Q&A on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues

Some time ago, I gave a number of answers to a friend who had questions from a Christian youth regarding the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) issues. 

Here are the questions and my responses. Some slight grammatical and typographical changes have been made.

Question 1: Why should Christianity dictate national laws that govern non-Christians? Why should we impose this upon others who do not believe in this?

Singapore has a secular state and a multi-religious society. No one religion or religious group should “dictate” national laws. However, as a democratic society, every single citizen has the right to participate in the democratic process and engage with issues of public policy.

As Christians, we believe that the role of the State is to uphold what is good and punish what is evil (Romans 13:1-7; 1 Peter 2:13-14). Thus, we advocate for laws which are consistent with what is good, and we advocate against unjust laws which are not. 

It is the role of the State (not the Church) to enforce the law, and all laws impose morality on someone. For example, tough laws against drug abuse and trafficking impose on drug abusers and traffickers the seriousness of drugs.

Question 2: People often quote 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, or John 8:7 - We ourselves are not sinless. How can we judge others? How do we reconcile these Bible passages? 

The Bible does not create a blanket rule “do not judge”. This is based on a common misreading of Matthew 7:1. Once we read Matthew 7:1-5 holistically, what we see is Jesus emphasising the importance of applying consistent standards across the board, and to begin with self-examination before judging others. The important principle is to “judge rightly” (John 7:24).

This ties in very closely to 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, where Paul was exercising church discipline against an immoral man within the church who was sleeping with his father’s wife. Paul is telling the church to judge those within it, and to expel the man because he was openly living in sin while purporting to be Christian. On the flip side, it would not be the place for the church or church leaders to exercise such judgment of people outside the church.

Finally, in John 8, even as Jesus told the people “Let he who has no sin cast the first stone”, Jesus also told the woman, “Go now and leave your life of sin.” This is a beautiful picture of God’s grace. Grace does not deny the existence of sin or refrain from judgment. In fact, grace recognises that a person has sinned, but chooses not to hold that sin against the person. As Paul said, God’s kindness leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4).

It would be hypocritical of any human being to judge another human being by his or her own standards because, as this youth has rightly acknowledged, we are all sinners. It would be quite presumptuous of any human being to say to another, “I’m good, you’re bad.” How many of us even live up to our own (human) standards of behaviour, let alone God’s standards?

The message of the Bible is that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23). That is why we all need Jesus, who clothes us with a new identity and His righteousness, once we put our faith in Him. Our message is really, “We have all messed up, but we know Someone who makes things right.”

Question 3: He feels being picky and choosy on what we impose is pretty hypocritical. Do we still follow the laws of the Old Testament? He hates that we downplay the importance of the Bible by following whatever is convenient for us. How do we reconcile this?

I would like to affirm this youth on his desire to be consistent in our application of God’s Word, and his strong dislike of the downplaying of the importance of parts of the Bible whenever inconvenient. Indeed, Truth exists and it is not our place to play pick-and-choose with it, or to apply and disapply parts of the Bible according to our preferences.

The answer to this was put very nicely by William Lane Craig. We are Christians because we follow Jesus Christ. We do not follow the Law of Moses per se, but follow the Law of Moses only to the extent that Jesus tells us to follow it.

So, for example, we are not obliged to follow the food laws (kosher) of the Old Testament. (We can if we want to, but we need not.) This is because Jesus said that “nothing that enters a man from the outside can make him ‘unclean’” (Mark 7:18).

On Biblical sexual ethics, our basis for understanding marriage and sexuality is based on the teachings of Jesus Christ and elaborated upon by the Apostles. Thus, we are not following the laws in Leviticus. Rather, we follow the teaching of Christ that marriage is a union between a man and a woman (Matthew 19:4-6) and that “porneia” (referring to all kinds of sexual behaviour outside of marriage) is immoral (Mark 7:20-23).

4. If the Bible is so clear-cut on its stance in LGBT, why do so many churches still support it?

There are many reasons why churches support LGBT ideas, and it is difficult to cover all the possible reasons why. However, I will speak from my experience engaging with people who profess to be Christians who also support LGBT, same-sex marriage, etc. as a matter of their church doctrine, and what I have read so far. 

At its very core, I believe that people on both sides want to do the right thing. We all want to do what is fair, just, and loving. 

Churches that support LGBT come from that motivation. They want to love their neighbours who identify as LGBT, and they believe that supporting same-sex marriage, ordaining clergy who identify as LGBT, etc. are the best way to do so. They also believe that the Biblical teaching on homosexual practice, whether in the Old or New Testament, are either confined to a certain cultural context or based on a misinterpretation of the Bible.

Most, if not all, of such churches also believe that God made people LGBT. It is a religious version of the “born this way” idea, where people argue that LGBT is biological and immutable.

Where I would point out as the main problem with their beliefs is the belief that God made people LGBT, which defines and identifies people according to their sexual desires or feelings.

From a Biblical perspective, we are made male and female in the image of God (Genesis 1:27; Matthew 19:4-6). Therefore, we do not derive our identities from our sexual desires or feelings, but from God and His design of human beings as male and female. Furthermore, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ, your identity is as a child of God (Galatians 4:6-7), rather than any label you might give yourself or others might give you. 

Another mistake which they have made is what I would call their rather selective interpretation of the Bible. As we have discussed in the context of question 3, we should not be playing pick-and-choose with the Bible. For example, many of these churches want to affirm Jesus’s teachings on loving one’s neighbour (Mark 12:29-31), while at the same time ignoring His teaching that marriage is between a man and a woman (Matthew 19:4-6). 

In a sinful and broken world, our desires are corrupted by sin, including our sexual desires (which manifest in inappropriate desires for the same or opposite sex), and there may be some people who are born with indeterminate sex (i.e. intersex). 

But the promise of Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. He demonstrated His love through His sacrifice for us on the cross. For those who put their trust in Him, He promises to clothe us with a new identity as children of God, and to give us a new life in Him. That is the message we proclaim.

Addressing Biblical Teaching on Sexuality the Master's Way

During a dialogue on race and religion earlier this year, there was a question the Christian stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues. The Straits Times reports in "Tough questions posed at dialogue" (28 January 2018):

Why do Taoists have a practice of burning joss paper? What is the Christian stance on lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) issues? Is Buddhism a religion or a philosophy? 

Such questions were posed during a one-hour dialogue at the first National Inter-Racial and Religious Confidence Circle Convention at the Suntec Convention Centre yesterday, titled "Inconvenient Questions on Race and Religion". 

Asked about the Christian stance on LGBT issues, Reverend Malcolm Tan of Covenant Community Methodist Church explained that traditional biblical sexual morality teaches faithfulness in marriage and celibacy outside of marriage, and defines marriage as something that should always be between a man and a woman. 

"However, this does not mean that we become adversarial with people who are different or disagree with us," he said...

I do not know whether Reverend Malcolm Tan said more than had been reported in the article or if the article merely summarised his comments. Thus, I would refrain from addressing his specific comments at the dialogue, but focus on the more general issue of the Christian response on Biblical teaching regarding LGBT issues or any other issue of sexual brokenness.

While it is not wrong to address LGBT or other sexual brokenness issues by talking about the proper context of sex within marriage of a man and a woman (and this certainly reaffirms Biblical teaching), I would like to suggest that there is a better way to address Biblical teaching in sexuality. And who better to learn from than the Master Himself?

In the Gospel of Matthew, we see Jesus's response to the Pharisee's question on divorce:

Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?"

"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,'  and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate."

(Matthew 19:3-6)

To be sure, there were many passages in the Old Testament on divorce, and Jesus could have given a straightforward answer on the question by pointing to passages such as Malachi 2:16 where God declares "I hate divorce." However, He did not do so.

Instead, He began by referring to God ("the Creator"), human nature ("made them male and female"), the beauty of marriage ("a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh"), followed by how marriage has gone wrong in the context of divorce ("what God has joined together, let man not separate").

This order seems to reflect Jesus's priorities in how Biblical teaching on sexuality ought to be addressed.

Rather than sexual conduct per se, the core issue is that of God and human nature, of Dei and Imago Dei.

And some of the leading advocates on LGBT issues have likewise pointed out the centrality of one's understanding of human nature in debates over such issues.

Ryan T. Anderson wrote in "Same-sex Marriage and Heresy: The Importance of Anthropology" (16 July 2015), that the most pressing heresies today "center on the nature of man". He explains that "the sexual ideology that has battered the family and redefined marriage" springs from "a faulty humanism", "faulty anthropology [and] a misunderstanding of the nature of man".

Ever since the Fall, all of humanity has been attempting to define human nature apart from God, removing the Dei from Imago Dei.

The very notion of "LGBT" assumes that a person is and can be defined by one's "sexual orientation" or "gender identity", such that a person is defined by one's sexual desires or feelings about oneself. A person can be a "man trapped in a woman's body" or a "woman trapped in a man's body", presenting the idea that one's body is like a prison, rather than part of oneself, and can be altered and changed at will.

Modern society, shaped by the Sexual Revolution, has made sex into an idol. It has defined sex as such an integral part of human identity and fulfilment that - to quote Sam Allberry's paraphrase of the modern idea - "life without sex is no life at all".

Professor Robert P. George identifies in this the resurgence (or persistence) of the old Gnostic heresy, which sees the body as inferior and sees the human person or "self" as a spiritual or mental substance. As a result, according to post-Sexual Revolution sexual ethics, all forms of sexual conduct (with anyone or anything) are permissible as long as they are consensual, since what ultimately matters is connection on the emotional, mental or "spiritual" level.

It goes without saying that all of this is contrary to the vision of human nature (and thus human sexuality) presented in Scripture.

Human beings are made in the image of God, male and female, and are thus not "accidentally" placed in the wrong bodies. (However, in a sinful world, we must be aware that there are disabilities and abnormalities which may affect the development of one's sexual organs.) Our identities are accordingly defined by God's design, rather than according to our sexual desires or feelings.

As Sam Allberry said in his address to the Church of England General Synod in 2017, "I am same-sex attracted and have been my entire life. By that, I mean that I have sexual, romantic and deep emotional attractions to people of the same sex. I choose to describe myself this way because sexuality is not a matter of identity for me. And that has become Good News."

Since our bodies are important and part of who we are, what we do with our bodies in sexual behaviour affects us on a personal level, and are not merely emotional, intellectual or "spiritual" connections. Marriage is thus a comprehensive union, uniting a man and a woman in heart (emotional), soul (spiritual), mind (intellectual) and strength (physical).

Yet, in a world marred by sin, we should recognise that we are not only sinners, but also victims of sin (whether sins of others or our own sins), whom Jesus Christ came to seek and to save. And even as sexual brokenness affects us all in different ways, Jesus came as a Bridegroom for His beloved Bride, the Church, giving Himself up for her "to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless" (Ephesians 5:27).

Through His sacrifice on the cross, He frees us from the shackles of our pasts, such that we are no longer defined by our sexual desires, sexual history, or any sin that once held us. Christopher Yuan, who is same-sex attracted and left his former lifestyle, said it well:

My identity should never be defined by my feelings; my feelings should not dictate who I am. My identity is not gay or homosexual or even heterosexual for that matter, but my identity as a child of the Living God must be in Jesus Christ alone. 

You see, God says, “Be holy, for I am holy”. I had always thought that the opposite of homosexuality was heterosexuality. But actually, the opposite of homosexuality is holiness. God never told me, “Be heterosexual, for I am heterosexual”. He said, “Be holy, for I am holy”.  

And God told me, “Don't focus upon your sexuality, don't focus upon your feelings but focus upon living a life of holiness and living a life of purity.”

Jesus clothes us with a new identity as children of the Most High, and we look forward to the great wedding between Jesus and His Bride at the end of days (Revelation 21).

So, how do we address Biblical teaching on sexuality the Master's way?

A better way of engaging on Biblical teaching on LGBT issues or any other issue of sexual brokenness should, in order of priority, address the following:

1. Begin with God, the Creator of heaven and earth and all that is in them, including humanity ("the Creator"), 
2. Explore the wonders of human nature, as male and female made in the image of God ("made them male and female"), 
3. Present the beauty of marriage according to God's original design as a "one flesh" union between a man and a woman ("a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh"), 
4. Recognise how marriage and sexuality have gone wrong in a sinful world, and that there are forms of sexual conduct which are contrary to God's laws ("what God has joined together, let man not separate"),
5. Finally, present the Gospel of how Jesus Christ redeems and makes us holy and blameless through His sacrifice on the cross, and He will return one day for His beloved Bride.

"So the Gospel will be preached"

The annual Pink Dot event, advocating Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender  (LGBT) rights in the name of the "freedom to love", took place at Hong Lim Park a few days ago on Saturday, 13 June 2015.
 

On that night, I asked God why Pink Dot and all this activism was happening. This was not the first time I asked Him such a question, and will probably not be the last.
 

He replied, "So the Gospel will be preached."
 

On Sunday, I read the report on Pink Dot in the papers, where it was published that they had a record turn out of 28,000.
 

It weighed heavily upon my heart. In the evening, I was gripped with such a strong burden that I broke down and wept, praying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do."
 

These were Jesus' words on the cross. It was His prayer of forgiveness for them even though they had turned on Him and His Word.
 

I knew that God was letting me have a sense of His love for all of us, including those who identify as LGBT and those who have voiced their disagreement by wearing white over the weekend.
 

Even in the midst of all these, God has opened doors for many amazing testimonies to be heard about those who have been set free from the bondage of sin. Many have delivered powerful messages about God's freedom and love. And the beauty of God's design for marriage and family have been declared in various places.
 

So, far from being alarmed or afraid, or shying away from addressing the issue, we ought to preach the Gospel faithfully in this time as in every other time, even if it is not politically-correct in this season.
 

God has allowed all this to happen, and will allow more in the days to come, "so the Gospel will be preached."

Robert P. George's address at Russell D. Moore's Inauguration as Eighth President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission

On 10 September 2013, Russell D. Moore was inaugurated as the eighth president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, the moral and public policy agency of America's largest Protestant denomination.

Among those who spoke at his inauguration was Robert P. George, McCormick Professor of Jurisprudence at Princeton University, who outlined the challenges for Christians in society today.

Here is a transcript of his speech:

The Southern Baptist Convention is blessed. The larger Christian community is blessed. The nation, Russell, is blessed. Indeed, the world is blessed by the decision to appoint Dr Russell Moore to this position of leadership in the Christian community. I will tell you truthfully that my heart leapt for joy when I got the news that my beloved brother whom I admire so much would be appointed to fill the big shoes of Richard Land for the next period of leadership, and may it be long and blessed of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission. Those are big shoes to fill, Russell, but I haven't the slightest doubt that you will distinguish yourself beyond all measure.  

The right man, in the right place, at the right time.  

And let me express my gratitude on behalf of the larger Christian community to the Southern Baptist Convention and especially to the Board that made this blessed selection for the wisdom to have appointed such a man to a position of such importance and leadership at this time.  

And what a time.  

A time when the foundational principles, the foundational moral principles of our faith, the foundational ethical and moral principles of our polity, as a nation founded on the principle that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights. And among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; the foundational principles of our very civilisation, a civilisation shaped at every turn, and in its greatness by the Judaeo-Christian ethic. A time when every foundational principle is in peril and is under assault. Assault sometimes - I will speak to you plainly - from positions of power in our own nation and in nations across the country.  

What are those principles? We know them well. They're the principles articulated in what Richard Land named the Manhattan Declaration, that great call of Christian conscience.  

First and most foundationally, the principle of the profound and equal and inherent dignity of each and every member of the human family; the idea expressed in our Scripture as the human being made in the very image and likeness of the divine Ruler and Creator of the universe. The idea that every member of the human family - no matter how small, no matter how weak, no matter how unimportant in the eyes of the world - is of immeasurable worth and dignity. It doesn't matter the size, it doesn't matter our age, it doesn't matter our stage of development, it doesn't matter are condition of dependency. All of us my friends, even those we regard as the most powerful, are dependent in one way or another. None of us can truly declare an individual independence. There is no Declaration of Independence of Robert George or Russell Moore from the community of which we are a part.  

The second principle - and it is absolutely indispensable - is the dignity of marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife. That principle we know so well today - Pastor Luter, President Luter, mentioned it - is under the most severe assault. What is proposed is not an expansion of marriage or eligibility to participate in the institution of marriage, as it's sometimes peddled to us. What is at issue is whether marriage as understood in our tradition, and every tradition known to us, as articulated in Genesis 2 in the concept that the man leaves his mother and home and cleaves onto his wife and the two are one flesh.  

That principle is proposed for abolition, not expansion, abolition; to be replaced by a completely different way of organising human relations, replaced by a conception of "marriage" which is truly nothing other than sexual romantic companionship or domestic partnership. A conception that can make no sense - believe me brothers and sisters, I have had the challenge out there to our friends on the other side of this issue now for ten years - they can make no sense of the norms up exclusivity and fidelity; the idea that marriage is the union of two persons not three or four or five or more in polyamorous sexual partnerships.  

They can make no sense in the idea of marriage as a permanent union, as opposed to a temporary alliance for a two-year term or five-year term as now is being proposed in Mexico City. Renewable. Well that's nice. Or "for as long as love lasts" as the hippie weddings used to have it in them in the sixties.  

None of these structuring principles and norms of marriage can make any sense once the idea of marriage is a conjugal union - a one-flesh union - is jettisoned in favour of the alternative conception marriage as domestic partnership or mere sexual romantic companionship. 

And then of course, the great foundational principle of religious liberty for which the entire Christian community and the world owes a great debt to you Baptists, and to the Baptist tradition. You were there first, way before many of our other traditions. We got there, but with your good leadership and example. And to say that that principle is under assault is only to report soberly what a previous speaker said to you explicitly.  

My friends, the persecution is coming. Indeed it is here.  

We see it - I speak plainly I hope I offend none, but I take the risk - of the Health and Human Services Mandates imposing obligations on employers with the narrowest of exceptions on employers - even religious employers, Catholic hospitals, Evangelical colleges and universities - to provide insurance coverage for services or products which they cannot in good conscience, in Christian conscience, accept. Giving them the choice of following God or Caesar, demanding that they render unto Caesar that which is God's.  

We see it now increasingly with respect to the marriage issue. Wedding photographers, Christian wedding photographers, Mennonite owners of catering services, people who supply flowers for wedding events brought under prosecution, subjected to civil liability because they cannot in good conscience participate in the blessing of unions that, on a Christian view, cannot be judged other than to be immoral.  

And yet again, we see increasingly the tide turning against conscience and in favour of the imposition by political power on the conscience of the believer. We look abroad. It was kindly mentioned Philip that I was sworn in yesterday by Chief Justice Roberts on Harriet Tubman's Bible, let me add, as the new Chairman of the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom; an office I'm very proud to hold, but I hold it in fear and trembling because I look around the world and I see the viciousness of persecution from North Korea to China to Iran, throughout the Middle East, Africa, Cuba, Venezuela. Increasingly, we see things that worry us deeply even in the democratic countries in Western Europe. Anti-Semitism again on the rise. Secularism aggressively pushing religion out of the public and into the private domain, as if religion were a purely private activity legitimately pressed by government into the narrow confines of the home or the church or the mosque or the synagogue.  

So we have a big challenge, both internationally and domestically, to religious freedom; a challenge that, it's the duty of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission to exercise leadership in. We need that leadership. We had it in Dr Land, we will have it in Dr Moore.  

These are not fights that we Christians can afford to fight alone. This cannot be simply an Evangelical battle, or even more narrowly, a Baptist battle. We need to unite across the lines of historic theological division both within the Christian world and beyond. We need Baptists and we need Catholics. We need Eastern Orthodox Christians. We need Latter-Day Saints. We need Orthodox and observant Jews. We need those members in the Muslim community - and they exist - who will stand with us for religious liberty, for the sanctity of human life, for marriage as the union of husband and wife. 

We need to be prepared in giving our Christian witness to stand arm-in-arm with them. It's our duty to engage the culture.  

As a Lutheran pastor recently said in a wonderful homily that I had the occasion to listen to, Jesus doesn't need any more secret agents. He's got enough of them. He needs bold witnesses. And Christians should be in the forefront - not alone - but in the forefront, of giving that bold witness to these foundational principles. And of course that's going to mean sacrifice. That means that we will place at risk all that we have - the status, the prestige, the standing in the eyes of the world, the opportunities for career advancement, sometimes for career advancement in politics. Some will put their businesses at risk. Recently a photographer couple went out of business - their own little small business - because they were forced out. They couldn't stay in business and remain faithful to their Christian conscience.  

So we need leaders. We need leaders who will set the example of courage. As the previous speaker said, we need giant killers. 

And thank God that God has raised up a man like Russell Moore at this time and placed him in the position of leadership that he now holds. But we cannot be mere followers of Russell or of anyone else. Each of us in this room needs to be a leader in defending the foundational principles our faith, of our polity and of our civilisation. No, not all of us are called on to be full time as Russell will be. But all of us are called not merely to follow but to lead.  

Let's exemplify that in the community. Let's live that life that we're called to live by Jesus. Let's cling to Jesus, as I know Russell will cling to Jesus, as we go forward. Not as mere followers, but as leaders, each and every one.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez's speech at March for Life 2015

March for Life 2015 took place on 22 January 2015 at the National Mall in Washington D.C., the United States.

Rev. Samuel Rodriguez, President of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, delivered a powerful speech and prayer before the launch of the march. (Rev. Rodriguez's speech begins at 1:16:42 of the video.)

The transcript follows:

We gather today not as blacks, whites, yellow or brown. We gather today as children of the living God.

We gather today with the commitment to reconcile righteousness with justice, sanctification with service, and Truth with Love.

We gather today with Biblical conviction and courage to speak to the spiritual forces that exacerbate the death of innocents in the womb.

We gather today to speak to the spirit of Pharaoh, and to the spirit of Herod, and to declare the following.

We declare the following:

For every Pharaoh there will be a Moses;

For every Goliath there will be a David;

For every Nebuchadnezzar there will be a Daniel;

For every Jezebel there will be an Elijah;

For every Herod there will be a Jesus!

And for every devil that rises up against us,

there is a mightier God that rises up for us.

For we understand that the right to life stems not from the executive branch, judicial or the legislative branch. The right to life does not stem from a political party or apparatus. It does not come from the donkey or the elephant.

The right to life comes from the Lamb that is on the throne; His name is Jesus.

Therefore, on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, let us remind our nation and our fellow citizens that Uncle Sam may be our uncle, but he will never be our Heavenly Father.

With that, let me invite you to pray.

Let us pray:

Heavenly Father, we pray that this generation will recognise the image of God in every human being in and out of the womb without exception. We pray that the followers of Christ will no longer hide at the bottom of the threshing floor but rather they will emerge as mighty heroes of righteousness and justice.

We pray that the children of the cross realise that today's complacency is tomorrow's captivity, that moral stagnation leads to spiritual atrophy, and that there is no such thing as comfortable Christianity.

We pray that children will not be aborted, that marriages will thrive, and religious liberty will prevail for generations to come.

We pray that Truth will never be sacrificed on the altar of expediency, that Love will overcome hate, and that the prophetic will silence the pathetic. And we pray for the strength of the Father, the grace of the Son, and the anointing of God's Spirit to equip us in order to advance Your agenda; an agenda that protects the innocent and the unborn, all while we do justice, love mercy, and walk humbly before God.

And we pray all of this in the holy, righteous, triumphant, victorious name of Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour. Amen and amen.

Jesus the Returning Warrior, Lover and King

The Bible is a love story from start to beginning, despite the ups and downs, the betrayals and the persecution.

So key to the Biblical narrative is the passionate love between a man and a woman in marriage that the Bible begins and ends with a wedding. In the Garden of Eden, God made male and female, and united them as "one flesh" in marriage (Genesis 2:24). Likewise, the Bible ends with the marriage supper of the Lamb.

David and Michal

One passionate love story that began well but unfortunately ended badly is the story of David and Michal.

When King Saul noticed that his daughter Michal was "in love with David" (1 Samuel 18:20), he promised the hand of his daughter to David for the bride price of one hundred Philistine foreskins. (The choice of foreskins as a "trophy" was due to the fact that the Philistines were uncircumcised, unlike the Jews.) Though it was meant to be a trap so that David would be killed by the Philistines, God was with David and David more than succeeded in his task.

Instead of just one hundred Philistine foreskins, the returning warrior, lover and king (by this time, Samuel had anointed David) came back with two hundred foreskins, and "Saul gave him his daughter Michal in marriage" (1 Samuel 18:27). Once again, the Bible records that "Michal loved David" (1 Samuel 18:28). So strong was her passion for David that Michal helped David to escape from her father's jealous rage and lied to her father for the sake of her husband.

But this love story did not have a happy ending. While fleeing from Saul, David took other women in marriage as his wives. On the other hand, Michal was given away in marriage to Paltiel son of Laish.

By the time after Saul's death, and after David brought Michal back to him and returned to Jerusalem as king, Michal's disposition towards David had changed. The when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord at the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem, "she despised him in her heart" (2 Samuel 6:16). David made sacrifices and burnt offerings, and blessed the people, but was confronted by Michal when he returned home:

When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" (2 Samuel 6:20)

David did not appreciate the remark, and the Bible records that "Michal daughter of Saul had no children to the day of her death" (2 Samuel 6:23); though it is not clear why this was so, it is more likely than not that David ceased to have conjugal relations with her.

Jesus and His Church

The Book of Revelation tells of a much more beautiful love story of Jesus Christ - the Son of David as he was known to the people at the time - and His bride the Church.

Jesus Christ "loved the Church and gave Himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to Himself as a radiant Church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless." (Ephesians 5:25-27)

In the last days, the Church will be subject to intense persecution at the hands of the woman Mystery Babylon and the Beast. The Book of Revelation records that Mystery Babylon "was drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of those who bore testimony to Jesus" (Revelation 17:6). But the Beast eventually betrayed and destroyed her.

The great multitude declares, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give him glory! For the wedding of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. Fine linen, bright and clean, was given her to wear." (Revelation 19:7-9)

It is at this point we see Jesus come forth as a passionate Warrior, Lover and King:

I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse, whose rider is called Faithful and True. With justice He judges and makes war. His eyes are like blazing fire, and on His head are many crowns. He has a name written on Him that no one knows but He Himself. He is dressed in a robe dipped in blood, and His name is the Word of God. The armies of heaven were following Him, riding on white horses and dressed in fine linen, white and clean. Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations. "He will rule them with an iron scepter." He treads the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty. On His robe and on His thigh He has this name written:

KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS

(Revelation 19:11-16)

Jesus Christ and His army captures the Beast and the false prophet and throw them into the fiery lake of burning sulphur, and defeats the kings of the earth and their armies. Satan is defeated, the dead are judged, and then here comes the Bride:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away."

The Returning Warrior, Lover and King

Like David returning for his bride Michal, Jesus Christ fights the good fight and returns as a triumphant warrior king for His Church. But unlike David, Jesus Christ is not a fallen man, nor would he take additional wives. Unlike Michal, the Church is a Bride who loves her husband and willingly submits to His loving headship.

Here is a marriage covenant that will last forever. It is the beautiful Biblical love story of Jesus Christ, the passionate lover, the rider on the horse who judges and makes war, and who finally returns to marry His beloved Bride.

Church as Family: How Christians are truly related by flesh and blood

From the Old Testament sacrifices to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross, many Biblical covenants are made in blood.

 

At the same time, we often hear people describing the church as a "family", drawing from passages such as Matthew 12:50 where Jesus said, "whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother."

 

Knowing that the Bible teaches that the natural family unit is established by marriage between a man and a woman and their children, a fellow brother-in-Christ once asked concerning the apparent dilemma between the two definitions of "family" in the Bible.

 

My answer to him back then was that the use of the word "family" in the context of the church is a metaphor, drawing from the understanding of the natural family unit.

 

This is not wrong, and might be an answer I would give to a non-Christian, but I soon came to realise that there is much more.

 

 

When we talk about the natural family, we are referring to flesh-and-blood relations. For example, if someone is my brother, he is related to me by flesh and blood. We would expect a DNA test to show that we are biologically related.

 

But Christians are truly related by flesh and blood too!

 

Christians are related by the shedding of the flesh and blood of Jesus, who died to redeem us all from our sins. In Holy Communion, we partake of Christ's flesh and blood. Paul wrote in 1 Corinthians 11:23-26:

For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me." In the same way, after supper He took the cup, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me." For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord's death until He comes.

 

There is also another sense in which the church is related by flesh and blood with Jesus.

 

When God created woman, He put the man Adam into a deep sleep and formed the woman out of the man's rib. As a result, the man could say of the woman, "This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh." (Genesis 2:23)

 

Jesus has been described as the Second Adam (Romans 5:12-21; 1 Corinthians 15:45). In the same way, Jesus was put into a deep sleep in the grave and out of His sacrifice God formed the church. The church is the Body of Christ (Ephesians 5:22-33). It is truly bone of His bones and flesh of His flesh.

 

Therefore, in a very real sense, Christians are related by the flesh and blood of Jesus.

 

We are truly brothers- and sisters-in-Christ.

The Language of Family in the Gospel

Christians have typically been very concerned about the role and meaning of family in society. For example, in light of the controversy regarding the Health Promotion Board's FAQs on Sexuality and the response by Health Minister Gan Kim Yong, the National Council of Churches wrote in a press statement:

We especially welcome the Minister’s assurance that there has been no shift in the government’s position: that the family is the basic build ing block of society, and that ‘family’ is taken to mean a man and a woman joined in marriage, and encouraged to build a stable nuclear or extended household.

There are many reasons why Christians should be concerned about the family, including Biblical teaching about marriage, children, as well as sexuality.

But there is another reason why the family plays such an important role in Christianity. It is because, as concisely summed up by Julia Shaw, "the language of Christianity is familial". The Gospels speak so much in familial terms that it is almost impossible to understand the Gospel without understanding the family.

Father, mother and child
Promise and identity in the Bible are fulfilled through the simple image of father, mother and child.

Already in the beginning, the Bible foretells of the "Seed" or "offspring" of the woman who will crush the head of the serpent (Genesis 3:15), and of the "Seed" of Abraham who will be the fulfilment of God's promise (Genesis 12:7; Galatians 3:16).

The promise of that "Seed", Jesus Christ, was not fulfilled in pompous fashion but through the humble circumstance of an unexpecting mother and loving adoptive father. The Gospels speak of the shock and submission of the virgin Mary when she found out that she was with child by the power of the Holy Spirit, and the dilemma faced by her betrothed Joseph. The scene of the Nativity is none other than that of a father, mother and child in a stable in Bethlehem. This is a family whose genealogy Matthew and Luke trace back through the the generations to David, the patriarchs, Adam, and finally to God.

The message of Jesus Christ is one of fatherhood. Early in Jesus' ministry, Jesus was already speaking going about "His Father's business" (Luke 2:49). He taught His disciples to address God as "Father", and taught that God is a loving Father who wishes to give good gifts to His children (Luke 11:13). In His parables, He likened God to a father with two wayward sons (Luke 15:11-32).

And Jesus, the son who learned obedience through suffering (Hebrews 5:8), ultimately paid the price so that we might be reconciled to God and called as His children. Paul teaches us that we "are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus" (Galatians 3:26). God has made us His children and heirs:

For you did not receive a spirit that makes you a slave again to fear, but you received the Spirit of sonship. And by him we cry, "Abba, Father." The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God's children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:15-17)

Marriage
Another aspect of family in the Gospels is the marital covenant.

Marriage, as defined by Scripture, is an exclusive and permanent union between a man and a woman. In the New Testament, Jesus taught:

"Haven't you read," he replied, "that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh' ? So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." (Matthew 19:4-6)

The sacrament of marriage parallels the spiritual relationship between Christ and His church. The relationship between Jesus Christ and His church is likened to that of a bridegroom and his bride, of a husband and wife. Paul makes this clear in Ephesians 5:22-33:

Wives, submit to your husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated his own body, but he feeds and cares for it, just as Christ does the church-- for we are members of his body. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh." This is a profound mystery--but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.

The Second Coming of Jesus Christ is depicted as a wedding, where people are waiting in anticipation for the bridegroom (Matthew 25:1-13). The Book of Revelation ends with a wedding between Jesus Christ and His church. John writes about how he saw "the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband" (Revelation 21:2).

Brothers- and sisters-in-Christ

With God as Father, and with Jesus and the church as husband and wife, what would that make individual believers?

It is no surprise then, that Christians regarded one another as part of a larger spiritual family. In the Epistles, the apostles address their fellow believers as "brothers" and "sisters", and regarded some older women as "mothers". Paul instructed Timothy:

Do not rebuke an older man harshly, but exhort him as if he were your father. Treat younger men as brothers, older women as mothers, and younger women as sisters, with absolute purity. (1 Timothy 5:1-2)

Indeed, Jesus taught that "whoever does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother" (Matthew 12:50).

The habit of the early church of addressing one another as brothers and sisters caused quite some misunderstanding to Roman observers! In about 200 AD, a pagan lawyer named Marcus Minucius Felix even wrote: 

They love one another before being acquainted, so to speak. Everywhere they practice a kind of religious cult of lust, calling one another “brother” and “sister” indiscriminately. Thus, under the cover of these hallowed names, ordinary fornication becomes incest.

The Language of Family in the Gospel
Family is at the centre of the Gospel.

So integral is the family to the Gospel that it becomes almost impossible to understand the Gospel without understanding the family. Mary Eberstadt writes in her book, How the West Really Lost God, which examined the decline of Christianity in the West:

The Christian story itself is a story told through the prism of the family. Take away the prism, and the story makes less sense.

It is a premise of this book that we Western men and women, whether inside the churches or not, are only at the beginning of understanding how the fracturing of the natural family has in turn helped to fracture Christianity. Evidence from all over suggests that understanding Christianity requires understanding the natural family - and a world where natural families are often weak is one in which the very language of Christian belief, literal and figurative, is destined to be less well understood than it was before.

She warns: family illiteracy breeds religious illiteracy.


Preaching the Gospel requires sound understanding of the family, and vice versa. A church which fails to teach about the family does a great disservice to the Gospel.

Do you understand why?

Commenting on a recent interview given by Pope Francis, Steve Jalsevac, editor of LifeSiteNews, writes in "Pope Francis certainly has a way of stirring things up" (19 September 2013):

The pro-life and pro-family movements have been formed mostly in response to the giant vacuum of leadership from religious and other leaders. It has been a near impossible job for the relatively very few dedicated to the task.

Think of the numbers: hundreds of millions of unborn babies murdered worldwide since the 1960s. 300 million in China alone. And many millions more to come. A large percentage of these abortions have left millions of women damaged emotionally, physically and spiritually. The deliberate destruction of the natural family is now being attempted on a worldwide and intensified scale by de-populationists and secular extremists.

Children are being abused by the millions by explicit, vile sex-education programs beginning now even in kindergarten. A giant tidal wave of euthanasia seems imminent because of the demographic imbalance caused by abortion and decades of contraceptive use. The list goes on and is becoming a great, worldwide nightmare.

Francis says that what the Church believes on these issues is "clear" and therefore there is no need for him to go on about them. But my experience, and that of probably most pro-life, pro-family leaders that I know is just the opposite.

Yes, most people know that the Church opposes contraception, abortion and homosexuality, as well as pornography, prostitution and much more. BUT, very, very few, including the vast majority of Catholics, do not understand WHY Christianity opposes these things. They have not been taught this. Usually very little or nothing is said about them in Catholic institutions.

They do not know that these are all teachings of a loving Father to protect us all rather than restrictions to prevent enjoyment and freedom. They do not know that Catholic moral teachings are about charity and deep concern for the good of every person and are based on millennia of human experience and reason, as well as on the the teachings of Christ.

They believe many lies fed to them about how harmless and wonderful it is to engage in immoral actions. No one tells them about the many, very real dangers and consequences and the alternatives that are available to them.

Although Jalsevac is writing in a Catholic context, the matters raised here are relevant to all Christians everywhere.

Many Singaporeans, Christian or non-Christian, probably know that Christians have certain views on issues such as marriage, homosexuality, abortion, casinos, and so on.

But do you understand why?

Do you think these are meant to protect us, or meant to restrict enjoyment and freedom?

Assimilated or Alienated?

In science, my faith is judged obscurantist; in ethics, mere animus; in practicality, irrelevant; in love, archaic. In the square, I am silenced; at school, mocked; in business, fined; at entertainment, derided; in the home, patronized; at work, muffled. My leaders are disrespected; my founder blasphemed by the new culture, new religion, and new philosophy which, to paraphrase Benedict XVI’s “Regensburg Address,” suffers from an aversion to the fullness of questions, insisting that questions are meaningful only when limited to a scope much narrower than my catholic range of wonder.

-   R. J. Snell, "I Am Lonely"
First Things (14 October 2013)

Pope Emeritus Benedict once said that "Christians are the religious group which suffers most from persecution on account of its faith".

Christianity remains one of the world's largest religions. However, Christianity is increasingly moving to the global South, or what was once referred to as the "Third World" or developing countries. A growing number of Christians live in places such as Asia, Africa and the Middle East even as Christianity continues to decline in America and Europe, widely referred to as the "West".

In the post-Christian developed world, Christians are widely perceived as intolerant, bigoted and judgmental because of opposition to same-sex marriage and abortion. In the developing world, Christians live as religious minorities, persecuted by intolerant militant extremist groups.

Aliens and strangers in this world
Yet the Bible teaches that Christians are aliens and strangers in this world. Peter wrote:

Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day He visits us. (1 Peter 2:11-12)

The Christian must always be conscious of the fact that he or she is in, but not of, this world. Jesus said:

I have given them Your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world. My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it. Sanctify them by the truth; Your word is truth. As You sent me into the world, I have sent them into the world. For them I sanctify myself, that they too may be truly sanctified. (John 17:14-19)

No one can be a better example of this than Jesus Christ Himself. Despite being in very nature God, Jesus came down to as an ordinary man. He was insulted, mocked, ridiculed and ultimately crucified for standing for Truth.

Jesus warned His disciples that "[if] they persecuted me, they will persecute you also" (John 15:20). And they did. James was put to death by the sword (Acts 12:2). According to tradition, Peter was crucified upside down. Early Christians suffered intensely for their faith. We read in the Book of Hebrews:

Others were tortured and refused to be released, so that they might gain a better resurrection. Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned; they were sawed in two; they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated — the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and in holes in the ground. (Hebrews 11:35b-38)

Assimilated or Alienated?
In Singapore, the government jealously guards religious harmony in order to ensure that all religious groups may live in peace with one another. Christians, and all other religious groups, are protected from persecution, ridicule and discrimination.

But have we treasured our peace and freedom? Do we exercise our God-given talents faithfully?

Are you like that city built on a hill that cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14)?

When others look at you, do they see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven (Matthew 5:16)? Or are you following the ways of the world instead of following Christ?

Are you assimilated or alienated?

http://www.thepublicdiscourse.com/2013/09/10779/?utm_source=LifeSiteNews.com+Daily+Newsletter&utm_campaign=b0143da7de-LifeSiteNews_com_Intl_Full_Text_06_19_2013&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_0caba610ac-b0143da7de-397586561

EXTRACT

Indeed, we might say marriage is centrifugal: the center axis of marriage results in the products of the marriage moving away from the center. The concept of kinship reinforces this communal and social understanding of marriage.
...

If we grant kinship’s centrality to marriage, same-sex relationships not only fail as to what constitutes a marriage, but same-sex relationships also fail the kinship test. Redefining marriage to include same-sex relationships enacts a legal fiction that the organic contours of society neither intuitively recognize nor posit. Same-sex marriage does not contribute to the kinship model. If natural marriage bestows life in way that is socially-oriented and centrifugal, then we might say that same-sex marriage is centripetal. In same-sex marriage, the emotional, non-generative unions of adults become the center.

Such relationships are not the type on which society depends. Same-sex marriage not only elevates the desires of adults over the needs of children; it also elevates the desires of adults over the needs of civilization. Same-sex couples have any number of technological advances available that mimic the features of parenting, save one: the capability to create children. Whether through artificial reproductive technology or adoption, same-sex couples who wish to have children must look extra nos, outside themselves and apart from the “one-flesh union” that organically and comprehensively unites man and woman in the marital act.

None of this is to suggest that our neighbors with same-sex attractions are incapable of experiencing the bonds of kinship. All individuals—regardless of sexual desires—are sons or daughters, sisters or brothers, and aunts or uncles, with full rights and responsibilities to pursue the common good. Kinship is simply an extension of the biological good that ennobles marriage’s uniqueness.

Family is the foundation of society; marriage is the foundation of family. Embedded in this simple truth is the overwhelming chorus of families that form nations, a reality that no human ideology like same-sex marriage can overcome.

Chesterton once noted, “The greatest political storm flutters only a fringe of humanity. But an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children literally alter the destiny of nations.”