reconcile_01

We have been studying through the book of Second Corinthians. However, we are going to deviate from that for the next three Sundays, beginning today, and have what we might call a little mini-series. The title of this series is "Reconcile."

To move from what we were just talking about—honoring and thanking our moms—to what I am now going to discuss might seem woefully out of place. However, because of current events this past week, there has been a lot of talk and many questions. I have even received a number of questions via email regarding the church and some statements our president made this last week about marriage. There have been questions about how we, as the church, should respond to that and how we interact in our culture today concerning some of the things we see happening.

While I don't often talk about politics—by choice—I recognize that when we gather together as a large group, there is a divided and mixed multitude. Some consider themselves more on the right and conservative, while others consider themselves more on the left and liberal, and that's perfectly fine. However, on this issue, there is so much discussion and debate, and it really does pertain to the church. When we talk about marriage, we are discussing a religious institution. Therefore, when the state and the public start to talk about this, it does involve the church. I believe there is a time when we should say something about that.

As we start, I want to read from an article I wrote for a blog I contribute to called Cross Connection Network. This article was posted on February 7th of this year. At that time, you may remember that the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals made a decision on Prop 8, which passed here in California in 2008. There has been a lot of discussion about it, and I had written this piece. I just want to read from it. One of the hot political topics over the last several years has been the issue of marriage.

As it relates to the LGBT or homosexual community, the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals' decision today, along with 2012 being a major election year, indicates that we will certainly hear a lot of rhetoric surrounding this topic once again. This has become a major rallying point for many in the conservative community, especially within the influential evangelical movement in America, of which we are a part here as an evangelical church.

The standard position among evangelical Christians has been one against the redefining of marriage. Thus, many conservatives have funded campaigns to legally define marriage as being between a man and a woman. At the outset, I want to make it clear that I believe and agree with the conservative position on this issue. This is a theological issue. God ordained marriage as being between a man and a woman. Every culture has a basic framework for this family relationship because every culture grew out of God's initial creation, as described in the book of Genesis.

The question I seek to tackle here is how we, the church, ought to engage in this discussion as we move forward in the 21st century. This is a divisive issue. As a result of the divisiveness, it is used, like abortion and immigration, as a political weapon in campaigns to pit groups against one another to influence votes. Other than division, very little ever results from the political campaign rhetoric.

This debate has shifted, and although some battles have been won on the conservative side, the momentum has begun to slide to the other side. The phraseology of the debate has changed, similar to the debate over abortion, where conservatives are now deemed anti-abortion, while the other side is labeled pro-choice. Likewise, a slight wording change has shifted the discussion over marriage. The discourse has moved from that of marriage to civil rights. We are now perceived as the anti-rights group, while they are seen as pro-rights.

As a result, the generation called millennials, those born between 1980 and 2000, are now moving into voting age and will be the largest voting demographic in America for the next generation. They are overwhelmingly pro-gay marriage. Therefore, it stands to reason that in the next 20 years, we will see the legalization of homosexual marriage in America, as well as the legalization of marijuana.

This presents us, the church, with an incredibly difficult situation, or is it actually an opportunity? I believe there is a better way in which we can turn the discussion around while maintaining a footing from which the church can speak into our culture for the years to come.

I do not know a single American who does not love his or her civil liberties. That being the case, we should agree with the LGBT community that they should not be denied civil liberties in any way. This is not a religious issue; it's constitutional. We are quick to cry foul when we think our rights are being infringed upon, but not so quick to do so when the rights of others are endangered. We must be consistent in our position. Therefore, we ought to be pro-rights in this area as well.

The question is, how can we be pro-rights while maintaining a biblical position? Yes, we believe that homosexual behavior is sin, and we make that very clear. We do not think that the institution of marriage can be redefined, for it is ordained and defined by God. Therefore, since marriage is a religious institution and the public sector of our nation desires to maintain a separation of church and state, we, the church, ought to petition our government to remove itself from the discussion entirely.

Instead of continuing to provide marriage licenses, the government should grant civil unions only. They would determine who receives such unions and the rights associated with them. As a side note, the government needs to clarify who should receive such rights, as we are quickly moving into a direction where we have no ability to draw the line between who receives rights and who does not. In such cases, we would have no ground from which to say that polygamists, pedophiles, and incestuous unions could not be valid.

If the church would spearhead this move, we would carry the discussion in a whole new direction. Marriage would maintain its religious definition as a God-ordained union between a man and a woman. Churches would continue to perform marriages under God's ordained institution while requiring those being married to also receive a legal civil union through the state. Then, we would no longer be portrayed as those taking rights from those seeking them.

Additionally, I think such a move by the church would bring to light that many within the LGBT community have a deeper motivation than the legal redefinition of marriage.

This is, by the way, not an original idea. Harvard Law Professor Alan Dershowitz wrote on the subject in the LA Times op-ed in December of 2003, which I link to in the article. I realize that what I've said there shakes some people. I completely understand that there are some who will not agree with my statements in that article.

However, we need to recognize that marriage is a religious institution, and the state should probably get out of the marriage business. The state shouldn't even be involved in this discussion. It has become a political weapon used to pit groups against each other. We recognize that we are living in a time where it makes sense for politicians to have groups divided against each other. We are living in very interesting times, aren't we?

In times such as these, the church, the body of Christ, must recognize that it is our call, as we've been seeing in 2 Corinthians, to be ambassadors of Christ and to bring people into connection with God by way of the cross. That is why we are called Cross Connection. Our desire is to bring all people, sinners—we're all sinners—into connection with God through the cross, amen? Even homosexual sinners. We need to recognize that God has called us to engage the homosexual community to see them come to salvation.

How many of you were sinners when you got saved? We need to recognize that we don't come to God perfect, nor are any of us perfect as we sit here this morning.

Now, the question came to me several weeks ago. On Sunday nights, we have a Q&A time at the end of the service. People can text their questions in, and then we answer them at the end of the service. One of the questions that came in was about whether homosexuality is a born trait or if it is genetic. At that point, I answered the question like this: science has found no genetic markers to say that homosexuality is genetic. I don't think that they will find any, but even if they did, it doesn't diminish the issue at all.

I believe it is still considered sin before God because every single one of us here was born a sinner. We were all born with the inclination to sin. If science found a genetic marker for alcoholism and said, "Hey, alcoholism is genetic. I just can't help myself; I've genetically got this marker," does that make it any less sinful? If someone comes and says, "Well, you just don't understand my genetic makeup. I'm an adulterer because genetically," we would all go, "Come on, it's still sin."

So whether a person is born with the inclination to sin or not doesn't matter. Some people may say that ever since their earliest memories, they have felt an attraction to someone of the same sex. However, whether one feels this attraction or not does not make the behavior any less sinful. It is still considered sin before God.

We are ambassadors of Christ, and we are not here to be sin inspectors or sin categorizers. Although the Bible does not categorize certain sins as worse than others, the church has done so. We know from the Bible that this is not true; all sin is sin, and all sin is judged by God.

Several weeks ago, we read in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. You may want to turn there now. If you don't have a Bible, you can raise your hand, and one of our ushers would love to bring you one. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, the Apostle Paul says, "Therefore, if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature. Old things are passed away; behold, all things have become new."

All things are of God, who has reconciled us to Himself by Jesus Christ and has given to us the ministry of reconciliation. God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them, and has committed unto us the word of reconciliation.

Now, then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did beg you, plead with you, and beseech you by us. We pray you in Christ's stead: be reconciled to God. For He has made Him to be sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.

From this passage, we see several important points. First, we were all sinners who needed to be made righteous. None of us came to God as righteous, but Jesus, there on the cross, He who knew no sin...

Became sin for us to make it so that we sinners could be righteous as God calls us to Himself through the reconciling power of the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ.

So, church, we can never forget that this is our task. We are ambassadors of Christ. We are saved by grace through faith, not by anything that we have done. We are saved because of the grace of God, the power of God, and the work of Jesus Christ. All sinners need salvation; that is their deepest need. We need to recognize that need. Jesus is the only one who knew no sin. It is because of His sinlessness that He could be the perfect sacrifice for us, making a way for us to be restored to God and brought near to Him.

He has committed to every single one of us—not just the pastors of the church, not just those who actually preach the word—but every single Christian has been given the ministry of reconciliation. So, when you are at your job, whether on a construction site, for the city, or at a school, wherever you are, you are an ambassador of Jesus Christ. You may be employed by some employer who pays you to be there to do a job, but at the end of the day, you are a light of Jesus Christ. We are representatives of the gospel of God and the kingdom of heaven. We are in this world to bring good news, the good news of God's grace and love to sinners, and we can never forget that we are sinners as well.

Turn from Second Corinthians to First Corinthians chapter six. First Corinthians six, nine. The Apostle Paul here says, "Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor abusers of themselves with mankind, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners shall inherit the kingdom of God."

It is true: homosexual behavior is sin. So is heterosexual sex outside of the confines of marriage, adultery, theft, drunkenness, covetousness, and all the like.

The list could go on and on, and it does. We don't need to focus on every kind of sin that exists in humanity. Just turn on the TV, and you'll see it all as entertainment. There is a lot of sin in the world, and that's why Christ came to die.

From this passage, we recognize that people who live in habitual, unrepentant practice of these sins will not inherit the kingdom of God. That's what Scripture says; that's what God-inspired Scripture tells us.

Look at the next verse, verse 11. "And such were some of you." But, love that three-letter word, "but." You are washed, you are sanctified, you are justified—not by your good works, but in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. And such were some of you.

We certainly don't need a show of hands, but every one of us was somewhere on that list prior to the work of Christ in reconciling and redeeming us to Himself. Every one of us. If you're not on that list, I can show you a dozen other lists in the Bible that will identify you as a sinner. We're all sinners.

Paul says in Second Corinthians 5:17, "If anyone is in Christ, they are a new creature. Old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new." How many of you are thankful for that today? How many of you are thankful that God transforms sinners? Paul said, "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief."

The only way that we, as ambassadors of Christ, will be able to reach a lost and dying world with the gospel of Jesus Christ is first to recognize that we are sinners ourselves, whom Christ died to save. We must acknowledge that He died to save us. The reality is that many within the church have categorized sin in ways that can be misleading.

Certain sins are viewed in our culture today as being worse than others. The Bible does talk about homosexuality, but it doesn't exalt homosexuality as the worst possible sin. It discusses it in lists, like we see in 1 Corinthians chapter 6, just like any other sin.

Do you realize that homosexuality was far more rampant in the first-century Roman world than it is in the 21st-century American world? In fact, I did some research several years ago for another paper I was writing on the history of homosexuality, and I don't encourage you to search that on Google because it's frightening. If you go back and look at some of the history of homosexual behavior, you find that in the Greek and Roman world, young boys were attached to someone who was going to mentor them. Part of the mentor relationship between young boys and their mentor involved a homosexual pedophilia kind of relationship, which was seen as a good thing in the Greek world.

Now, there are some people in our culture today who are pushing for that, and it is an indication of the wickedness and fallenness of humanity. We live in a fallen world, and we shouldn't be shocked by the fallenness of it. The reality is that when we get together in rooms like this, filled with Christians who believe the same text that we believe, and we talk about the same things, watch the same news channels, and listen to the same AM radio talk shows, we can become shocked when we interact with someone who doesn't think the way we do. We might think, "Oh my goodness, you're a freak!"

But the truth is, we live in a sinful, fallen world. Anyone who works in a corporate environment or anywhere else recognizes the fallenness of humanity. You see it in the things your coworkers joke about and in the shocking things they post on Facebook. We all recognize the fallenness of humanity, and humanity needs salvation. We are those given the ministry of reconciliation. The world in which we live is yearning for love. They are desperately seeking acceptance and genuine, loving relationships. Why does humanity seek this?

Humanity desperately seeks connection because they are created in the image of God. In Genesis chapter 2, God created man in His image. This does not mean that God looks like us; that would be scary. What it means is that He created us like Him in nature. We know from the Scriptures that God is triune, which means three persons in one: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

God did not create us because He was lonely and needed friends to hang out with. He created us because He is creative; He is a creator. Just like an artist is compelled to produce art, God, in the same way, is compelled by His nature to create. He did not create us because He needed us. In God, there is community—a genuine, loving community. He created us with the desire for that connection as well.

This is evidenced by God's first negative statement in the Bible, found in Genesis chapter 2, verse 18. After creating man, He looked at all His creation, and seven times in the first chapter of the Bible, He declares, "It is good." However, in chapter 2, He identifies something that is not good: "It is not good that man should be alone." This is not an indication of some sort of evil or wickedness in God's creation; rather, it highlights an incompleteness in it.

God, beholding His creation, already knows this and wants to reveal it to man. How does He do that? In a cool way, God causes all the animals to pass by Adam, and Adam names them. He goes through the lion and the lioness, and he names all these different animals. After a while, he realizes that there is nothing comparable to him. The closest thing is a gorilla, and he does not want a gorilla.

Adam recognizes his need for community. God created us with this need, and so He meets that need. How does He do that? He causes a deep sleep to come upon Adam and takes from his side—many translations say a rib—and from that, He forms woman. He brings Eve, the first woman, to him, and the two are joined to become one.

That's God's ordained order. He created marriage and presided over the first joining of two as one. Humanity desires this. Not only does humanity desire that oneness relationship with another human being, but there is a yearning within man for a oneness relationship with their Creator, God. Adam and Eve, before Genesis chapter three, had that. There was a oneness relationship between Adam and Eve, and there was a oneness relationship between God and man.

What destroys that oneness relationship? Sin. Turn in your Bibles to Genesis chapter three. Genesis is the first book of the Bible. You can turn later like you're an authority on Scripture; it's awesome. Genesis three begins with, "Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made." He said unto the woman, "Has God said you shall not eat of every tree in the garden?"

The woman said unto the serpent, "We may eat of the fruit of the trees, all the fruit of the trees in the garden, but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said you shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die." The serpent said unto the woman, "You shall not surely die." Now, death means separation. For God does know that in the day you eat thereof, your eyes shall be opened, and you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.

When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, that it was pleasant to the eyes, and that the tree was desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit and ate. She also gave to her husband, and he did eat. The eyes of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked. There was now shame. Previously, they were in each other's presence, naked and unashamed.

Sin brings separation. Now, the two that were made one have something that has entered in between them. They knew that they were naked, and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves aprons. They were trying to fix this problem of separation. Adam is constantly trying to find ways to fix the problem of separation that sin causes. They heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam...

And his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord among the trees of the garden. They had separated themselves from God because of their sin. There was already a disconnect between them and God. The Lord God called unto Adam and said, "Where are you?"

Now, there is a separation of the oneness between God and man. Sin causes separation: separation of human connection and separation of God from man. Adam said, "I heard your voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself." God asked, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree whereof I commanded you that you should not eat?"

Adam responded, "The woman—it's just like us, isn't it? It comes by so naturally, doesn't it? Ethan, what did you do? It was Addison, you know, instant." He continued, "The woman that you gave me, she is the problem. She did give me of the tree, and I did eat."

The Lord God then said to the woman, "What is this that you have done?" The woman replied, "The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat." The Lord God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, you are cursed above all cattle and above every beast of the field. Upon your belly you shall go, and dust shall you eat all the days of your life. I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. It shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel."

The curse is given here in the remaining part of Genesis chapter three, but we see very clearly that God created man with a desire to be in a oneness relationship with God and also with another human being. God created an order wherein that can take place: the order of marriage.

However, sin enters in, and sin brings separation. It separates humanity from one another and from God. We know this is true; Isaiah 59:2 says, "Your sins have separated you from your God." This is the human condition: we are isolated.

Separated because of iniquity, separated because of sin. Because of sin, every human relationship is tainted, and none of them completely satisfy. Even the heterosexual marriage relationship does not completely satisfy that inner longing for soul-to-soul connection. How do we know that's true? We see the rampant nature of divorce, don't we? If you're looking to your spouse to satisfy that need, you're looking in the wrong place. This is what the world around us is experiencing.

All of us are sinful—heterosexuals and homosexuals alike. We are all sinful. Because humanity is seeking satisfaction and fulfillment in those unions apart from salvation, they will never satisfy. There is only one work that unites people together as one. Look at this: the future of our series here. We are one only in one place—in Christ. He has broken down the middle wall of partition and made us one.

The only place that humanity can find true, genuine oneness in relationships, apart from the separating issues of sin, is within the body of Christ. The only way that man can have that relationship, that oneness relationship with God restored, is through the person and work of Jesus Christ. As Christians, we have what the whole world is actually longing for: true community with one another and true communion with God. This is what everyone outside these doors, who does not know that, is actually looking for.

All the person-to-person relationships that are forming are attempts to satisfy a need that can never be fulfilled by those things. Consequently, we have a very sad world—a world filled with sorrow.

This thought is planted there, I believe, by the enemy: that this is going to do it. This is going to satisfy. They try that, but it doesn't satisfy. So they have to go a little bit further, a little bit farther down the road until they're in complete and total bondage and not satisfied. This is the human condition. This is what we are set into.

This is why God did not take us out of the world. This is why He wants us here, so that we can experience and exhibit Christ-honoring community with one another and with God to this world. Yet, we have a way of setting up all these different barriers to try and keep people from experiencing that community, when in reality, we are ambassadors of Christ to bring them into connection with the reconciling power of God. We are ministers of reconciliation.

We live in a crazy world. Let me tell you, if you're freaked out now, it's going to get a lot worse. This is not a Christ-honoring world. This is not the Kingdom of God. But the Kingdom of God is in the midst of this world through the body of Christ, and we are to take that into this world. Greater is He who is in us than he who is in this world.

We need to recognize that we are going to come in contact with people who don't live like us, don't talk like us, don't think like us, and don't act like us. And that's okay. We have a different culture, don't we? I just love that Jeff is here. I keep looking over and thinking of all these things about culture that keep popping into my mind. We are of a different culture; we are citizens of heaven, as the book of Philippians says.

We have a totally different worldview, a totally different way in which we contextualize everything around us. We are cross-cultural ambassadors, thrust into a world that, even though you grew up here and were born here, may never feel just right. It's not supposed to feel just right. If you ever get to a point where this world feels like everything is just right, then you're in danger.

But we are to go into this world and find ways to connect people with the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is what heals the stain of sin. That is what reunites humanity with one another and reunites man with God. That is what man, at his deepest core, is longing for. Heterosexual people think that they're going to find it in a relationship. Homosexual individuals think they're going to find it in a relationship. They won't find it.

And they get deeper into bondage, deeper into sorrow. We see the realities of this in our nation, which spends more on antidepressant and anti-anxiety medication than any other nation in the world—multiplied times more than any other nation. Our culture knows this to be true. We sing songs like "I can't get no satisfaction." That's good philosophy; it's true. Fast forward a number of years, 20 years from that, and you've got "I still haven't found what I'm looking for." You would think we would recognize the reality that there is no satisfaction in these things in this world.

We have the ministry of reconciliation. We have what all humanity genuinely desires at the deepest level, and we just need to look for opportunities to share that with them. I received an invitation—I was talking to one of our elders about this last Sunday—from a family friend who is having an engagement party for his homosexual partner. I asked a few friends what they would do, and our initial reaction was, "I wouldn't go to that; I can't, it would be approving of it."

But wait a minute; think for a moment. How many unbelieving heterosexual couples do we go to their engagement parties or weddings? They have been living together or have had children out of wedlock, and we support it in some way. Why? We're hoping that, in some way, we can be a light of Christ. We hope to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of God there.

Is there any difference between the heterosexual couple that has had children out of wedlock and is now getting married, for which we attend their wedding, and the homosexual couple that is living together and is now asking us to go to their engagement party? There is, I'll be honest; there is an instant reaction in us to say, "I can't go to that." But I thought, yes, we would go. Why? Because Christ loves Chad, and God wants to bring him to the knowledge of the truth.

That's why. Does it mean that we are saying that homosexual behavior is not sin? No, we still say it's sin, in the same way that we say heterosexual sinful behavior is sin, and in the same way that we say drunkenness is sin.

But church, we're ambassadors of Christ. We're going to be until the day we stand before Him in the kingdom of heaven. We're going to feel out of place. We're going to have our culture stepped on. We're going to find that our nation is going to change its cultural direction. It already has, but we're still going to need to be lights in a dark world.

We have the one thing that satisfies. We have the salve, the balm that cures the stain of sin. We have the cure for sorrow and depression in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We're ambassadors with the ministry of reconciliation. Amen?

Let's stand and pray. Father, I ask that You, by Your Spirit, would minister to our hearts, as I know for certain that I've said some things today that challenge us at a cultural level. I'm sure that I'm going to receive correspondence on this, and I'm thankful for that.

But God, as we prepare to step outside these doors and as we interact with people who don't think like we do, don't talk or live like we do, Lord, help us to be bright shining lights of Your grace and Your love. Jesus, when You came, we beheld Your glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth. These two are met together in You, grace and truth. God, help us to speak with grace seasoned with salt when we interact with people who...

We are living in a lifestyle that does not work with your command and your word. Help us to remember that each of us came out of lifestyles that were not honoring to you. You saved us, cleansed us, and justified us. Because of what you have done through the shedding of your own blood, we can have fellowship with one another and with you.

Lord, help us to engage our culture this week. We ask this in your precious name. Amen.