“I’m a Christian man and I command a Christian ship! I will not lead men into sin!” ~Captain Thomas Davies (Roots)
I recently watched the 1977 television miniseries Roots again, and discovered, again, why it was such a huge hit when it premiered: a sweeping saga about an American family, riding the arc of history from their free ancestral home in West Africa’s Gambia, through the scourge of American slavery, the emancipation of slaves, and the continuing story of our country’s efforts to shed our deep-seated racist past.
This line is spoken in 1767 by the captain of a slave ship bearing a cargo of human beings, who have been kidnapped from their homes, crowded and chained into the ship’s hold like so many sides of beef, and bound for Annapolis, Maryland, where the men and women will be sold at auction to the highest bidders.
This very idea beggars the imagination of twenty-first century minds, in its debasement of humanity. And yet slavery was a “way of life” on U.S. soil for nearly 240 years, for more years than have passed since the Declaration of Independence.
More startling still is that the sin the captain is referring to here is not slavery. He is referring to “fornication.” As a “Christian man,” he cannot condone his crew lying in sin with the female captives. Fornication was viewed as a carnal sin, but slavery was not. It was perfectly all right for a good Christian man to participate in the slave trade; after all, Africans were considered to be godless heathens and lesser human beings than their white oppressors.
As we celebrate Black History Month, we appreciate how much the United States has evolved since this dark blight on our history was lifted in 1865, and we’re grateful that the civil rights movement of the sixties put solid safeguards and protections in place for African Americans. But consider this. Until 1967, when the Supreme Court held the last anti-miscegenation laws to be unconstitutional, in many states interracial marriage was a crime. And although there’s been progress, we recognize that racial injustice and oppression persist both here at home and in many parts of the world, and that the eradication of racism is a long way off.
February is also LGBT History Month in the United Kingdom, a chance to pause and remember that full equality for the LGBT community remains elusive, both abroad and in the United States. Homosexuality and same-sex marriage are regularly and viciously decried as being sinful and in defiance of “Christian” morals, and gay people are viewed in many circles as lesser human beings. And, as with slavery, opponents of equality think nothing of hanging their hate, intolerance, and homophobia on a safely smug religious argument.
Marriage equality is, arguably, the American civil rights issue of today. As past chairman of the NAACP, civil rights leader, and statesman Julian Bond has said, “Civil rights are positive legal prerogatives: the right to equal treatment before the law. These are the rights shared by everyone. There is no one in the United States who does not, or should not, enjoy or share in enjoying these rights. Gay and lesbian [and transgender] rights are not special rights in any way. It isn’t ‘special’ to be free from discrimination. It is an ordinary, universal entitlement of citizenship.”
We’re hovering on the cusp of substantial progress for equality, but too many hearts and minds are still stuck in the dark ages of ignorance and hate. It is my devout hope that Americans will one day look back at the roots of the marriage equality story—just as they view the story of Roots—and feel the same sense of incredulity and disgust that we ever could have countenanced those who would wrap their intolerance and homophobia in the cloak of Christianity, to withhold from their fellow citizens the same rights they themselves take for granted and enjoy.
Uprooting Racism and Homophobia,
sealed
23 Feb 2012God alone is righeous. Man does not define sin. But man, ever so softly,under the persuasion of the enemy of our souls, has deluded us into denying God’s truth. We are having a glimpse of those who are falling away from the truth (2 Thess 2:3). “Now the Holy Spirit tells us clearly that in the last times some will turn away from the true faith; they will follow deceptive spirits and teachings that come from demons. These people are hypocrites and liars, and their consciences are dead” (1 Tim 4:1,2). So many are abandoning the absolute truth and embracing relative truth which is the devil’s propaganda. Satan’s ultimate work is to cause people to have assurance in an UNsaving faith. As Paul said, “I say again what we have preached before: If anyone preaches any other Good News than the one you welcomed, let that person be cursed” (Galatians 1:9).
If we don’t believe the Bible is sufficient, then we open ourselves up to believing in distorted “revelations” on the broad path to hell. In 2 Timothy 4:4, it says, “For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound doctrine and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear. They will reject the truth and chase after myths.” We must know that the road to hell is broad and wide filled with many companions, yet the road to heaven is straight and narrow, and few there be who find it (Matt 7:13).
If our faith leads us to believe that Jesus leaves us in our sins, then we are in serious trouble. “As it is written: ‘There is no one righteous, not even one, there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God'” (Romans 3:10,11). Also Paul says of himself in Romans chapter 7, ” So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord! (verses 21-25). I’m so thankful for the One who delivers us from ourselves! He is faithful to deliver…never will He leave us in our sins!
“Be careful, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still ‘today,’ so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God” (Hebrews 3:12,13). “Those who have been born into God’s family do not make a practice of sinning because God’s life is in them. So they can’t keep on sinning, because they are children of God” (1 John 3:9). “If someone claims, ‘I know God’ but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth” (1 John 2:4).
If our “faith” esteems ourselves above Jesus (the Way, the Truth, and the Life), then our faith is not really believing that His way is correct, or His truth is applicable to our lives, or that His life leads us to abandon our own. “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars–their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death” (Rev 21:8). “For I have told you often before, and I say it again with tears in my eyes, that there are many whose conduct shows they are really enemies of the cross of Christ. They are headed for destruction. Their god is their appetite, they brag about shameful things, and they think only about this life here on earth” (Philippians 3:18,19).
“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18). “Make sure that no one is immoral or godless like Esau, who traded his birthright…for a single meal. You know that afterward, when he wanted his father’s blessing, he was rejected. It was too late for repentance, even though he begged with bitter tears” (Heb 12:16,17). Another sober warning, “Yes, they knew God, but they wouldn’t worship him as God or even give him thanks. And they began to think up foolish ideas of what God was like. AS A RESULT, THEIR MINDS BECAME DARK AND CONFUSED. Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools…So God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. As a result, they did vile and degrading things with each other’s bodies. THEY TRADED THE TRUTH ABOUT GOD FOR A LIE. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen…Even the women turned against the natural way to have sex and instead indulged in sex with each other…Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done…They know God’s justice requires that those who do these things deserve to die, yet they do them anyway. Worse yet, they encourage others to do them” (Romans 1:21-32, emphasis my own).
Any of us who are thirsting after God and His righteousness should examine ourselves and see if our faith is genuine (2 Cor 13:5). Finally, “…you are not to associate with anyone who claims to be a believer yet indulges in sexual sin, or is greedy, or worships idols, or is abusive, or is a drunkard, or cheats people. Don’t even eat with such people.” (1 Corinthians 5:11). These are hard words to hear. John 3:16 is absolutely true, but His love and our belief in Him requires that we embrace His Way, His Truth, and His life. “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20). Let us hear what the Spirit of God is saying in these dark times of myths and false teachings. Let us listen to the parable of the Sower. Let us heed the very words of Jesus: “But all who reject me and my message will be judged on the day of judgment by the truth I have spoken” (John 12:48). We must put our trust “in the light while there is still time; then [we] will become children of the light” (John 12:36).
There is no justification for sin…no matter what side of the coin you are on.