This blog post is a revision of an earlier post (2014) in order to update some thoughts in light of events that have transpired in the last two years. Of course all should be aware that the U.S. Supreme Court (SOTUS), acting completely outside the role envisioned by our founders, ruled that marriage would now be defined by whatever societal trend that happens to rule the day. Therefore, marriage will sooner than later be whatever man wants it to be. Of course, this development is just more fruit from the same tree. Unbiblical divorce; fornication; abortion; homosexual behavior; eradication of gender distinctions; and “gay-marriage” are now orthodox behaviors promoted by virtually every institution in our society. In this revision, a view down the road is taken as it relates to the church.
If there were one plea that Western Christianity has made to the culture in the last thirty plus years, I believe it would be, “Please like me!” The chief commodity of the church has been “relevance”. Likability and relatability fuel the furnace of purpose. I have seen so many church advertisements whose message is, “We’re not like those other churches.” I am still trying to figure out who those “other” churches are. Is my church one of them? I digress.
2 Timothy 4:3 For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.
The Apostle Paul warns his son, Timothy, that in the last days people will demand their itching ears be scratched (my interpretation). An itch screams out for relief. I had an itch on the top of my foot recently and I had to eventually take my shoe off and scratch that thing! What relief! My foot was screaming, “Scratch me!” This is exactly what the spirit of immorality does. Except this spirit’s cry is, “accept me!” The spirit of immorality and the behaviors associated with it desires above all else to be seen as orthodox…what is commonly accepted. With regard to the behaviors mentioned above, this long-sought and highly prized acceptance is well on the way to being realized. Some of these behaviors are addressed below. This craving of acceptance has nowhere been more powerfully manifested than with the issue of homosexual behavior. The purpose of this blog is not the make the case against such behavior. To me, it is a settled question that only those of spurious scholarship and progressive agendas would question. What I want to address, however, is what I, and I suspect many more, see as the positioning of those who promote, teach, preach and otherwise expound on the issue from a Biblical perspective in the worst imaginable light. “Haters, Hate-mongers, Homophobes, Fundamentalists, etc.” Such labeling by institutional spokesman from government, education, media, etc. has simply become a normal descriptive.
With the recent horrific mass slaughter at a gay night spot in Orlando, the pressure on churches to preach an “acceptable” message regarding homosexual behavior will increase dramatically. The Islamist views regarding homosexual behavior and the orthodox teaching of the Church over the past 2000 years will be routinely put forth as one in the same. Connecting each group will become normative. Although this blending of all opposition to homosexual behavior into one pot has been going on for some time, brace for a dramatic escalation. Soon, any negative expression regarding homosexual behavior will be unacceptable. Yes, the pressure on the Church to be either silent or “accepting” on this issue will be enormous. But alas, truth remains true.
Heaven’s gate will remain closed to those who practice (1Jo. 3:9) homosexuality. Of course, heaven’s gate will remain closed to all who practice sin (1Co. 6:9-10). Our mandate remains the same… not to call names, make fun, bully or reject, but rather to speak the truth in love and pray that all who are caught up in sexual sin come to a revelation of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
We have indeed arrived at the day when what has been outcast is now orthodox. There will be terrible times in the last days. Paul in writing to Timothy (2Ti. 3:1) charges him to take special note of the times. Times that have arrived and are still ahead. As Barnes notes (no pun intended), “times of danger, or persecution, and of trial.” I have heard others teach that such reference can be described as “tight times”… as in times where evil seems to have us in a corner… pressing, overwhelming, suffocating. In spite of this, Paul tells us to “continue in what” we have learned. It’s as if he says, “Look at how I have handled this and do likewise (v. 10).” This is easier said than done. To know the times we live in and not give in to the temptation to be reconciled to defeat is hard.
I have been assisting with teaching a bible study attended by mostly elderly folks for about twenty years. I take turns with other pastors from various denominations along with other lay persons in presenting teachings each Tuesday morning. At one point, most of those attending were my seniors by twenty-plus years. My time with these men (and a few women) has been a great blessing. I have learned so much from them just listening to their life experiences. Most are from the “greatest generation.” Joe (now passed) was thirty-eight when WWII started, the “old man” on his Navy destroyer. Sam was a teenager when captured by the Germans after his bomber was shot down over Germany on his very first mission. Orbie (now passed) was wounded twice in the Battle of the Bulge. Jack (now passed) described his joy at the troop train he was on in Germany stopping and the officers announcing the end of the war in Europe. These are just a few of the many “stories” I have had the honor of spending time with on most Tuesday mornings. And not only the “war stories.” Pastor Dan has shared many of the highs and lows of pastoring in the UMC while Earl has lent insight into his life growing up in Chattanooga, his time representing the dairy business and so on. I mention these men because I have seen them often shake their heads in sadness over the times we are now living in. They have witnessed first-hand the stunning transformation of a society. Indeed they have seen the outcast become orthodox.
Outcast: One that has been excluded from a society or system, a pariah.
Orthodox: adhering to what is commonly accepted
All of us who are Christians were outcasts. We were excluded from fellowship with God because of sin. Once excluded but now included by grace through faith in the finished work of Jesus Christ. God has always hated what kept us separated from Him… sin. One reason God hates sin is that it damages fellowship with His highest and most precious creation… us. Sin destroys life and God is all about life. God really hates sin.
Another way to look at sin is that it is behavior that ultimately destroys. God knows this but we sometimes too easily forget. God hates what destroys us. There is a way that seems right to a man, but the end therein is death (Pr. 14:12; 16:25). The bible teaches us that we should hate what God hates. To fear the Lord is to hate evil (Pr. 8:13a). Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil (Ro. 12:9a). Hate is a word easily understood. There is little variation in its meaning or application. Hate is extreme, defined in the NT as “to utterly despise.” One can’t hate a little bit. To utterly despise, however, can’t even begin to capture how much God hates sin. Just as nothing in our inventory of expression or experience can truly describe God’s love for us. His emotions are so far beyond us.
If God so hates sin and wants us, as much as we are able, to hate sin, we truly find ourselves in “tight times.” In the span of less than four decades, we have seen behavior that has historically been outcast become orthodox. What has universally been unacceptable become not only acceptable but celebrated. Indeed, many “call evil good and good evil (Isa. 5:20). It is easy to understand how those who have witnessed such a massive shift in national character could become downcast. Not only are they witnesses to this incredible moral decay, they are subjected to ridicule and isolation should they not “go along.” In more and more cases, those that hate sin have become labeled “haters.”
Although there are many issues that illustrate the outcast becoming orthodox, here are three. Each one represent fruit from the same tree, immorality.
From Outcast to Orthodox
Fornication: Sexual intercourse outside of marriage is now not only “accepted” in our society, it is the preferred approach to pre-married behavior. The most recent Gallup poll reports 60% of Americans approve of pre-marital sex. In 1969, the number was 33%. Only 28% of those over 65 approve (imagine what the % would be for those over 80!). It would be difficult to find a television show or movie that does not present fornication as normal and acceptable. Indeed, we have reached the place where, “everyone’s doing it.”
1 Corinthians 6:9 Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral (fornicators) nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders
Abortion: What do we do with all these “unwanted” babies! Duke Nukem (of video game fame) was ahead of his time when he said, “Kill’em all!” 55,000,000 and counting. A heretofore unknown Texas politician recently became the darling of the national media after making an extended, impassioned speech before in the Texas statehouse in favor of unrestricted abortion. Though a tidal wave of medical/scientific understanding has reinforced the notion that life in the womb should be protected, the 1973 opinion of seven ill-advised Supreme Court justices still holds sway.
PRO 6:16 There are six things the LORD hates, seven that are detestable to him: 17 haughty eyes, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood,
PRO 24:11 Rescue those being led away to death; hold back those staggering toward slaughter. 12 If you say, “But we knew nothing about this,” does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? Does not he who guards your life know it? Will he not repay each person according to what he has done?
Homosexuality: Just this week (2014), Disney announced contributions to The Boy Scouts of America would be suspended due to their disallowance of homosexual men as leaders within scouting (this position has since been reversed by the Scouts). The simple quotation of 1 Co. 6:9 resulted in an extremely popular TV show being suspended until the backlash from the network’s customers forced its reinstatement. The President has for some time refused to allow the enforcement by the Federal Government of any law regarding the non-recognition of same-sex marriage. As I write this, it is fair to say that virtually every institution in American society (Education, Government, Business, Media, Entertainment, etc.) supports the proposition that homosexual behavior is acceptable. Much of the momentum for the advancement of the homosexual agenda is found in America’s clergy. A recent poll of Millennials (under age 34) found that a third of those who had abandoned their Christian faith did so due to the negative teaching in the Church regarding homosexuality. Indeed, to contend that homosexual behavior is sinful today is to be way outside of the mainstream.
These are just three examples of how society has changed in “the blink of an eye.” The havoc such changes have brought to our culture become more evident with each passing day, month and year. Behavior that a very short time ago was “outcast” has become “orthodox.” But again, the Apostle Paul gives good advice. Keep praying, preaching, teaching, witnessing and believing God that there is still hope.
Pete Mullins 
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