PETE BUTTIGIEG AND THE BIBLE

Democratic contender, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, calls himself a Christian, but continues to disparage the faith of those who take the Bible seriously. In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, he expressed his disdain for some of the Scriptures’ teachings on sexuality:

·       “I think for a lot of us — certainly for me — any encounter with Scripture includes some process of sorting out what connects you with the God versus what simply tells you about the morals of the times when it was written, right? For example, the proposition that you should execute your sister by stoning if she commits adultery. I don’t believe that that was right once upon a time, and then the New Testament came and it was gone. I believe it was always wrong, but it was considered right once, and that found its way into Scripture.” https://townhall.com/columnists/michaelbrown/2019/11/21/mayor-pete-sits-in-judgment-of-god-n2556882

While Buttigieg might esteem some of the moral teachings of the Scriptures, he clearly doesn’t esteem all of them. Instead, implicit in his judgment is the assumption that he knows better than the Scriptures to decide which are moral and which are not. Instead of allowing the Scriptures to judge him and his chosen lifestyle, he has decided to judge the Scriptures.

However, this is in direct contrast with Jesus who never spoke a word in judgment of the Scriptures. Instead, He always defined our lives in terms of our fidelity to the Scriptures, in His case, the Hebrew Scriptures. After He had been told that His biological mother and brothers had come to see Him:

·       …He answered them, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and do it.” (Luke 8:21 ESV)

When a woman had called His mother “blessed” for having borne Him:

·       But he said, “Blessed rather are those who hear the word of God and keep it!” (Luke 11:28 )

According to Jesus, blessedness was not a matter of picking-and-choosing which verses conformed to one’s thinking, but of keeping the Word in its entirety. When tempted by the devil:

·       [Jesus] answered, “It is written, “‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4, quoting Deuteronomy 8:3)

Jesus consistently endorsed the entirety of the Hebrew Scriptures:

·       “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished.” (Matthew 5:17-18)

Jesus never dismissed a single verse because it failed to complement His lifestyle or the changing times, as Buttigieg does. However, he often brought out their spiritual significance, which surpassed its OT physical application. For example, adultery was not just a matter of a physical transgression. Instead, it started in the heart and mind:

·       “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” (Matthew 5:27-28)

And how much more should this pertain to same-sex lusting (Romans 1:26-27)! Meanwhile, Buttigieg calls Christians who voted for Pres. Trump “hypocrites,” allegedly because they violate the Scriptures. However, he doesn’t seem to realize his charge also applies to him and the practice of homosexuality.

About His parable of the “Seeds and the Soils,” Jesus concluded that our response to the entire Word of God was the pathway to blessing:

·       “As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Matthew 13:23)

This was the only hope of blessedness that Jesus taught – hearing and understanding the Word (an act that suggested faithfulness to the Word). Jesus never rebelled against a single Word of God by suggesting that it might be mistaken. Instead, He confessed:

·       “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 5:30)

This had also been the consistent message of the Hebrew Scriptures. Our blessedness and faithfulness to God was a matter of obeying all of God’s laws:

·       “The whole commandment that I command you today, you shall be careful to do, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land that the LORD swore to give to your fathers.” (Deuteronomy 8:1)

Jesus also prayed, “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17). Unlike Buttigieg, Jesus consistently submitted to the Words of God.

To call ourselves “Christians” suggests that we are trying to conform ourselves to Him in every way. While we might differ with one another in our interpretations of Jesus’ words, we are still united in our attempt to place Jesus and His teachings before all else in our lives (Matthew 6:33), and this makes all the difference.