Losing Focus

We have been deployed to this world in order to be an effective witness for Christ. We represent Him, and our thoughts and deeds should line up with His truth:
20 Now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ's behalf, be reconciled to God.
21 For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

We are called to share a message that represents the Lord, and we are to do so in a way that is Biblical, compelling, and compassionate.   Scripture has a number of uses, as we find in 2nd Timothy 3, but if we are using the Bible in a manner that is outside the parameters that have been established, we run the risk of using Scripture for a non-Scriptural purpose.  So, we have to reflect a working knowledge of the Word and make sure that it is being used for the betterment of others, not manipulated to prove a point.

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The Bible reminds us that God resides in our hearts, and His life and wisdom should inhabit our
thoughts and deeds. 1st Corinthians 3 says:
16 Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?
17 If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.
18 Let no one deceive himself. If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.
19 For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God. For it is written, "He catches the wise in their own craftiness";
20 and again, "The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile."

I was stunned to see an article recently online that makes a rather bold premise - people in ministry who have lost their positions or have had them threatened because of their political beliefs.  That's the charge that the story from The Atlantic was built upon.  It's written by Emma Green, who recently ran a piece featuring an article featuring a Q&A with Eric Metaxas and spotlighted pro-life women who had intended to be part of the so-called Women's March in Washington.

But, this story, I think went a bit beyond the pale, and it bears some lessons from each of us as we wrestle with when to speak and when to keep silent.  The premise came from a tweet by an author named Jonathan Martin.  The story states:

“I’ve lost count of the number of people who say they’ve had ministry jobs threatened/been fired for speaking out in some way in this season,” the Christian author and speaker wrote. Confirmation rolled in: one story from a church planter in California, another from a former worship leader in Indiana. These are “not people who would historically self-identify as progressives, at all,” Martin told me later. They’re “people who see themselves as being very faithful evangelicals.”

Of course, the story writer attributes it to Christians' views of President Donald Trump.  And, certainly, believers were divided during the election season over the candidate who won the election. I would hope that there would be healing among the disparate viewpoints that had been expressed, or at least a measure of civility between believers, so that we can present a thoughtful witness to the world.  But, this story highlights that there are unnecessary lines of fracture.

The story uses this quote by Martin: "A lot of church leaders are wanting to play it especially safe and not wanting staff members to speak out." "A lot"? It seems that the story takes a broad charge and then quoted sources to support the supposition.

You see, the seeds of so-called "progressive" thought have been planted even in the evangelical church - and those that embrace it are so intent on owning those philosophies that they are willing to cause strife.  Case in point:  a Millennial writer who had a job with Focus on the Family.  She seemed to keep pushing the envelope.  According to the story, the Focus writer...

...wrote a piece for The Washington Post about her experience with sexual assault, criticizing Trump for his derogatory comments toward women and Christian leaders for not speaking out. And that’s when she started getting serious internal pushback.

Well, I would dare say that plenty of Christian writers published stories, rightly so, on the issue of Donald Trump and his past escapades.  Many, many people were alarmed by the video excerpt that was widely circulated.  But, I contend the issue here is not merely Trump, as the Atlantic story makes it out to be.  It's a matter of respecting who you represent.   The Focus writer kept writing provocative stories, even to the extent of writing stories supporting a third-party candidate.  Finally, a story on transgender suicide that, according to a text exchange with another staffer that "...comes across as smug, disrespectful, and distinctly partisan," resulted in some employment options being issued to her, and she is no longer with Focus on the Family.

The VP of communications at Focus declined comment "out of respect for the privacy of our current or former teammates.” He said that Focus advocates for "biblically relevant issues" and encourages employees and constituents to "vote for those candidates who most closely reflect and represent their conscience and convictions.” He also stated that, those representing Focus "are not to ‘get out ahead’ of the organization on issues that could be relevant to the work and ministry of Focus on the Family or speak against an established ministry position."

I did want to defend the policies of Focus on the Family, a ministry I greatly respect, with which Faith Radio has had a longstanding relationship.   And, it's not productive for the former employee to smugly say, as she did on Twitter, that her religious convictions were "incompatible" with those of Focus.

You see, we each are representatives of someone or something - and, as believers in Christ, we recognize that we are not our own; we belong to Him.  We represent Him and all of our words and actions should be carefully considered in the light of that fact.  To say or write something just to prove a point reflects a lack of respect for the Lord, as well as those whom He has placed in authority over us.  So, what we declare should be in line with Scripture and should not be said in a manner that will reflect poorly on us, our family, our church, and even our employer.  We are not our own, and what we do so often reflects others.

But, that's not to say that we should not delve into difficult issues.  Another person spotlighted in this Atlantic piece also was taking positions that were detrimental to the ministry for whom she worked. The president of Key Ministry, described as a "Christian disability-advocacy organization," said: “It seems to me that faithful Christians, living out life from a Biblical worldview, will have passionate debates and honest disagreements about politicians and political issues,” adding, “At the same time, it would be very difficult for us to have someone serving in a leadership position who disagreed with us on essentials..."  He said that these include, according to the article, the authority of scripture, the sanctity of life, and a Christian sexual ethic."

Unfortunately, too often I see a polarization, even among Christians, about difficult issues, and there is a tendency by some to show an intolerance for differing views.  For instance, on same-sex marriage, there is a ferocious faction that believes that the Bible allows it and people of that view will characterize those who disagree with them as being somehow intolerant, even though those, like myself, who take a traditional view of marriage have a strong Scriptural basis for their position.

And, we have to recognize that there is a time and place for this discourse.  People who come to hear a Christian speaker or singer don't necessarily want to have controversial political views being expressed.   There is a time to speak truth, and a way to speak truth.  We have to be sensitive to the words that we say and how they are said.