STANDING FOR THE TRUTH

Oliver Thomas is a retired American Baptist minister whose priorities are quite unbiblical. For him, success is more important than truth. He has written:

·       Churches will continue hemorrhaging members and money at an alarming rate until we muster the courage to face the truth: We got it wrong on gays and lesbians. This shouldn’t alarm or surprise us. We have learned some things that the ancients — including Moses and Paul — simply did not know. Not even Jesus, who was fully human and therefore limited to what first century humans knew, could know about cancer, schizophrenia, atomic energy and a million other things the centuries have taught us. (USA Today)

There are things that are more important than church-growth and revenues. Integrity is one of them. In order to pastor a Christian church, a pastor has to be able to pass along the teachings of Jesus. Admittedly, I never heard a single sermon of Thomas. I don’t know what he has taught. However, he claims that he knows better than Jesus, enough to correct Him about a number of things.

Thomas also doesn’t seem to understand that a real Christian is more concerned about pleasing God than man and running a “successful church.” For the Christian, honoring God (Matthew 22:37) is more important than producing numbers.

At least Thomas indirectly acknowledges that a Biblical case cannot be made in favor of homosexuality. Instead, he counsels us to disbelieve and disregard the Bible:

·       It’s difficult to watch good people (and the churches are full of them) buy into the sincere but misguided notion that being a faithful Christian means accepting everything the Bible teaches...The time has come for Christians to take a deep breath and ask themselves, “What does loving my neighbor — and my enemy — as myself look like?” And then proceed accordingly.

Instead of the Bible, Thomas counsels that love has to be our guide, but what does it mean to love? Should love just indulge or must love also counsel our neighbor against having an extra-marital affair or shooting up heroin?

Should love extend to the terminally ill the false hope that he will live foe another 20 years or the truth with tears of compassion? Should love tell the homosexual that God approves of his lifestyle, when Scripture doesn’t whisper the slightest encouragement? This is people-pleasing disguised as love.

Instead, Thomas insists that we should align with the progressive societal trends and then to switch back as society does so. However, if the Church had been full of Thomases, there would never have been a Church. Instead, the Apostles Jesus stood against their Thomases in the ruling Sanhedrin and bravely declared:

·       “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4:19-20)

We can only do likewise!