“In every moral question we are bound to be on Christ’s side. In every religious question we are not on the side of predominant thought, nor on the side of fashionable views… but on the side of Christ.”
Charles Spurgeon
As we all sit and consume our daily dose of media, opinions and outrage, I feel like we could all use a quick time out and a hard reset. Has anyone looked around us lately to see if your loved ones are still on this crazy ride? Or has someone fallen off at the last hairpin curve in the road? Are we all buckled up tightly? Because this ride is getting crazier by the day.
One of this week’s prevailing themes both inside Christianity and outside of it seemed to be the ever-trying-to-my-soul “men vs. women” argument regarding our man-made or God-given roles. Here’s a little round-up:
Up first, we have a biological man, now a transgender woman, winning a women’s cycling event, yelling that it’s a ‘human right’ to participate in a sport. You can read the whole thing here if you like.
Next, we have Beth Moore doing what Beth Moore does, preaching to the masses and getting rebuked for it. John MacArthur told her to “go home”, a quote which was predictably taken out of context and used as even more kindling to this already flaming inferno. Before everyone freaks out on this one, I’d recommend this thoughtful essay that tries to bring out some Biblical understanding of why God doesn’t call women to be on the battlefield as full time preachers. No, we are not living out a Handmaids Tale. No, we are not being told to sit down and shut up by a bunch of misogynistic old men. No, we are not being told we have no voice to share the Good News.
And the cherry on this gender-neutral cake… the ever-popular Glennon Melton and her “Wolfpack” women-only crew holding court and literally telling arenas full of women that there is no such thing as sin.
Although all equally interesting, let’s begin with Glennon’s declaration because this statement is the real crux of our problem here. When you eliminate the reality of sin, you create a world that has no boundaries. All feelings and desires are a-ok. Never mind this statement singlehandedly wipes out any need for Jesus and puts us all up on our own pedestals to worship ourselves. Our choice is to capitulate to the new doctrine or speak up.
I look at those women on the cycling podium with their second and third place prizes and I cringe. Instead of blindly cheering for equality, we need to stop and ask, is equality really the end goal here? Women and men competing in the same sports, having the same roles? Biblically, that is not how we were created. Girls aren’t meant to be pummeled by boys on the football field. (See the above attached article.) Men aren’t meant to smoke women in track meets or cycling races. Call me old fashioned, but that isn’t equality, it’s chaos.
If you are clutching your pearls because John MacArthur was cheeky to Beth Moore, that’s fair. However, are you just as uncomfortable with the unwillingness of many in the church to submit to Biblical mandates about men and women? She loves Jesus. She has good things to say. But do we not need pastors who are willing to go and stand up when lines are getting blurred? The tactic of silencing any and all opposition in the name of “shock and outrage” will assure no truth ever gets heard. And don’t think that this isn’t a tactic straight from the enemy’s playbook.
You can argue this is a small matter, but our willingness to obey Scripture speaks volumes about our heart. Some will echo that we need to major in the majors and minor in the minors, but the slow erosion of Biblical authority is no minor issue. We should be laser-focused on spreading the Good News, for we are ALL disciples of Christ. Men and women alike.
It’s hard to exist in a world that thinks speaking truth is hateful. It’s hard to exist in a world that doesn’t want to hear truth. But we dig in and we dig deep. We press on. We examine our own hearts daily, knowing how easily pride and hardness can creep in.
Our friends and neighbors need truth. We need it. Everyone is being spoon-fed a bunch of nonsense on a daily basis. As more and more bumps and sharp turns occur, some of us are getting bounced right off the wagon and left behind.
Check in on your people. Talk to the kids. Not for the sake of argument, but for the sake of making sure everyone is still tethered to Jesus. The topics are difficult, but God’s solutions aren’t. We take the side of Christ in all things. Not Beth Moore, not John MacArthur, not even our own selves. Jesus.
Put down the offense and pick up the cross.
Into the Foolishness of God 
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