About Those "Gray Areas" in Life...

[NOTE TO READERS: I have not been successful at getting my blog posts to separate by paragraphs. If anyone has suggestions and can help me solve this, please do! I apologize for the appearance of these posts because it does make it a bit more difficult to read.]


My post today will probably make more sense if you go to Kyle Williams blog and read, "Blogging continues".

http://kewilliams.blogspot.com/

If you don't want to go to the blog, below, is the portion that I was responding to:

(article quote) "If evangelicals hope to influence Washington and the world, they need to show they understand that life doesn't come in only black and white. It includes wide swaths of gray, and it takes wisdom to make your way through the gray matter." (end of quote)

The question is, why are there gray areas in life and society as we know it in the first place? What are the "legitimate" gray areas (if, in fact, there are any) and which ones are illegitimate? Jesus asks us all the question, "Who do you say that I am?" Is there any gray area allowed within our answer? Skeptics will say yes, because of the misused word of "tolerance" towards other religions (as if they genuinely care?) and relativistic beliefs brought about by man. But what answer will God accept? THAT should be what is considered in this matter, NOT what relativistic, secular humanism might wish to add, subtract or dictate.

The fact that Christianity Today is drifting towards a more liberal stance isn't comforting to me. It is an indication of how heresy and apostasy can creep into a church's doctrine. This can, unfortunately, occur when pastors, ministers, church leaders and members take their eyes off of Jesus and place them on worldly "answers" and desires. Christians are not immune to incorrect ideology creeping into our churches. We are warned about the 'why', 'how', and 'when' such things are likely to occur in Jude and Revelation. And guess what? They are happening BIG TIME, right now. Jesus told us that God's Word is Truth. Period. There is no gray area there, Kyle. It is man who wishes to create those gray areas and make them "acceptable." You are just 16 so I pray that you will continue to study and learn from the Bible so that you will not be overtly influenced by liberal secular humanism and led astray from the Absolute Truth God's Word contains.

Next, I read Kyle's recent article on WND and responded to the end of that article.

Your column on WND ended with this paragraph: (Kyle's quote) "The question is this: When the homosexuals stop marrying one another, when the government stops being corrupt, when babies have stopped being aborted, when terrorists stop killing people, when America stops policing the world, when the Constitution is a respected legal document, when the crisis of education has been solved, and when the conservatives take over Hollywood, all these problems will have been fixed – but what have we truly gained when we still face the sting of death?" (end of quote)

My answer? As a born-again, evangelical Christian I would say that we are to be a positive influence upon our culture. We shouldn't just sit back and let liberal ideology run amok in this country. Jesus said, "If you love me, keep my Commandments." Yes. We need to share the Gospel and pray that all may come to repentance and the saving grace of Christ through faith. But then we are to do more! How do we keep the commandments of God alive and well in our nation unless we fight the ideologies that set themselves against them? No. We will most likely never keep all homosexuals from what they wish to self-describe as "marrying". But we can perhaps help them realize their need for repentance by leading them, one soul at a time, to come to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. Our government will never be perfect. No government is or can be. But there are governments that are far better than others and the U.S. qualifies.

Neither will any church ever be perfect, for that matter. But we can strive towards holiness by being obedient to Jesus Christ and his teachings. Part of such obedience is adherence to God's Word, sharing it and encouraging others around us to do the same.We will probably never stop all abortions. But what about the women who may have wanted to abort but didn't because a Christian friend influenced them to keep her baby? Or, give birth for the purpose of adoption? One baby, one soul at a time, can be spared from abortion. Case in point. My daughter's friend has an older sister who ended up with an unplanned pregnancy. She kept the baby despite the fact that the boy who impregnated her didn't want to be in either of their lives. The baby is now 6 mos. old and my daughter said to me just yesterday (paraphrased here), "What if Sally (changed name) took that step and aborted James (changed name)? We wouldn't have the joy of his little life in our lives."

Words of wisdom from a 17 yr. old.

Since this is getting long, I will skip to the "sting of death" comment.1 Corinthians 15:53-58 (NLT)53 For our perishable earthly bodies must be transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die.54 When this happens-when our perishable earthly bodies have been transformed into heavenly bodies that will never die-then at last the Scriptures will come true:"Death is swallowed up in victory.*55 O death, where is your victory?O death, where is your sting?"*56 For sin is the sting that results in death, and the law gives sin its power. 57 How we thank God, who gives us victory over sin and death through Jesus Christ our Lord!58 So, my dear brothers and sisters, be strong and steady, always enthusiastic about the Lord's work, for you know that nothing you do for the Lord is ever useless.

Footnotes:

1 Corinthians 15:54 (see Isaiah 25:8 )

1 Corinthians 15:55 (see Hosea 13:14)