9 Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
10 nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God.
11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.
The apostle Paul writes in 1st Timothy chapter 1 about how the Law - that's what we find in the Old Testament, that I contend reflects God's heart regarding our faith and our practice - can point us to salvation through Christ. He writes:
8 But we know that the law is good if one uses it lawfully,
9 knowing this: that the law is not made for a righteous person, but for the lawless and insubordinate, for the ungodly and for sinners, for the unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,
10 for fornicators, for sodomites, for kidnappers, for liars, for perjurers, and if there is any other thing that is contrary to sound doctrine,
11 according to the glorious gospel of the blessed God which was committed to my trust.
The piece at RedState.com published just over a week ago includes these words in its opening: "At this point during the year 2023...it would seem that brands and corporations might pause a moment before taking an action that would insult a large swath of the people who pay their salaries."
Of course, as I have highlighted on The Meeting House, in some areas of corporate America, it's no longer about selling products and making profits. It's satisfying the overlords who keep the companies afloat, manipulating their financial decisions with the threat of cutting off their flow of capital. That's why pushback to ESG, expressed in a bill passed earlier this week by the Alabama Legislature, is so important. The RedState article also noted:
And last week it seemed that the Los Angeles Dodgers viewed those examples as cautionary tales when they disinvited the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, an anti-Catholic group that does a bit of charity work when it’s not sponsoring sacrilegious drag shows, from this year’s Pride Night. In addition to having the Sisters as honored guests on this night, the organization planned to present them with the Community Hero Award.
Well, the invite to the "Sisters" was a bad move, but then the Dodgers made the decision to re-invite them and honor them in a pre-game ceremony after pressure from, yes, LGBT activists.
It's bad enough that the Dodgers, like too many professional sports teams, are having a "Pride Night," scheduled for July 16. They now have a full-blown crisis on their hands. And, in a time of crisis, it's incumbent on leaders to lead. The Dodger Blue website related that star Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw, a professing Christian, led a players-only meeting to address the burgeoning controversy. Kershaw, according to the site, has stepped up to reinstate a Christian event at Dodger Stadium; the article says that the pitcher...
...announced the Dodgers would be hosting Christian Faith and Family Day at Dodger Stadium on July 30. In an interview with Jack Harris of the L.A. Times, Kershaw said the religious day had already been in the works but acknowledged announcing it last week was in response to the Dodgers’ involvement with the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence:
“I think we were always going to do Christian Faith Day this year, but I think the timing of our announcement was sped up,” Kershaw said. “Picking a date and doing those different things was part of it as well. Yes, it was in response to the highlighting of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence [by the Dodgers].”
The Times article also quotes Kershaw as saying:
“I don’t agree with making fun of other people’s religions,” he said. “It has nothing to do with anything other than that. I just don’t think that, no matter what religion you are, you should make fun of somebody else’s religion. So that’s something that I definitely don’t agree with.”
One of his teammates went one step further. Relief pitcher Blake Treinen weighed in. According to FoxNews.com, in a tweet circulated by Sean Feucht, Treinen said:
I understand that playing baseball is a privilege, and not a right. My convictions in Jesus Christ will always come first. Since I have been with the Dodger’s [sic] they have been at the forefront of supporting a wide variety of groups.. However, inviting the Sister’s [sic] of Perpetual indulgence to perform disenfranchises a large community and promotes hate of Christians and people of faith. This single event alienates the fans and supporters of the Dodgers, Major League Baseball, and professional sports. People like baseball for its entertainment value and competition. The fans do not want propaganda or politics forced on them.
So, there will be a Christian event at Dodger Stadium on July 30. But, while I am seeing a denunciation of the vile antics of the indulgent Sisters, I have yet to read a quote from any Dodger player who is refusing to play along with the concept of the Pride Night celebration on July 16, which is disappointing. I think that Treinen came pretty close, though. Ideally, I look forward to seeing Dodger players and other Major League Baseball players stand against this whole concept, like we saw with Tampa Bay Rays players last year and members of the National Hockey League.
There are a number of tools in our spiritual toolbox to respond to Pride Month and so-called Pride events. John Stonestreet offered some suggestions in a recent Breakpoint commentary, to which I referred earlier this week. He stated:
In response, Christians must do two things. First, we can and should protest both with our voices and our pocketbooks. Dodgers players and Target shoppers will need to think through where the line of complicity is. Second, we should proclaim a better way. One of Chuck Colson’s closest colleagues and collaborators has an idea worth considering:
“By the authority vested in me by absolutely no one,” Professor Robert George of Princeton University wrote in an email last week, “I have declared June to be ‘Fidelity Month’—a month dedicated to the importance of fidelity to God, spouses and families, our country, and our communities.”
I would contend that individual Christians and their churches should be bold to offer that difference. Certainly, we should stand against the proliferation of homosexuality and transgenderism in our culture. That also means, though, that we should show compassion for those who embrace the LGBTQ+ lifestyle. Compassion does not mean endorsement or toleration of the practices associated with that agenda, but it does mean that we should be proclaiming the gospel to them.
We should certainly be accessing the greatest power in the universe regarding these issues. Just as a suggestion, try this: for every word spoken against gay pride, we should match or exceed that with words spoken to God about the epidemic of sexual deviancy.
And, we should also be devoted to demonstrating the benefits of walking according to God's standards in the area of sexuality. We should be bold ambassadors for the institution of marriage, which has been ordained by God. We can be modeling for our culture the benefits of walking according to God's ways and the power and freedom that are available when a person who is trapped in his or her sinful ways experiences the life-changing presence of Jesus Christ.
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