Label

If you wear the label, "Christian," you should actually act like you know Jesus and are devoted to following His ways. That description is more than a religious term or a demographic one - when we bear the name of Christ, we are called to act like Him. 1st John chapter 2 states:
5 But whoever keeps His word, truly the love of God is perfected in him. By this we know that we are in Him.
6 He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk just as He walked.

Jesus said that the person who abides in Him will bear "much fruit" - we can examine the degree to which we are abiding in Him by evaluating the harvest of fruit that is there. The production of fruit for the glory of God is directly connected to how connected we are to Him. Everett Piper spoke on The Meeting House yesterday about the determining of the God that a person serves - is it the God of the Bible or the god in the mirror?  He is the One who will enable us to bring honor to the name of Jesus and live up to the name, "Christian."

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In Romans 1, Paul issues a stern word of warning to men and women who engage in behavior that is not appropriate toward those of the same sex. He writes, regarding those who had rejected God:
24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.

Why a professing Christian would choose to publicly acknowledge same-sex attraction as part of his or her identity is beyond me.  It is a sinful desire that should be devoted to the cross and certainly not regarded as something from which someone cannot be set free. 

The word, "Christian," should not be taken lightly.  People and institutions may be called Christian these days, but that doesn't mean that Christ is first place, that He is governing actions and decisions. We can be challenged to make sure that we know what it means to be "Christian."

This seems to be an issue in higher education these days, as you hear about Christian institutions that have allowed worldly teachings and actions to become acceptable.  If you bear the label, "Christian," to me that means that the policies that are accepted should be consistent with the teachings of Scripture.  And, there is great pressure to compromise on the teachings of Scripture.

One area is on sexuality.  I have two stops to make on our journey today.  First of all, Seattle Pacific University; ChristianHeadlines.com reports that:

The employee handbook says faculty are “expected to refrain from … sexually immoral behavior that is inconsistent with Biblical standards, including cohabitation and extramarital sexual activity,” according to the newspaper. A university “Statement on Human Sexuality” says, “We affirm that sexual experience is intended between a man and a woman.”

Recently, the Board of Trustees affirmed this material, and over two-thirds of the faculty gave the Board a vote of "no confidence."  The Christian Headlines article related in a story last Friday:

The controversy was sparked in January when Jéaux Rinedah, an adjunct nursing professor, alleged in a lawsuit that he was denied a full-time teaching position because he is gay.

The faculty Senate said in a Monday statement, “The Board’s decision to maintain SPU’s discriminatory hiring policy related to human sexuality, as well as its manner of delivering that decision, have regrettably compelled the faculty of SPU to pass a vote of no confidence in the SPU Board of Trustees.”

Board of Trustees chairman Cedric Davis is quoted as saying that the Board is “cognizant of historic orthodoxy and the Wesleyan and evangelical tradition in SPU’s 130-year history and in SPU’s Statement of Faith.”  What happens now?  It is up to the Board, presumably, to uphold the teachings upon which the school is founded.

We now move a bit closer to our area, to College of the Ozarks in Missouri, which has filed a lawsuit against a government policy.  An article on the National Religious Broadcasters website states:

The lawsuit challenges a directive from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development that forces schools to open their dormitories (including dorm rooms and shared shower spaces) to members of the opposite sex. By requiring entities covered by the Fair Housing Act to not “discriminate” based on sexual orientation or gender identity, this directive forces religious schools to violate their beliefs.

ADF Senior Counsel Julie Marie Blake stated in response: “Women shouldn’t be forced to share private spaces—including showers and dorm rooms—with males, and religious schools shouldn’t be punished simply because of their beliefs about marriage and biological sex. Government overreach by the Biden administration continues to victimize women, girls, and people of faith by gutting their legal protections, and it must be stopped.”  

School President Jerry C. Davis said: “To threaten religious freedom is to threaten America itself. College of the Ozarks will not allow politicians to erode this essential American right or the ideals that shaped America’s founding.”

There is confusion over matters of sexuality and gender these days, and God's Word can bring us great clarity.  It's not a matter of how we feel about ourselves, but about faith in what God has to say - he has made us male and female and in Romans 1, Paul lays out the sinfulness of men and women possessing improper feelings for one another.  And, the good news is that when God points out sin, He also offers the antidote.

The fact is, in our culture, pressure will come.  And there is great temptation for people and institutions to conform.  Yet, we can continue to hold fast to the teachings of Scripture and honor God by following His Word.  We are not called to follow fads or faux versions of reality; we are called to uphold the time-honored traditions that are spelled out for us in God's Word and know that His blessing comes as we adhere to it.