Laws of Nature?

The recent religious liberty legislation in Indiana has produced an outcry of discrimination against sexual orientation.  Yet since the sexual revolution of the sixties we have seen a downward slide in traditional values in our country.  What was once abnormal is now described as normal and moral values have changed as man’s capabilities and technology have changed.  

But why is the sexual orientation argument being described as discrimination and not as a moral issue?  If it is unjust to discriminate on the basis of sexual orientation, isn’t that a moral judgment of something right and wrong?  From what value system is sexual orientation determined to be true or false, or true today but not true a few decades ago?  The debate about this discrimination is really about a new morality.

Those who promote religious liberty also see sexual orientation as a moral issue, and that it is our religious right to be moral.  Religious liberty is a hallmark of our country based upon truths that are, "self evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights,” as we know from the Declaration of Independence.  The right to the freedom of religion is an unalienable right, yet the civil rights of sexual orientation have developed just recently in our culture.

Religious freedom lies at the core of what America stands for as all other liberties come from this unalienable right.  This liberty is based upon “the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God” that also is in our Declaration, which means that our laws should not be founded upon the preferences or tyrannies of men.  All true liberty is based upon truths that are from the laws of nature and nature's God.  In our contemporary culture there are many laws however that have departed from these laws and have established a precedent of preference instead of rights endowed by our Creator.

We’ve come a long way since the eighteenth century and there is an equivocation being made today from our technical progress to a moral progressiveness.  But the self evident truth and the laws of nature do not change by the opinions or progress of people.  Our religious freedom is directly tied to unchanging truths and when these principles are rejected then all our freedoms will be lost.  There is no real progress without the foundational laws of nature and nature's God which do not change.

Remarkably there is even a growing demand for the acceptance of sexual orientation despite self evident truth and the laws of nature.  Have we lost all common sense as a culture?  For even the human anatomy reveals that male and female are created by design for each other.  And if heterosexuality is not moral then what is morality?  The sexual orientation argument fails in its fundamental reasoning as it has no foundation in natural law.  Even more, the sexually progressive cannot defend their practices from any lasting truth principles as they seek to normalize a new morality.

Departing from the primary truths that our nation was founded upon severs us from all our American justice and even the very foundation of civilized society.  We must distinguish the difference then between being equal in essence and in practice, and between morality and discrimination.  We need to clarify the essence of all our liberty by upholding the laws of nature and nature's God and the unalienable rights endowed by our Creator.  Otherwise we will have no self evident truth or natural law for which a defense can be made from the preferences and tyranny of men.

As we remember Easter Sunday this week let's remember that Christians also have truth from the Scriptures that we trust and depend upon.  This is the truth of the grace of Christ that can change our hearts and forgive our sin as we put our trust in him.  It's also a truth that does not change with the shifting winds of the doctrines in culture.  Let's proclaim this grace in Christ so as to respect the humanity of all people and the need we all have for grace.

Spiritual Leadership

Possibly one of the most pragmatic and necessary elements for any organization, business or family is good leadership.  And when it comes to a Christian church or institution it is Spiritual leadership.  Good Christian leadership is an expression of wisdom for those in faith and a witness to the secular world.  Every organization needs effective leadership to thrive and when Christians exhibit sound mind leadership based upon truth principles they display the wisdom of Christ.

Truth and wisdom are not always in vogue however, but they never are out of use.  Through my experience I've seen different leadership examples in families, schools, the military, businesses, and in the church.  It each of these I've seen people lead by personality, persuasion or power, and sometimes principles.  But in all organizations there is confusion, disillusionment, inefficiency and distrust when leadership is either ineffective or incompetent.  Yet we find clarity, vision, and order when there is clear leadership in place.  We all need guidance to live by and for the Christian there's no better place to find it than in God's Word.  In God's Book there is light, truth and wisdom that also gives us Spiritual leadership.

The book of Proverbs is wisdom literature filled with truth principles that were true over three thousand years ago and still true today.  For instance, Proverbs 29:18 describes, "Where there is no vision, the people are unrestrained, but happy is he who keeps the law."  A good leader will have a vision for his plans, and a Christian leader will have a vision from God's Word.  The vision binds people to a cause and a purpose greater than themselves.  In the KJV it reads, "Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he."  The vision is directly related to the life of any institution, and when the vision is lost, the life is gone.  Families, militaries, businesses and churches all die when they depart from their vision in truth principles.

In Deuteronomy 28:1, Moses teaches us, "And if you faithfully obey the voice of the LORD your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the LORD your God will set you high above all the nations on the earth."  The voice of the LORD is from Scripture, He is teaching us all the time with lessons given to those who have preceded us.  We must be careful to obey the commandments of the LORD even as we know we live before Him in grace, for these are his eternal principles that are given to us to have life.

Moses clarifies to us the importance of these teachings in Deuteronomy 30:19-20, "I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; that you may love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days..."  Moses ties his leadership for the people to the commandments of God and then the commandments to life itself.  The commandments are from God and "He is your life and the length of your days."  Without the truth of God and his commandments we lack vision, wisdom and even life itself.  He is our life and He communicates to us this truth in Scripture.

There are also numerous places in the New Testament that offer truth and wisdom in living out the Christian life.  In Colossians 3:1 Paul exhorts us to look to God and not to the world.  "If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God.  Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth."  And in Col 3:16, Paul exhorts us, "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."  The vibrant Christian life is clearly Scripture centered as we are told to "seek those things which are above ... and let the word of Christ dwell in you richly."  It is from Scripture that we find truth and wisdom, and it is sufficient to know the will of God for leadership and in all of life.

We must be aware however of the world we live in to discern its affect on our thinking.  One test of truth is to ask if our decisions are consistent with Scripture.  Also are we seeking change just for the sake of being progressive with our culture?  In another way, we should ask if a decision is what our parents or forefathers would do.  Is something in violation with common sense truth principles?  If certain practices are useful for businesses are they also true for the church?  Is there sufficient reason from the texts of Scripture to lead in a certain direction?

The subtle changes of our culture in this fast paced world are normalizing new moralities in an equivocation with the changes of technology.  But, God doesn't change.  And if truth principles do change, how could we know what is true?  If truth itself is always changing, how would we know what is right and wrong, and who would get to decide what is moral?  We must not just ask what is pragmatic but what is true and consistent with God's Word.  Our modern culture is degenerating from a lack of vision for God and his truth.  It is confused, chaotic, immoral and dysfunctional.  But the Christian church should be full of life from the truth and wisdom of the Lord.

We all need a vision to live by and Spiritual leadership needs the vision of Christ and his truth principles through His Word.  Christians must be focused on Scripture in our thinking and in all our leadership decisions.  We are called in Deuteronomy 30 to "Love the LORD your God, that you may obey His voice ... for He is your life."  His commandments bring life not death.  And from Colossians 3 we are called to "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom."  For Christ is the source of truth and wisdom and He is alive forevermore.  We must be filled therefore with His Word to have truth and wisdom and to exercise Spiritual leadership.