or log onto Google, or work at a large corporation, or watch TV advertisements, or view the Grammy awards, without being treated to a celebration of homosexuality. The White House was lit up in rainbow colors following the Supreme Court decision, and people's Facebook feeds were filled with rainbow profile pictures. And I'm not sure what Mr. Sledge thinks about people losing their jobs due to their beliefs about same-sex marriage, or photographers, florists, and bakers facing lawsuits, six-digit government-imposed fines, and mandatory sensitivity training for declining to participate in same-sex weddings based on their religious beliefs, or Christian adoption agences being forced to shut down for declining to place children with same-sex parents, or Christian institutions facing loss of accreditation because of their beliefs about homosexuality, or Christian groups being kicked off college campuses because of their beliefs about homosexuality -- but I would define all of those as examples of the non-Christian culture forcing their beliefs on us. Some now are actually calling for churches and religious schools to lose their tax-exempt status if they refuse to perform same-sex weddings or condone homosexuality.
None of this is to say that Christians should lash out in anger or behave in a hateful and condemnatory way in response. But I feel it is entirely appropriate, and even necessary at times, for Christians to publicly decline to participate in this cultural tide ("flood of debauchery," as 1 Peter would say). And while the author makes it sound like any Christian who comments on social media on the Supreme Court decision is trying to force their values on others, in fact I saw many of my Christian friends on Facebook post about the topic and they were almost without exception very respectful and gracious rather than being rude and judgmental. The author also laments that Christianity has been tainted so much that "people think 'republican, homophobe, bigot' instead of 'servant, loving, and gracious.'" But the truth is that for many people, believing the Bible's teaching about homosexuality is in itself homophobic and bigoted, regardless of how graciously a believer might express such a belief. Consider Mr. Sledge's example of the early Church. Christians in the days of the Roman Empire were accused of all kinds of horrible things, including cannibalism (based on their participation in the Lord's Supper) and gross immorality (due to their intimate fellowship and secret meetings). We cannot always control what people think or say about us. Nor can we always control what fringe groups may preach hate in the name of Christ and thus tarnish true Christianity in the minds of the public (e.g. Westboro Baptist Church). Maintaining a good reputation in the community is important, but living in obedience to Christ and His Word is of first importance. God is our Audience of One. In other words, we should be most concerned about making sure we are loving and faithful servants of Christ rather than hateful bigots, and less concerned about the names people may call us and whether some people may believe us to be hateful bigots.
Christians and Same-Sex Marriage
Now, there is a difference between the public policy issue in our nation relating to same-sex marriage and the theological issue in our churches relating to homosexuality and marriage. It is unfortunate that many Christians blur this distinction to a greater or lesser degree. You will sometimes hear Christians quote Scripture as evidence for why the public definition of marriage in our country should be between a man and a woman, which not surprisingly convinces no one outside of the evangelical Christian community and generally provokes a backlash and accusations of Christians imposing their religious beliefs on others. I am certain that this is what the author is referring to when he says, "It’s actually quite strange to ask people who don’t hold the same beliefs as you to suddenly act on your values because you quoted a book they don’t read." While "because the Bible says so" is an extremely good basis for personal beliefs and church doctrine with regard to marriage and homosexuality, it is not an acceptable basis (in my opinion) for opposing same-sex marriage from a public policy standpoint.
However, there are a number of compelling public policy reasons to oppose same-sex marriage that should be understandable and accessible to everyone, regardless of whether one is an evangelical Christian or even religious. These reasons are beyond the scope of this post, but I wrote about some of them a few years ago here and have since become convinced of some additional ones. While these arguments are rooted in public policy considerations and not Biblical doctrine, Christians are often the ones who are most aware of these arguments and most willing to advance them, since many of them are rooted in religious liberty and in the significance of the institution of marriage which are issues which have long been of special importance to Christians (although beneficial to all of society). My religious beliefs prompted me to dig much deeper into the same-sex marriage issue a few years ago, and I was amazed at what I discovered when I started going beyond the shallow media talking points about "legalizing love" and "marriage equality." Christians are not the only people who hold moral beliefs and ethical values, and all people including Christians should be free to express their moral beliefs and advocate for their values in a free society. Indeed, any honest reader of Justice Anthony Kennedy's majority opinion in the same-sex marriage case would have to acknowledge that the opinion consists almost exclusively of moral and philosophical argument rather than legal or Constitutional argument. Same-sex marriage advocates have long employed moral and values-based arguments to rally people to their cause, and there is no reason why Christians should be denied the right to do the same in the public square. It is sad to see Mr. Sledge reacting so negatively to religious believers expressing their opinions in public and failing to acknowledge that there are plenty of valid arguments that should be made -- and are being made -- by religious believers against same-sex marriage that do not amount to imposing their religion on others.
Some Christians can become unkind and judgmental in their interactions with others on these issues, and that is a serious problem. We need to repent of our anger toward others and guard our words and actions to ensure that we do not bring reproach on the name of Christ. However, other Christians simply refrain from talking about their beliefs altogether, often out of fear of being criticized or laughed at or out of a desire to be accepted by others. And I personally believe this is an even worse failure, because it demonstrates moral and spiritual cowardice. I have been guilty of both extremes at different times and in different ways.
The author tips his hand regarding his own viewpoint on same-sex marriage when he says, early in the article, "A few days later the Supreme Court announces that gay couples have the same civil rights as other Americans and are allowed to legally marry." Gay activists couldn't have said it better themselves, and this exact belief is a substantial threat to religious liberty. Newsflash: Homosexuals have always had equal access to the institution of marriage. Indeed, since the racist bans on interracial marriage were removed, all adults have had equal access to the institution of marriage. However, there has always been a definition of marriage, predating the birth of the U.S. government by thousands of years and rooted in fundamental human realities regarding the complementary nature of male and female and reproduction. A homosexual man has the same equal access to the institution of marriage as any other adult human, but he is not free to marry outside the definition of marriage (i.e., another man, or a child, or two women). The notion that the timeless definition of marriage as between one man and one woman violates the civil and Constitutional rights of homosexuals was virtually unheard of prior to the year 2000 and was invented out of whole cloth by same-sex marriage activists over the past 10 to 15 years. Indeed, no known society throughout all of human history has believed in such a fundamental human right, since same-sex marriage has never existed in any culture or society until the year 2000. Such a definition of civil rights inevitably leads to the marginalization and persecution of any person, organization, or institution that maintains a "discriminatory" belief in marriage as between a man and a woman, including religious adoption agencies, schools, campus groups, and churches. Does Mr. Sledge realize this? While the Bible does tell us to rejoice when facing persecution for our faith, I don't think this means that we should be complicit in or indifferent to the persecution of our fellow-believers, especially if we have the ability to help prevent it.
People's Perceptions or God's Perspective?
The author disapprovingly cites a Barna survey finding that "only 18% of Millenials find Christianity even relevant to their lives." While some of the suggested reasons he provides for this are worth thinking about, I think he is again focusing too much on people's perceptions versus God's perspective. What matters is not whether the culture believes us to be relevant. What matters is whether we are in fact living in faithfulness to Christ and demonstrating the Gospel with words and actions. If we are doing this, then we can be sure that we are presenting a message to the world that is not only relevant, but desperately needed. This message obviously involves radical love and self-sacrifice, both towards fellow believers and the larger community, but it also involves speaking truth and presenting the whole Gospel including the unpleasant parts about sin and coming judgment. The fact that many feel this message is not only irrelevant, but outdated, narrow-minded, and hateful, should not deter us, although we should make sure that the point of offense is the Gospel and not our own judgmental or unloving spirit.
The author's conclusion is actually pretty well-stated. He notes that "Christians were never relevant or cool to begin with.... Culture at large will see the things we do and traditions we follow as silly myths. But the love, grace, and acceptance we extend they won't be able to argue with if we truly begin to live the life of Jesus to others. So while it may never be relevant or cool, here's what it will be: Attractive." I think there is a lot of truth in these words. Treating others with love, grace, and acceptance is required of us by Scripture and is very attractive to others. However, love and grace did not shield Jesus or the early Church from being hated, slandered, and persecuted, and we should not expect any different treatment from the world ourselves. The times call for followers of Christ who are both gracious and courageous, willing to speak the truth but always in love, uncowed by slander but unwilling to give in to cynicism and anger. May God enable us to be exactly that type of Christian!
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