Upholding Righteousness Without Legalism

I love the way our kids’ school dances have calling cards (so everyone participates and no one gets to choose his/her dance partner) and dance callers for dances ranging from the waltz to the Virginia Reel and choreographed line dancing which keeps movements relatively controlled since there is no freestyle dancing. however, these dances can turn into high impact aerobic workouts with girls spinning, lunging, and jumping in a way that could expose far too much if the girls are not dressed appropriately.

A large number of pictures from our school’s recent dance were shared publicly on social media, so to further support the modesty principle, I asked my daughter if she was comfortable with her future coaches, college administrators, and even employers seeing those photos. 

She replied, "But Mom, I had one of the most modest dresses here." (And she did with spandex running shorts underneath as well.)  

What if she had worn a less modest dress like some of the other students?  Would she still be comfortable with those photos being published publicly to social media?

She knows she should be setting her standard based on God’s word alone, and I am pleased with most of her choices, but don’t most people of all ages consider what others are wearing or doing when evaluating their own choices to some extent? While most of us realize our culture’s standard is already in the toilet, I’ve noticed Christian schools and churches lowering their standards as well. If this continues, soon Christian organizations and churches will look no different from the world at all.

Romans 12:2

Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

Mathematically speaking, if the population set has sunk to rock bottom, all zeros, then the average, maximum, and minimum of zero are all still zero. At that point it would not matter if someone was the most modest at school, church, or workplace. She would still be outside of God's standard. And this of course is not just about modesty. It's about morality, character, integrity, virtue.

I realize that schools and churches want to avoid legalism, just as Jesus spent more time rebuking the Pharisees than anyone else while loving and ministering to the vilest of sinners. But we do not rid our churches and communities of legalism by lowering standards, removing rules, or failing to enforce the laws. We root out legalism the way Christ did, by training the heart and by loving unconditionally. Christ did not abolish the law. He fulfilled the law and then made a way to transform our hearts. The law exposes our hearts and our need for Christ. Upholding Biblical standards in Christian communities is protective and good.  In a school or church, these rules or guidelines help expose the heart, revealing our need for Christ and areas that need to be surrendered to Him. They open up opportunities for heart training. Then as Christ does His sanctifying work in our hearts, we find great freedom as sin strongholds no longer controls us, all thanks to Christ's work on our behalf. 

Are we as parents, teachers, and/or role-models, focused only on the rules in a legalistic way, are we compromising our standards at the other extreme such that anything goes, or are we training the hearts of upcoming generations with love and biblical truth? 

If we are lowering our standards to please men, we are not honoring God.

Galatians 1:10

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.

Mere Biology or Created in God's Image

In the book, Where the Crawdads Sing, Kya, abandoned and orphaned at a very early age and left alone away from humanity to survive in a shack along the swampy marsh, learns about life from observing nature. She has no parents, guardians, or mentors to introduce her to Christ and the Gospel or to teach her infinite value as a sacred human created in God's image with a perfect and eternal purpose. She watches a firefly trick her prey by sending the mating signal of her prey's species to attract him. When her prey comes to mate with her, she eats him, piece by piece. Kya then notes that there is no room for judgment in biology for "evil was not in play here, just life pulsating on and on." Delia Owens writes, "Biology sees right and wrong as the same color in different light."  

Without God as the foundation of a person's worldview, humans are viewed as no more than mere biology who operate out of innate instinct without a soul. Moral relativism is the moral code of a godless universe. It removes a context for judgment by pretending that humankind is nothing more than a biological phenomenon. It removes love, compassion, emotions, reason, artistic expression, intellectual thought, innovation, relationships, meaning and purpose from our lives and leaves us empty and worthless. Even if we could remove God and His justice from His creation, is it really worth giving up all that to allay some guilt and to try to do life our own way without Him? There would be no civilized world or society at all without some moral code to guide, instruct, and unite. Yet, a society without judgment (though this godless worldview still tends to harshly judge and punish those who reflect the Creator) is uplifted in our culture as the supreme virtue.

So, when you hear people praising that which is evil and labeling that which is good as evil, remember the firefly. When "professionals" insist that mankind cannot control their sexual desires ask yourself if rape, incest, human trafficking, pedophilia, child prostitution, polyamory, and all other forms of sexual depravity are just the natural order of things as life pulsates on and on. 

When pro-abortion advocates say life in the womb has no value and should be destroyed when convenient, gaze into the face of an innocent newborn and marvel at God's handiwork or talk to families waiting to adopt a child to love. If there is any love or tenderness for that child at all, that love comes from our heavenly Father. (1 John 4:7) If a woman's body naturally sacrifices itself to put her unborn child's needs before her own throughout the pregnancy, is it really natural or morally neutral to rip that child apart, limb by limb, as the child grimaces in pain so as to seemingly make the woman's life more convenient?

As social justice warriors protest and lament what they call a violation of human rights, consider that biology promises no rights at all. Inalienable rights are given by God, so if we remove God from the equation, we lose those rights and become nothing more than a firefly, each person fighting for his or her own survival without regarding the impact our actions have upon others.

Do we really want a world without God, without love, without moral virtue? Do we want a life with no self control, no boundaries, no goodness, justice, or compassion? What is humanity without a soul? What is life without relationship? Who are we without God?

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,who put darkness for light and light for darkness,who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" - Isaiah 5:20

You tell me I cannot love and insist that I hate you, but do we even know what love is?

Dear Whomever It May Concern:

Trigger Warning: What follows may not be politically correct.

You tell me I hate you because I do not agree with you on every issue or approve of everything you do. Yet, I love my husband and my kids more than my own life, and I can promise you we don't always agree or approve of everything each of us says or does. Do you agree with your parents, spouse, and/or kids on everything? If not, do you hate them?

You say I do not love you if I do not celebrate and endorse all of your behaviors and choices, even if those choices are destructive and could get you or someone else killed.

A brief period of wrong choices took a dear friend's life. He died of AIDS in his early 20s, but thankfully, he repented, choosing Christ as Lord for the rest of his short life on earth and forever in eternity. What if loving friends/family had not shared truth with him and supported him as he turned from his dangerous behaviors and come back to Christ before it was too late? Do you honestly believe those friends and family members who spoke truth into his life, stood by him in his illness, and strengthened his faith did not love him? I dare say they loved him unconditionally, sacrificially, and completely as Christ loves His church, but they never approved of the behaviors that brought about his fatal illness.

One stranger's wrong choice to drink and drive took my best friend's daughter's life and nearly took hers as well. That accident also took almost everything her family owned, but their faith in God held them strong and steady. If you were the drunk driver's close friend, which would you have done to show your love to her: 

1. Buy her drinks and get wasted with her, so neither of you are sober enough to get behind a wheel or to stop the other from driving
2. Ignore her drinking problem so as not to offend her.
3. Warn her, encourage her, support her, and go with her to AA meetings?

Which action could have prevented the fatal accident?

Countless marriages and families we all know have been ripped apart because of a series of wrong choices followed by an unwillingness to repent ( ie, stop the adulterous behavior and turn one's heart back to the Lord and to one's spouse). Would a true friend give high fives and encourage continued infidelity or speak truth to the adulterer, warning him/her of the dangers ahead, and encouraging the friend to fight like crazy to save the marriage?

The examples go on and on....

We don't have to agree on everything, but it would certainly help if most people could at least agree on what love truly is. Since God has told us and shown us that He is love, I look to Him for the definition of love. The only way we can truly love others is to know and experience the love of God. We can love others rightly only because He first loved us. If love was simply accepting someone's lifestyle, no matter how wrong or harmful it may be, then Jesus never would have suffered in agony on the cross in our place to redeem us and to free us from those hurtful strongholds. God's love is unconditional, sacrificial, tough when needed, but full of mercy and grace with the long term greatest good in mind. God's love frees and draws us closer to Him. Acceptance of that which is unholy only enslaves us and separates us from God's presence and power in our lives. Thankfully, we are not defined by our choices, good or bad. We are defined by God who made us in His image and paid the ultimate price for us.

If I pretend or decide to agree with you so you'll be my friend, I'm only being selfish. If I risk a valuable friendship out of concern for your life and your soul, then have I not loved sacrificially? Why do yo still insist that I hate you?  Yes, my words and actions must be seasoned with gentleness and grace, but if the motive of the heart is only the best interests of the other without thinking of oneself at all, is that not love? (Philippians 2:4)

If you say I cannot love you unless I celebrate your sinful choices and mine, then aren't you really saying God can't love you or me? Instead of celebrating our sins, Christ agonized on the cross to defeat the death those sins bring, and He mercifully said, "Go and sin no more!"

If you say I must hate you if I don't agree with you, then are you not saying you hate God, and God hates you? What a blasphemous thought, for God loved you so much He gave His only son to save you. But that is exactly what the world's way of thinking suggests.  In those areas of our lives which God has forbidden for our greatest good, we will never agree with him as long as we still cling to those worldly desires instead of clinging to Him.

The more we receive His love and truth, however, the more we will begin to reflect His love and the more we will desire what He desires. I want to agree with Him on everything, for He is perfectly holy, all powerful, all knowing, always present, eternally loving and good. Who dares shake a fist at God, refusing to agree with Him? We may not understand His ways at times, for His thoughts are higher than our thoughts and beyond our full comprehension, but He has given us every reason to trust Him. Does a speck of clay on a potter's wheel resist the potter, insisting that he knows better than the potter what is good for him?  He has no idea just how beautiful he could become in the good potter's hand.  We just have to trust Him.

Why We Must Be Diligent in Discerning the Truth in a World Filled with Lies

Astute people often ask, "How do I know if what I'm reading on the news or in a nonfiction text is true?" (Whereas, fools will believe anything, without concern over whether it is true or false, to their own great detriment).   (Proverbs 14:8, Proverbs 17:24, Deuteronomy 32:28-29)

I often remind myself to pray for God's discernment first and then fact check everything before assuming it as true. In so doing, I have determined approximate reporting error rates for each of the following:

• Politicians: Usually unreliable; better to ignore most of what they say but pay close attention to what they do and to who they listen to most

• Mainstream Media: Even more unreliable; false reporting evidenced on a near daily basis

• WikiLeaks: Has not been proven wrong in over 11 years (though people have been murdered for supposedly leaking this accurate information illegally)

• The Bible: Has never been proven inaccurate even though the first histories were written ~3460 years ago with the collective work written over a period of 1400 to 1800 years by more than 40 different authors, all of whom were inspired by the Holy Spirit 

So if we want to know and live according to the truth, we must stop spending so much time blindly consuming and obsessing over media lies and fill our minds with God's word which is Truth (John 17:17). Inviting His Spirit into our lives by first accepting Christ as Savior & Lord is the first step (Romans 10:10).  Then we must spend time in prayer and reading His word, and He will help us discern the truth from the lies.

As long as the mainstream media profits from publishing hyped up hit pieces, violence, and vulgarities, by sowing hatred, sexuality, immorality, anger, and deception, and by stealing readers' purity of thought, peace, and joy, they will continue to deceive, divide and destroy us.

It is long past time that we all take a media sabbatical. STOP reading, clicking on, subscribing to, sharing, commenting on, and buying all that is false and profane. If enough readers demand the truth in a way that hurts their bottom line, we could see a return to more accurate reporting.

⁸ Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. ⁹ Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you

How serious is the influence of the lies dominating our culture? Why does it matter if we believe the truth or the lies?   It matters because what these liars spin will entangle and could eventually destroy those who feed exclusively on it.  At a minimum, they will waste their lives, consumed with anger. These deceivers will trap their victims into a web of sin and bitterness.

 To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. ³² Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”

³³ They answered him, “We are Abraham’s descendants and have never been slaves of anyone. How can you say that we shall be set free?”
³⁴ Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin. ³⁵ Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever. ³⁶ So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.
(John 8:31-36)

Deceivers will teach their prey to manipulate others by calling themselves the victim, when the truth is that the only one pursuing them as his victims is the devil, the father of lies.

Liars will steal our love and peace and fill us with hatred and fear.

They will keep us from moving forward and doing good for humanity by paralyzing us with feelings of being perpetually offended.

They will replace our desire to build, nurture, create, and contribute to the greater common good with a desire to protest, shout obscenities, shatter Starbucks' windows, detonate bombs in the streets or in the White House, and even tempt some to murder our nation's heroes dressed in blue.

They will destroy our ability to think rationally and to respectfully discuss different ideas in a thoughtful and mutually beneficial way. Instead, they will train us to silence dissent with false, harsh name-calling, herd bullying, and pronouncements of judgment with relentless witch-hunts on all who dare defend a contrary position.

They will kill our God given courage, valor, and respect for all human life, and bury whatever is left of us in a "safe" space.

Those who are white, male, or heterosexual, identify in gender as their biological sex, posses U.S. citizenship by birth or legal immigration, work for a living without receiving entitlements, or heaven forbid, are labeled by combination or all of the above willreceive a scarlet letter.  This label will condemn them to a life of self-hatred, self-deprecation, broken relationships, abandonment of familial duties, paranoia, and condemnation by their segment of society.

These haters of the truth will teach their followers to to call what is evil "good" and what is good, "evil".

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. (Isaiah 5:20)

They will lead others away from God's amazing grace and light and down the path of darkness, which leads to judgment. (Revelation 22:15, John 14:6).

Beware of those who consistently and intentionally devise evil and deception, for such are sons of the devil who holds not to the truth, for there is no truth in him (John 8:44). Their father is the enemy of our souls who seeks only to deceive, kill, steal, and destroy. (John 10:10) For those who choose the world's lies over God's truth, deceiving themselves, will find that the destruction they wrought will return fully on themselves. (Revelation 20)

However, those who stand firm in the truth will be saved from judgment and death and enjoy victorious LIFE forever in the presence of the Lord God almighty, who is the embodiment of goodness, truth, love, grace, and righteousness. (Matthew 10:22, Ephesians 6:14, 1 Corinthians 6:13, Luke 21:19)

"²⁵ They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen....

²⁸ Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. ²⁹ They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, ³⁰ slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; ³¹ they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. ³² Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them."  (Romans 1: 24-32)