Taking the bait

It is disheartening... watching Christians take the bait again and again – raging against the results of sin instead – instead of focusing their energy on healing the sinner. I understand the temptation. The headlines impact my family professionally as well as personally. However, this week, I am finding myself significantly less upset about bathroom confusion than I am with the idea of gender confusion.

Am I worried about safety? Sure. Am I weary of gender neutrality and moral relativism? Without a doubt. Am I angry that our religious freedoms are being threatened daily? Of course!! But our strategy in these battles are not only exhausting, they have been ineffective.

We will not win this fight in our courtrooms or by boycotting corporations. We may get a voice – but I am not sure the voices are communicating the message God wants us to spread. We will not win hearts and minds through righteous indignation or through fears based on hypothetical atrocities.
However, that is also not to say that we do nothing. We just must employ the weapons God has given us for His purpose, not for ours.

First, God has given us the power of prayer. I will be the first to admit that prayer often feels inadequate. I prefer to have control and usually want immediate answers. God doesn’t work that way. Folks, we may not see His answer in our lifetime! Remember the Hebrews lost an entire generation for their lack of faith. Until we focus on eternity rather than making America our Promise Land, we will likely keep wandering.

Secondly, God has given us the Holy Spirit to help spread His Gospel. Again, it is much easier for me to construct a political argument for today’s issues than to defend my position Biblically. That is because I am often inadequately prepared to stand boldly for Christ. It is hard work to study the Bible regularly and memorize Scripture. But, we must if we are to be effective. Not only will we accurately represent God’s position, we can avoid the mire of personal opinions and character assignations. His Word has saving power that can lead to transformational results in people.

So, back to the issue….

I am not surprised where we are today. We have destroyed the definition of “life” and “marriage.” Why is “gender” suddenly the most offensive topic? Bathrooms? Are we really going to have a spiritual dialogue on that level?

  God carved out physical beings to be different for unique purposes. He also created our inner beings with identities, not to align to a gender, but to align with Him. Satan will never run out of tactics to use God’s creation against him; to rebel against his design and purpose. It is a human tragedy that so many have been robbed of their self-worth, lied to, and led astray. We are talking about people going through their lives completely LOST.

Why are people confused? Because Satan is the Author of Confusion! We have failed our children in this country because we have denied them from knowing their Maker and understanding his design. They have not learned that their identity and their worth is found in Christ alone. We have not taught them to resist sin, but have coddled them in their confusion.

Each of us must do what our conscience dictates. But ultimately, we cannot continue to expect non-Christians to be accountable for our values, we need to do battle with Satan ourselves.