The Real Issue

I have posted about the intolerance that has been shown towards Chick-fil-A by the homosexual community and the liberal media. It has been disgusting and intolerant of them. Love everyone, they say, and then they paint hate slogans on Chick-fil-A stores. Accept every one's point of view, they cry and then decry the fact that the CEO of Chick-fil-A has a different point of view on marriage. What upsets me even more is the fact that mainstream media is buying into this intolerance. This isn't the first time but it sure does make it a glaring fact. What Dan Cathy said about marriage was actually Pres. Obama's view until a few months ago. Did they tear him apart for standing on traditional marriage? Of course not. but let Dan Cathy say it, or any other Christian (and I seriously doubt the religiosity of our country's leader) say they support traditional marriage and it is a crime, a hate crime and the company needs to be boycotted because of it.

But that isn't really why I am writing today. As I have thought about this issue, I have wondered about what the "real issue" might be. And the only thing that I have come up with is this: "Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man." (Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV) The real issue is that we, sinful men and women, do not want to follow the Lord in our lives. We want to do what we want to do and if someone tells us that we are wrong, we get upset and go on the attack. We attack those who point out our sin. We attack the institutions that point out our sin. We attack the One who made all the rules.

Why is it that Christians are under attack? It is because Christians are standing up for what God teaches in His Word. (Those churches that don't make a stand or don't accept the Word of God, give in to the ways of the world, give in and accept sinful actions, making them acceptable and no longer sinful.) To stand for what is true - God's Word - is a hateful thing to do in today's world. You will be accused of being unloving, hateful, uncaring, and downright wrong if you stand for the truth of God's Word.

The goal of life is to live for God. (Before you say, "But no one can do that," let me state, that is why God sent His only Son into this world - to be the Savior of all mankind, to pay the price for the fact that all are sinners and cannot live the perfect life.) As children of God, we live in Christ. That means that we believe that God saved us, totally and completely, without our help or our merit playing a part in that salvation. Because of this salvation that we are given, we live our lives as children of God, doing as He would have us do, living as He would have us live, avoiding what He would have us avoid, and basically, bearing the fruit of faith in our lives. When we fail, we ask for forgiveness and strength to live as He would have us live. When we do live correctly for a short time (and it is always a short time) we give all glory to God for guiding us with the power of Word and Sacrament.

Having said all of that, we come back to the fact that to fear the Lord and keep His commandments is the duty of man. That is how we are to live. And sinful men and women, boys and girls, don't want to do it. They want to do as they want to do - even if it is blatantly wrong as in the case of homosexual behavior. (Understand this, it is just as wrong for heterosexuals to engage in sexual activity outside of marriage.)So when someone makes a statement that flies in the face of sinful behavior, intolerance is going to follow.

This intolerance is only going to get worse. The world we live in is intolerant of Jesus Christ and the message of the Gospel. It is intolerant of God's Word being God's Word - inspired and inerrant, the only source of guidance for life. Mark my words, things are not going to get better. They are going to get worse. It will become harder and harder to remain a Christian. But that shouldn't surprise you - for those aren't really my words. Jesus said the same thing in Matthew 23. Dan Cathy and Chick-fil-A is just one of many that will bear the brunt of the wrath of sinful mankind. All we can say is, "Come, Lord Jesus!"