A Politically Correct Jesus?

This post originally published at www.modernchristianliving.com   Bill Petite

The secular society in which we live is determined to force its agendas on everyone, regardless of personal beliefs. There is a demand in this world that calls for everybody and everything to be politically correct. As Christians, we need to resist these demands; it doesn't matter if it comes from family, friends or co-workers. Jesus has called us to speak for Him, not the world and its ideas. This world system would have us to recognize all forms of religion as being acceptable and paths to heaven, paradise or whatever hereafter you prefer. This secular, politically correct system would not have us be critical of those religions which are not in sync with ours or the one each individual practices. If we, as Christians, attempt to share our faith with anyone, we are seen as forcing it on them, demanding they accept our way of life and our religion. (News flash: Christianity is not a religion, it is a relationship! Our God is alive!! A person cannot have a healthy, active relationship with a dead person or a fictitious god.) I'm sure there are Christians who are too forward or somewhat demanding in their witness, but I believe for the most part Christians practice a style of witnessing which Jesus directed us to use. Don't be forceful, tell them about Jesus, give the person time to consider and do it in love. Don't demand that people be saved. Allow the Holy Spirit to warm the heart of the person and if they choose to decline, we don't begin to force it on them or ridicule them or threaten them with eternity in hell (although this is the result of their refusal to accept Jesus, there will be a time to explain hell). These are the ideas of the secular society; they see Christians as forcing our belief in Christ on the world. That is not being politically correct. We are refusing to fall into line with the rest of the world and worship all the human aspects of this world. Well, that is mostly right; we will not or should not play their politically correct game of life but not for the reasons they believe. The world believes the Bible is just a document which was written by some men; well, that is true but they were inspired by God to write the words He wanted written. That is where they draw the line; they firmly believe this book was the work solely of men and there was no input from any god or from God. They insist we accept this and stop with all the fairy tales. The politically correct way of speaking about the Bible is to accept it as a book that teaches one of many religions in our world today and it should not have any more special recognition than the book of mormon or the koran (lower case intentional).  Jesus claimed to be the only way to God the Father and the secular world calls us narrow minded bigots for believing it.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.    Jn.  14:6   NKJV     www.biblegateway.com

This is definitely not a politically correct statement. After the September 11 attacks in 2001, Franklin Graham had this to say about Islam,

Franklin Graham told Greta Van Susteren tonight, "What I said after 9-11 was that Islam is wicked and evil. I don't believe Mohammad can lead anybody to God."     http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04rpb0iVFmU

Wow! Franklin, that is not politically correct and I'm not sure, but I think that cost you a trip to the White House. I remember when he made this statement and the secular world was in an uproar. He actually called Islam evil! This is a great example of speaking the truth for the one and only true God, Jesus Christ! No, it is not politically correct but, it is the truth. We are living in what is often referred to as a postmodern world. Here is one definition,

"In essence, postmodernism is based on the position that reality is not mirrored in human understanding of it, but is rather constructed as the mind tries to understand its own personal reality."       http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/gengloss/postm-body.html

Well, what is truth? According to this philosophy, it is what you want it to be or what you think it is. Hence, the Bible is not the true word of God because it is not believed to be so by many in the politically correct, secular society of our current time. One last thought here, a lot of people are in for a big surprise if they don't accept the truth of who Jesus really is!

In 1985, a group of people established what is known as the Jesus Seminar. This group set out to rewrite, or should I say edit, the words of Jesus. They used a voting system based on different color beads to determine which passages or words of Jesus were actually true, according to them. When they finished, approximately 80% of the words of Jesus were removed from the gospels. Well, I guess if your religion doesn't meet your agenda, you simply change it. The word of God warns us about adding to and subtracting from His word,

You shall not add to the word which I command you, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God which I command you.   Dt. 4:2   NKJV

and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part from the Book of Life, from the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book.   Rev. 22:19  NKJV

Both of these verses are very straight forward warnings; but again, the secular world doesn't believe this fairy tale stuff from the Bible. To them it is just some hocus-pocus stuff that only we superstitious, narrow minded Christians are afraid of. The secular world is more concerned with being politically correct than of offending God.

A Politically Correct Church

Some parts of the Church today have fallen right into step with the politically correct secular world system; they don't want to teach on certain topics because it might offend someone and they really don't want to offend anyone. Some of the old Main Line denominations have moved so far into the world they are hard to be recognized as a legitimate church. You will never hear a convicting message or sermon from one of these churches; they don't want to offend so you will never be convicted by what they might say when someone is in the pulpit speaking. You will never hear them teach that homosexuality is a sin like adultery is a sin. Actually, you will probably never hear them speak against adultery. They won't speak against homosexuality because they have ordained homosexuals and allowed them into ministry. The Episcopal church ordained V Gene Robinson who is openly gay and it tore that denomination apart worldwide; the Presbyterian USA has followed in the same manner and is experiencing the same results. The secular society can't express their respect for these organizations enough. Openly gay leadership in the Church is comparable to allowing the inmates to run the prison. I know there are, right now, people who are screaming at comments like this; maybe some are reading this and freaking out, thinking what a narrow minded bigot I am. No, I'm not a bigot and I don't hate gay people and I'm not homophobic! (Those who are Gay and practice that lifestyle are people, just like everyone else. They are not freaks and should not be treated any different than anybody else we might know. They need to know about Jesus as much as anyone else who is living in the flesh and allowing the sin nature to run their lives) I am not politically correct nor will I cater to this politically correct society. I will say what is true, the real truth, not relative truth. Again, there are those in the Church who will not even discuss this topic and risk offending someone. Jesus spent a lot of His time in discussion with the religious leaders of that time and He refused to surrender to their religious ideology. This is very evident in the four gospels. Jesus set the ultimate example for us and we need to follow it. Will the world hate us? Or, better yet, does the world hate us?

“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you.  Jn. 15:18-19  NKJV

Jesus knew the world would never agree with His teachings and the doctrines of His word. The secular society lives for themselves and is interested in promoting, pleasuring and satisfying themselves. So, it is only natural they would hate us since our belief and practice of Christianity stands firmly opposite of their ideologies and ways of life. So, as long as we keep teaching that the homosexual lifestyle is a sin, the politically correct secular society will continue to paint the Church and Christianity as a barbaric ignorant, bigoted group. The last report I heard on the approval of Gay marriage in this country, a poll stated that 50% of the people in the US agrees with gay marriage. That is half of the people in this country! The Church, or those parts of the Church which believe the truth of the Bible, is at odds with a lot of people if this poll is accurate.

So, it is time for Christians to take their stance against these topics which are considered areas too controversial to speak out about. How many Christians have had the opportunity to speak out about gay marriage and what the Bible says and have neglected to do so? How many Christians have had the opportunity to speak out against abortion and have failed to do so? This politically correct world will have us all agree with them on these topics and far too many Christians are yielding to their demands. At work, at the park, at the store or where ever we might have our belief challenged concerning these hot topics, we must stand our ground and defend the faith in these areas. Don't be intimidated by the secular world and their harsh words or their relative truth.

Speaking of abortion, the world will tell you it is a woman's right to decide if she should kill her baby or not. Think about this; a woman has the right, in this country, to decide to have an abortion, or kill the fetus. It is legal according to the Supreme Court’s decision. I can't kill the baby; if, when my wife was pregnant with one of our children, I decided I didn't want any more children and put a knife in her and killed the baby, I would have been arrested for murder, the murder of the baby. I would deserve to be arrested for the murder of the baby; the woman who has the fetus, a human being, killed by the abortion process is not guilty of murder because she has a right to do with her body what she wants to. But, the fetus is not her body! She has committed murder and it is legal. How crazy has our world become? It is not politically correct to speak out against this because if you do, you are considered a racist and a woman hater. I'm sure most people have heard the story of Tim Tebow's mom being encouraged to abort him because of complications with her health. Being a Christian, she refused; there are many stories and testimonies out there of people who survived and were not aborted when the mother either considered it or the process was started. If you are reading this and you think this is more radical, crazy Christian foolishness, go to an ultra-sound and listen to the heart beat of the baby in the womb. If you can walk away, unmoved by this, then you might qualify as one who could commit the murder of a baby. This has changed many people's minds about abortion; years ago, I worked with a young man who didn't see anything wrong with abortion. His wife was pregnant and they were not considering abortion but when he went in with her for the ultra-sound, he was a firm believer of life in the womb. He came to work and told me he knew then he was wrong and realized the baby was a life in the womb and abortion would be murder.

The Church needs to take its stance against the politically correct, secular world; it needs to be firmly grounded in the word of God. Christians need to be ready all the time to defend the faith in these controversial areas; make a stance and don't be intimidated by the politically correct society. Again, Jesus set the example for us and he has given us the Holy Spirit and He will fight our battles and give us the words to say (Mt. 10:19). We do not serve a politically correct Jesus, we serve Jesus, the God of the universe and creator of everything. He is our savior and He will, one day, return and take us out of this politically correct world!