“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” (Romans 1:16)
It is my favorite Bible verse, although it was the Apostle Paul who proved how much it meant to him. He gave his life for it. His government, Rome, could not understand the power of the Gospel and beheaded him for his beliefs. The Bible records he insisted on a trial before the Roman Emperor and traveled to Rome to be heard. I would have loved to have heard that testimony. I am quite sure it was one for the ages!
Not very much has changed since the days of Paul. Indeed as the 19th century French critic Alphonse Karr once said, “The more things change, the more they remain the same.”
We still live in a word where Christians die for their beliefs, although we are fortunate that our country does not allow such behavior. However, we have become a country that reviles Christians because we don’t believe everything is relative. We believe some things are absolutely wrong, and are not ashamed to stand up for what we believe. Just like Paul, however, we are misunderstood. We may not agree with certain behaviors, lifestyles, or character traits we see in individuals, but we do not condemn the individuals – only the behaviors that we believe do not line up with the Gospel. We are all immoral from time to time and that will not change. But our critics do not understand the power of salvation, or the forgiveness that comes with it.
This truth has played itself out over the last several weeks. Ironically, it was a beauty pageant where it happened. Isn’t it interesting that we judge politicians more on how they look, and beauty pageant contestants on what they believe?
Such was the case with the 2009 Miss USA Pageant where Miss California was eliminated as a finalist because of what she said. Carrie Prejean, 21, got herself in hot water when she answered a judge’s questions about the same-sex marriage. We all know is it was a setup. This judge was very much aware that Prejean is a born-again Christian. He knew what her answer would be to his question, and he made the most of it to promote his cause rather than judge her for her ability to defend what she says and to think on her feet. That’s really what the purpose of the question-and-answer portion of the pageant is about.
Prejean was asked how she felt about Vermont becoming the fourth state to permit same-sex marriages. Her answer, “We live in a land where you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite. And you know what, I think in my country, in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised.”
Frankly, that’s about as diplomatic as you can be on the subject. But others, including one of the judges. saw it as an opportunity to strike back and promote a personal cause. It makes my point. Christians are misunderstood, and so is the power of salvation.
We live in a country that no longer embraces Christianity. Just last month, the cover of Newsweek depicted a cross with words, “The Decline and Fall of Christianity in America.” Here’s what Albert Mohler, a seminary president and staunch defender of the Gospel, had to say about the Newsweek story: “This much I know — Jesus Christ is Lord, and his kingdom is forever. Our proper Christian response to this new challenge is not gloom, but concern. And our first concern must be to see that the Gospel is preached as Good News to the perishing — including all those in post-Christian America.”
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