Q&A

Jesus engaged with those to whom He ministered on earth, and He wants to engage with us.  Isaiah 1
says:
16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Put away the evil of your doings from before My eyes. Cease to do evil,
17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Rebuke the oppressor; Defend the fatherless, Plead for the widow.
18 "Come now, and let us reason together," Says the Lord, "Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow; Though they are red like crimson, They shall be as wool.

God is calling us to come before Him and to bring the questions, the concerns, the desires of our hearts before Him - He wants us to communicate with Him, and He teaches us how to engage with other people.  He does desire to walk with us through the difficult times we face and the challenging issues that we grapple with.  But, He is patient and kind toward us, full of compassion, and willing to share His wisdom so that we might apply it and share it with others.

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Jesus was attending the Feast of the Passover just days before He, our Passover Lamb, would be sacrificed for our sins.  He made good use of that time there - in the latter chapters of the gospels, you read about His teaching.  And, He engaged the religious leaders in the temple.  Luke 20 states:
1 Now it happened on one of those days, as He taught the people in the temple and preached the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes, together with the elders, confronted Him
2 and spoke to Him, saying, "Tell us, by what authority are You doing these things? Or who is he who gave You this authority?"
3 But He answered and said to them, "I also will ask you one thing, and answer Me:
4 The baptism of John--was it from heaven or from men?"
5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why then did you not believe him?'
6 But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us, for they are persuaded that John was a prophet."
7 So they answered that they did not know where it was from.

8 And Jesus said to them, "Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things."

Jesus was not only about doing wondrous works - healing the sick and demonstrating His power over the work of the enemy - He taught the principles of the Kingdom.  And, as we see here, He had the boldness to engage with people with whom He disagreed.  

The ministry of Focus on the Family, whose radio program airs at 8:30 on weekday mornings on Faith Radio, decided to invite someone who had disagreed with them to be part of a special event recently.  HBO, you see, has a program called, Last Week Tonight, hosted by John Oliver.  He picked a fight with the daughter of Vice President Pence.  Her name is Charlotte, and she wrote and her mom illustrated a book called, Marlon Bundo's Day in the Life of the Vice President.  The main character is actually based on a real-life pet rabbit.

ChristianHeadlines.com reported that Oliver wrote a parody of Charlotte's book:

Although the book is not political in nature, Oliver used it to mock the Vice President’s views on abortion and gay marriage.

Oliver changed the book’s title and created a scenario in which Pence, portrayed as a stink bug, tries to stop two gay rabbits from getting married.

Townhall.com said:

HBO's John Oliver likes the rabbit (how can you not?) but he was so offended by one stop on Marlon's book tour that he dedicated a whole segment to it on his program Sunday night. Using the pet to make a point about Vice President Mike Pence's anti-LGBT agenda, Oliver informed his audience that the tour is stopping at a conservative organization called Focus on the Family. Cue a rant about how the group is anti-LGBT and how Pence has long praised their efforts. So, Oliver offered his own bunny book, one that features a gay protagonist. He urged his audience to buy one of his books instead, because it would benefit LGBT organizations.

Focus responded swiftly and strongly, but went one step further.  This, from Focus President Jim Daly on the ministry's website:

Over the years, late-night television has devolved into a breeding ground for cynical, skeptical, bitter and so-called “humor” that cuts people, attempting to both marginalize and tear down individuals and institutions with whom both hosts and often guests disagree.

This past Sunday night, John Oliver was incensed over Focus on the Family’s 40 year history of supporting a traditional and biblical sexual ethic. In particular, the host took issue with our belief that those with unwanted same-sex attraction should be free to pursue counseling, if that is their desire. Of course, millions of Christians and even non-Christians hold to this standard, but Mr. Oliver disagrees and his seething reaction to our ministry’s position was palpable.

I’m disappointed, though not completely shocked by the animus projected by John Oliver, a man whom I have never met.

Focus on the Family is proud to host Mrs. Pence and Charlotte for a book signing next Monday, March 26th. Though lampooned and shamed for selecting our location for one of their events, the Pences will be warmly welcomed guests to our campus in Colorado Springs.

John Oliver is welcome to join us.

That is key! Daly staked out his ground, but made an overture to find common ground.

For her part, Charlotte Pence made an attempt to diffuse the situation, according to Townhall:

She bought the HBO host's book, she said, because she is all about contributing to good causes.

“He’s giving proceeds of the book to charity, and we’re also giving proceeds of our book to charity, so I really think that we can all get behind it,” Pence explained Wednesday.

The Hill reports that portions of the proceeds for Charlotte's book will go to Tracy’s Kids, which "provides young cancer patients with art therapy," and A21, "an anti-human trafficking nonprofit."

It reports, "Oliver has said proceeds from his book will go to AIDS United and the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention organization for LGBT youth."

That may not have been the response I would have chosen, but her desire to diffuse a situation is admirable, according to the DailyWire website: "Rather than respond to Oliver's mean-spiritedness with more mean-spiritedness, she has decided to do the classy thing and buy one of John Oliver's books so that the proceeds can go to charity."

We can think about several principles here, and here is the first one: we don't have to respond to "mean-spiritedness with more mean-spiritedness."  It is easy to respond angrily to anger - in fact, people, I think, tend to respond in kind; that's why the Proverbs speaks of a gentle answer turning away wrath.  Charlotte Pence is being commended for her class; which was even reinforced by going before the ladies of The View last week; yes, the same panel that had members who had ridiculed her father's faith.  Talk about courage and class.

We can also be challenged to reach out to those who have offended us.  Even though John Oliver said some negative things about Focus on the Family, Jim Daly extended an invitation to join them for the Pences' book signing at Focus yesterday.   Jesus had dialogue with the religious leaders of His day - He did not run away from their questions; He tactfully engaged with them.

And, we can be reminded that God's wisdom is available to inject into our confrontations.  In of ourselves, we may fell inadequate, but the Lord wants us to depend on Him to speak through us as He opens up the opportunities.