It's Not About the Culture, but the Bible:

Straight AheadWe live in a society that generally finds virtue in being moderate, middle-of-the-road. Sometimes, that's acceptable. When it comes to issues of right and wrong, however, being "down the middle" isn't good enough. Too often, those of us who are Christians have chosen to substitute loyalty to an institution for loyalty to the Church Universal, to Christ, to the Word of God. One example is the issue of homosexuality wich is now causing such a stir in most mainline Protestant denominations. As I have been pointing out, my own denomination, the Presbyterian Church, (USA), has recently given congregations and regional governing bodies more leeway in the ordination of practicing and self-acknowledged gay and lesbian persons to the offices of deacon, elder, and ministers of the Word and Sacrament. Yet, when we look closely at Bible passages such as Romans 1:26-32, 1 Timothy 1:8-11, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and other passages in the Old and New Testament, we have to ask ourselves what possible biblical warrant could there be for changing our understanding of this practice and lifting our prohibition against gay and lesbian officers in the church. We hear people say that the Bible should be interpreted differently, or that it should be viewed in the context of the culture in which it was written. Some are even bold enough to suggest that we need to go "beyond the Bible" for daily direction in matters of faith and practice. Would these people prefer that our modern secular culture set the standards for daily living in matters of morality? It ultimately comes down to our view of Scripture. I believe that the Bible is the Word of God. As a ministerial colleague has said, "Is it more likely that the church has been wrong for two thousand years on the issues of biblical morality, or that those who have emerged in the last generation with a new approach are perhaps seeking to revise the laws of God for their own purposes? Sometimes, going "down the middle" is not possible when matters of moral principles and eternal truth are at stake. This is the last entry I will make for a while dealing largely with the matter of homosexuality; but remember that the principles I've laid out here and in previous entries do not just apply to homosexuality, but to the whole range of Christian truth concerning biblical morality and the Christian life. If we lose sight of our spiritual integrity, our responsibility to behave in a godly manner, our need to uphold biblical standards, and our commitment to speak and write for biblical principles, then we have compromised our Christian faith and witness to the point where it will be barely distinguishable from the lifestyle of the secular culture which surrounds us.