By Edwin Crayton/Opinion
You couldn’t convict either the LGBT Movement (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual &Transgender) or Abortion Movement of being quiet. Both are constantly in the news loudly promoting their agendas. They are not shy about getting experts and stars to promote their disturbing ideas on sexuality and reproductive rights. They’ve got plenty of takers too. Major companies, politicians and Hollywood are practically tripping over themselves to back these two spreading movements. Both movements use their experts extensively and talk up whatever their supporters give them in order to convince the public that what they advocate should be widely accepted. But if you will listen to all the talk just a bit more carefully, you will perhaps notice there is one thing they never seem to talk about: God. Indeed, mention God or the Bible’s views on their movements and they seem to flee like a vampire fleeing a silver cross. If you are a Christian, the answer as to why this is so is obvious. God and his Holy Word, the Bible, prohibit both homosexuality and all same sex sexual relationships (See Leviticus 18:22, Romans, chapter 1). The Bible also prohibits the taking of innocent life or murder (Exodus 20:13). When you get right down to it, abortion is taking the life of a precious, innocent baby. So, in other words, God and the Bible stand in strong opposition to what these movements believe in and promote. It is a conflict that positions both movements directly against God and his Holy Word because of the simple unavoidable fact that they are for what he is against and vice versa.
It all reminds me of the plot of “You can’t take it with you”, a classic, Pulitzer Prize winning play written by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart that also became an Oscar winning movie. The plot works this way: A wealthy, greedy Wall Street banker wants to build a factory. But in order to build his factory, he must first buy up every single inch of a few blocks in his city. He manages to buy everyone out except one old man who won’t sell. It’s the only stumbling block he faces but he must buy it out or he can’t build the factory. Basically, one old man and his family stand between him and his dream of building an empire. Spoiler alert. He doesn’t manage to buy the old man out. In fact, the old man and his household manage to convert the greedy banker spiritually and he abandons his plan to build the factory of death. Well it seems to me that like that banker, the LGBT and Abortion Movements both have plenty of power and are able to bully and bulldoze their way through opponents. Their movements are both well financed and well organized. They are succeeding at altering views on sexuality, gender and reproduction. But like the banker, they find themselves having to deal with one persistent opponent over and over: God and his Christian followers aren’t buying into the hype. In fact, like the old man, they refuse to sell out. God has chosen to use human believers to be his representatives in this conflict, but he is there, guiding us. That is where the trouble starts. Historically, we humans don’t always listen to God’s instructions or follow them precisely. This causes major problems. For instance, some who claim to believe, allow gay pastors to lead their churches even though this obviously puts them in conflict with the Scriptural teachings that say homosexuality is a sin (Leviticus 18:22) Others ignore the issues of homosexuality or abortion, pretending it’s not their job to comment or warn others about their sins. Ezekiel 33:8-9 says it is certainly the job of God’s people to warn people when they are travelling wrong morally. And also, the Bible clearly commands Christians to spread the whole Gospel (Matthew 28:19-20). Then there are those who refuse to preach or teach about these issues, leaving their members in the dark about what God requires. Why do so many of us react like this? One reason is that many of us believers don’t realize that Christianity is a rescue mission. When we warn others about sin, we are not judging them, we are warning them so that they can turn from their sin—as we had to do—and accept Jesus as savior and lord so that they can be saved. We believers don’t want to see anyone go to hell. Unfortunately, the world misinterprets this as our judging others. They call our words “hate speech”. In reality, they are words of love, because they came from God and because they seek to warn people about a danger they cannot see. Those in the LGBT Community and abortionists make the same mistake as some people who claim Christ, yet disobey his commands. They ignore God’s words or only partially accept them because their focus in not on God. It’s on themselves. The Bible teaches that we should have no other gods except God. When we put ourselves first, we become our own idol. That means God can only be number two at best. Such an attitude separates us from God. Partial obedience is just plain old disobedience. A world in which God is not number one in the hearts of the people is its own hell. Without God, we are left to our own wisdom and that leads to chaos. The Bible teaches that those who die without repenting for sin are not saved—meaning they are going to hell. Misleading people about the truth then has eternally tragic consequences.
The real danger of the LGBT Movement and the Abortion Movement is that because these movements are not led by God, and don’t listen to him, they lack Godly wisdom. This leads to vile thinking and wrongful acts. Some recent news illustrates this. The BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) has reported that Tennessee’s Governor Bill Lee “has signed laws banning drag performances in front of children and restricting medical treatment for transgender youth.” The story goes on to report that LGBT groups are opposing the transgender legislation and battling it. The article adds that drag performances at libraries, which usually involve drag queens reading storybooks to children, have been opposed by religious groups and parents. But LGBT groups “say the events are age-appropriate and educate children about being different.” You don’t need to be a Christian to see that drag queens reading to little children is detestable. About the same time that that story broke, National Public Radio reported that 88 district attorneys in the country have said they will not prosecute abortion. Politicians on the right are working on legislation to make them enforce the law. They maintain basically that these D. A’s are demonstrating bias. Hard to argue with that since they are saying in advance what they’ll do.
The Bible says, “Woe to those who call evil good.” When we refuse to call evil what God calls evil, we end up with a society that cannot discern good from evil. In such a miserable world, not even children are safe.
What can we do? First, we must realize that God does not lose battles. Therefore, opposing him is a losing proposition no matter how many people sign up to fight him. God is a majority all by himself. He controls all things and administers justice (2 Peter 2:6-9). Besides that, he is always correct and all the good in the world comes from him. James 1:17 says, “All good things come from God.” What is there to oppose?
Secondly, we need to realize that we are all called to be in a relationship with God. The Devil, the enemy of mankind wants to prevent this. So, he tempts us to do things that will prevent us from committing to God. Third, we must fully surrender to God’s authority and resist the temptation to try to wiggle out of our calling to be in relationship with him. We can only do these things if we love God. Those of us who claim Christ must recognize his authority. Christ is our lord, not just our savior. He bought us with his blood when he died for our sins (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). That means, we are obliged to do what he says. And not indulge in sin. Yes, God is love. But love can easily be confused with permissiveness. Some who claim to be Christians, toss out the Bible’s teachings when they learn that a child or loved one is gay. They wrongly believe they must accept homosexuality in order to accept their child. But we can love a person who drinks and not endorse his alcoholism, right? Christian values are transferable. We must teach our children so they can resist the devil. Sexuality and reproduction should not be taught in school or by people who oppose God’s values. Sexuality and reproduction should be taught by the church and reinforced at home by parents. If a school or teacher or any non-Christian tries to pervert a child’s views on sex, that person should be resisted with the same vigor we would apply if the person was attempting to sexually abuse them. Because in reality, that person is. Teaching ungodly sexual habits to children is a treacherous form of spiritual and sexual child abuse.
When it’s time to talk to children about the sexual facts of life and reproduction, it’s prayerful parents who should do the talking. Not the LGBT. Not the abortionists. Because it’s dangerous to allow anyone who does not have a relationship with God to influence your child. Or for that matter, to influence you.
“Woe to those who call evil good.”—Isaiah 5:20
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.”—Genesis 1:1 (a reminder that God is creator and controller of all things.)
“Male and female, he created them.” –Genesis 1:27 (God only determines gender. The sex you were born with is the one you will die with. Regardless of surgeries.)
