07 Oct Kids & Politics
I remember approximately 33 years ago when I was in college at the University of Tennessee. One of my assigned roommates was a writer for the school newspaper and was on a polar opposite side of my political spectrum. One afternoon, my roommate and I got into a political discussion. The discussion quickly spiraled downward into a very heated argument which ended with me picking up my roommate and slamming him into the wall (please forgive me…this was approximately one year before I had given my life to Jesus)!
As you know, there are two things that can really get our dander up…our kids and politics. You had better not talk negatively about either or it can become pretty uncomfortable! Well, please rest easy as we are not going to be talking about either one, but we are going to be addressing some current events in light of timeless biblical truths.
Recently our President became the first American President to voice his support for homosexual marriage and he cited his Christianity and scripture to validate his position. What I’m about to share with you has absolutely zero to do with politics or a candidate, but everything to do with biblical principle. Please allow me to share with you:
5 Outstanding Objectives to Current Event Opinions:
1. Jesus clearly defined marriage (Matt. 19:1-9, Gen. 2:21-24).
Here the Bible tells us, “And it came to pass, that when Jesus had finished these sayings, he departed from Galilee, and came into the coasts of Judea beyond Jordan: And great multitudes followed him; and he healed them there. The Pharisees also came unto him, tempting him, and saying unto him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife for every cause? And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder. They say unto him, Why did Moses then command to give a writing of divorcement, and to put her away? He saith unto them, Moses because of the hardness of your hearts suffered you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery” (Matt. 19:1-9)
Jesus was of course referring back to how God originally created the family unit in Genesis 2 and 3. If I could briefly summarize Genesis 2 and 3, I would do it this way:
- Adam’s rib
- Devil’s fib
- Women’s lib
Fast forward to today and it carries into dating where men are looking for “Mrs. Right.” In marriage, we find out Mrs. Right’s first name is “always”!
Seriously, from Genesis to Revelation there has been a primary definition of marriage that can be summarized by the following:
- God separated feminine out of masculine
- They were given a desire to be one again
- They publicly leave their parents
- They are permanently united in heterosexual marriage
- They are sealed by sex
- From Genesis to Revelation there is no other God-approved union
In essence:
- What sex is to be…between a man and a woman
- When sex is to be…between a married man and a woman
In doing so, Jesus Christ clearly defined what marriage was and is, and therefore it was not necessary to go through a litany of what marriage wasn’t and isn’t!
I remember many years ago at World Changers Bible Institute, we discovered that a few students were completing their homework from the day before in their first period classes. When we discovered this, we communicated to the students that they were not supposed to be doing this as they were supposed to be focused on their class. Shortly after we explained this we found a student who, I believe, was balancing her checkbook. We were incredulous as we just had explained that students were supposed to be focusing in on their class!
When confronted, the student lamented, “All you told me was that I was supposed to focus on my class and not do my homework! You never told me I wasn’t supposed to balance my checkbook!” Of course not! We also didn’t tell her she wasn’t supposed to juggle with cats or work on a nuclear device during class! Because we clearly defined that our WCBI students were not to do homework and to focus in class, we didn’t feel it was necessary to go into a litany of thousands of other things they were not supposed to do!
Jesus did the same thing…because He clearly defined what marriage was, He didn’t find it necessary to give a list of things that marriage wasn’t!
Next week, we’ll continue our series!