January 29, 2020
“You Say You Want a Revolution” |
What do Elvis Presley, the Beatles, Tiny Tim, Michael Jackson, The Village People, and Madonna have in common? Music, of course, but also Morality. They were the harbingers of a moral revolution. There are many others inside and outside of music who have provided a plunge in morality. But I think we all can agree we are living in and talking about a moral revolution the likes of which we have never seen before. A cultural revolution and its moral renovation must always have an enemy, someone to point at as the problem to be blamed, overcome, and destroyed. As Theo Hobson, a British theologian and cultural observer, observes; cultural revolutions demand that- “What was condemned is now to be celebrated. What was celebrated must now be condemned. Those who will not celebrate must now be condemned.” Let’s think about how that works. Not many years ago homosexual behavior was condemned - not only a sin, a sickness, and illegal, but it was also considered wrong. But now, it is celebrated as good, right, normal, and by some, it is considered a divine gift. And so today, those who dare not to celebrate the virtue of homosexual behavior must be condemned. Talk about a turnaround in thinking. What was vice is now virtue! Our world is not interested in what the Bible says. In fact, they see us as the enemy. As Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger challenged us in 1989, “The mystic prophets of the absolute cannot save us. Sustained by our histories and traditions we must save ourselves at whatever risk of heresy or blasphemy.” Christians individually and the church corporately will need to decide what is biblically right and what is biblically wrong. We must be able to flex our convictions with compassion. We must become wise in an unwise age and winsome in the midst of a culture that is growing ugly. How do I do that? What does that look like? Let me challenge you. I invite you to read the Gospel of Luke this week and keep a keen eye and see how Jesus lived in and responded to the culture of His day. Observe how He treated a variety of people and lived within institutions both sacred and secular. The 1st century and 21st century are miles apart technologically, but very similar morally. Perhaps we can learn something about how we should now live - from Jesus. Serving Him with you until He comes for us, Fred |