Christians and "Wedge Issues"
Abortion. Gays. Drugs. Evolution. Janet Jackson's nipple. Basically anything that gets Pat Robertson's panties in a twist.
As a Christian I have a huge problem with these issues . . . not so much the issues themselves, but their presentation, and the tendency of other members of my faith to get worked into some kind of frenzy over them. I'll get into the specifics of how I personally feel about a variety of issues in later posts. This is more of a general overview of how I think a believer in Christ should approach any issue in which the world feels strongly opposed to our point of view.
Its a person's God-Given right to be wrong
I strongly believe in the principle of free will. Without free will there would be no sin because we'd all be robots. God wouldn't have people that truly loved him, we'd be programmed to do so. Therefore, when someone tries to impose their will on another human (even with good intentions), I believe its sinful.
For Christians its easy to fall into this trap and I think its because its easier to make things illegal than it is to change hearts. Let's take the nipple incident as an example (mostly because I don't think a flabby boob is worth a whole other post). Okay, so some people find Janet's boob to be offensive. That's fine and that's their right and I'll even conceed that its their right to lobby for laws againts such things. The problem is that laws then impose their viewpoint on everyone, whereas simply changing the channel ... or better yet, turning off the TV are perfectly legitimate options.
Imposing a viewpoint is a sign of weak faith
How about a better example. Say I believe its wrong to eat beef jerky on Tuesdays. So I see other people eating beef jerky on Tuesday and that offends me. So I write my congress critter about it, set up a blog, get people to support my position. Eventually a law is written, no one can buy, sell or eat beef jerky on Tuesdays. Now, the world is safe from a sin. No one can have beef jerky on Tuesday! But wait, what if someone saves some from Monday. We must ration the jerky! So we pass some more laws that say that if I buy jerky I can't buy more than a few ounces and I have to eat it in the presence of a liscensed jerky dealer. But that doesn't stop people from making jerky at home! So we pass another round of laws, ad infintum ...
It all sounds completely ridiculous, but its exactly what we Christians have tended to do when it comes to things that offend us. It begs the question, why are we trying to protect ourselves from the world? We have Christ, who is all the protection we need? And secondly, why aren't we trying to change people's minds instead of just blanketly making up their minds for them. I know as a person that loves me some jerky ... I'm going to be pissed!
Imposing viewpoints to not change people's minds (i.e. you get more flies with honey than with vinegar)
Christians have to learn to love (see Matthew 7). Christians cannot expect a people to conform to Christ's standard when they have no knowledge of it (and when we can't conform ourselves). It is our job to lead people to Christ and let Christ work in people to bring them to his standard. We're never going to get anywhere by ranting against these issues, instead we must learn to ignore them and instead tell people about Christ and why he should be followed and loved. An us vs them attitude is unhealthy and is not what Christ had in mind. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) doesn't say "Go into all the world and tell people that teh gay is bad". No it says "make disciples".
Politicians are using Christians to push an agenda
Its worse now than its ever been. Both parties have figured out that wedge issues keep them in power. The incumbents go on and on about the destruction of America from degrading values and terrorists and we lap it up and continue to vote. While behind our backs they're running up our deficits, expanding our government, giving tax breaks to oil companies and generally making a mess of things while not really doing anything about morals. We have a duty as Christians to ensure that our freedom remains and that our country remains strong. We have to realize the forces working against it are within ... and they have nothing to do with nipples.
As a Christian I have a huge problem with these issues . . . not so much the issues themselves, but their presentation, and the tendency of other members of my faith to get worked into some kind of frenzy over them. I'll get into the specifics of how I personally feel about a variety of issues in later posts. This is more of a general overview of how I think a believer in Christ should approach any issue in which the world feels strongly opposed to our point of view.
Its a person's God-Given right to be wrong
I strongly believe in the principle of free will. Without free will there would be no sin because we'd all be robots. God wouldn't have people that truly loved him, we'd be programmed to do so. Therefore, when someone tries to impose their will on another human (even with good intentions), I believe its sinful.
For Christians its easy to fall into this trap and I think its because its easier to make things illegal than it is to change hearts. Let's take the nipple incident as an example (mostly because I don't think a flabby boob is worth a whole other post). Okay, so some people find Janet's boob to be offensive. That's fine and that's their right and I'll even conceed that its their right to lobby for laws againts such things. The problem is that laws then impose their viewpoint on everyone, whereas simply changing the channel ... or better yet, turning off the TV are perfectly legitimate options.
Imposing a viewpoint is a sign of weak faith
How about a better example. Say I believe its wrong to eat beef jerky on Tuesdays. So I see other people eating beef jerky on Tuesday and that offends me. So I write my congress critter about it, set up a blog, get people to support my position. Eventually a law is written, no one can buy, sell or eat beef jerky on Tuesdays. Now, the world is safe from a sin. No one can have beef jerky on Tuesday! But wait, what if someone saves some from Monday. We must ration the jerky! So we pass some more laws that say that if I buy jerky I can't buy more than a few ounces and I have to eat it in the presence of a liscensed jerky dealer. But that doesn't stop people from making jerky at home! So we pass another round of laws, ad infintum ...
It all sounds completely ridiculous, but its exactly what we Christians have tended to do when it comes to things that offend us. It begs the question, why are we trying to protect ourselves from the world? We have Christ, who is all the protection we need? And secondly, why aren't we trying to change people's minds instead of just blanketly making up their minds for them. I know as a person that loves me some jerky ... I'm going to be pissed!
Imposing viewpoints to not change people's minds (i.e. you get more flies with honey than with vinegar)
Christians have to learn to love (see Matthew 7). Christians cannot expect a people to conform to Christ's standard when they have no knowledge of it (and when we can't conform ourselves). It is our job to lead people to Christ and let Christ work in people to bring them to his standard. We're never going to get anywhere by ranting against these issues, instead we must learn to ignore them and instead tell people about Christ and why he should be followed and loved. An us vs them attitude is unhealthy and is not what Christ had in mind. The Great Commission (Matthew 28:19-20) doesn't say "Go into all the world and tell people that teh gay is bad". No it says "make disciples".
Politicians are using Christians to push an agenda
Its worse now than its ever been. Both parties have figured out that wedge issues keep them in power. The incumbents go on and on about the destruction of America from degrading values and terrorists and we lap it up and continue to vote. While behind our backs they're running up our deficits, expanding our government, giving tax breaks to oil companies and generally making a mess of things while not really doing anything about morals. We have a duty as Christians to ensure that our freedom remains and that our country remains strong. We have to realize the forces working against it are within ... and they have nothing to do with nipples.
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