There are a lot of beliefs swirling around in our
popular culture claiming that “science has proved” such and such, or
“archaeology shows” this and that is true.
I am a big fan of thoughtful research among trained and accountable
professionals in these helpful and important fields of pursuit. However, there are many in these fields that
interpret their data and skew their results based on the desired outcomes for
which they have been hoping and looking.
Of course, we Christians are constantly faced with these same
temptations.
Many actors, politicians, activists, and others on
social media are far less careful and down-right manipulative with the data and
truth they want to find. Thus, if the
pop-music-star, Lady Gaga, sings that her sexual orientation and/or behavior
has nothing to do with the complexities of her sin, hurts, skewed knowledge, or
influences – she is just “born this way” – how dare we “judge” that she is
possibly wrong? Most in her general
profession is praising her, the masses are cheering her on, and pundits are telling
her how wonderful she is…so how could she be wrong?
In a similar vein, many in our culture will tell us,
“a woman’s body is her own to do with what she wants” which wittingly or unwittingly
buys into a belief-system that proclaims that the fetus she is carrying is not
a human being made in the image of God.
The scriptures tell us that mankind outside of redemption and a desire
for Christ as their Lord, can only (spiritually) come up with skewed truth and
a destructive way of life. The culture,
those in important academic disciplines, medical fields, economic intelligence,
Law Enforcement, Justice, etc., all have philosophies, theologies, and beliefs
by which they live and choose (or ignore) real “life”.
But the foundations for the Church of Jesus Christ
have not changed. God as creator made us
in his image. Unlike we human parents
that rear children to grow and function someday on their own in society, God
never stops “parenting us” or being our Lord.
The creator dictates to the created what is true and real, NOT his selfish,
rebellious children that still want their own ways on their own terms.
For those
Baptized and committed to Christ, we are thus, NOT OUR OWN. Listen to the words of Paul by which he
reminds the Corinthian Church of their identity:
I Corinthians 6:
19 Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own? 20 For you were bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body.
The context here in these chapters in I Corinthians is
NOT the world outside of the church, but of the community inside the
church. Taking one another to court,
using grace and Christian freedom for immorality, and the blatant disregard for
new believers (not yet grounded in their faith), are just a few of the many
problems Corinthians are facing. They had gotten turned around regarding who
their Lord was, and what it meant to follow him.
A foundation in our evangelism and discipleship is NOT
making sure that new believers have all of our political, personal, and moralistic
viewpoints, but a grounded and growing understanding in the absolute Lordship
of Christ in their motives, lives, and behavior. We clergy are NOT to be gurus,
but under-shepherds. The Historic Church
(i.e., the church “catholic”) has never changed her beliefs regarding the life
of the unborn, holy matrimony, or the place of suffering and mourning in the
world in which we now live. As believers, reconciled to the Father through
Christ, we are AGAIN his true
spiritual children through adoption.
Thus, we are now able to obey and follow him for the right reasons in
the power of the Holy Spirit. Through Word, Spirit, and Sacrament, we are now
marked, guided, and move as a united church family.
We can lead people to the waters of Baptism through
faith in Christ, but in the end, when the going get’s tough, a person (or
person’s) must choose Christ as their Lord above all else. This change of heart, is a true and
miraculous work of God. We hold true to the challenge of helping those we are
reaching that they must “count the costs” of what it means to follow and know
Christ. As we graciously teach, lead,
and shepherd people through the clarity that Holy Scriptures give us about the
value of human life, (and the application for the unborn, ageing, dis-formed, or those suffering in illness) we should ourselves pause and consider. We too must recommit to the reality that
Jesus Christ is our Lord, and that he knows BETTER than we do.
You see, the temptation to see ourselves as the master
of our own bodies and directions stays with us to the grave.
Father Tom
The Epistles of St. Ignatius by Ignatius of Antioch
