Church leaders who claim to be biblically faithful avoid controversial issues and often duck under a “we should just share the Gospel” rationale. Yet the wrecked lives of their congregants and the lost souls they seek to save are piling up at the church doors.
The flood is here, and it’s becoming more difficult to shield our eyes. Yet sometimes pastors won’t even encourage Christians to vote, when not just individual lives are in crisis mode but so is our country itself.
The reality is that talking about homosexual sin, or abortion, or gender confusion, are not primarily political issues. They are sin issues with some political implications and the good news is that these topics can easily become opportunities for sharing salvation truth.
So why isn’t this done? Some pastors have leapt into this fire and for them, I am so grateful. But the numbers are not nearly enough. Yes, these may be stressful conversations. For some, and this includes pastors, it’s way out of their comfort zone and frankly, sometime their hearts just aren’t that bothered – yet--by the suffering caused by these sins.
There’s another kind of suffering, though—that of children victimized by those who, in the confusion of their darkened hearts, have become victimizers. But we can’t wait for the lesbian librarian to repent. Her evil deeds need to be stopped now ( through changed policies, of course—never force).
So where are our church leaders? I’m not talking about those like Andy Stanley who have quite publicly exhibited deep compromise. ( Read Megan Basham’s excellent book Shepherds for Sale for more details). I’m talking about those who still preach using a faithful biblical foundation, but do not venture out into the fray.
I used to think it was because they didn’t know the details. But no. It sounds cynical, but I think many just don’t want to know.
I pray for the day that America’s pastors open their eyes to the truth and grieve. Grief and sorrow are what propelled me into the work I have been doing for over twenty years.
In June 2002, I gathered a stack of books , sat out on my back deck and proceeded to go through each over the next two weeks, reading as much as I could stomach, making notes, bookmarking pages, and moving to the next.
After the first day, I added a box of tissues to the stack.
The books are now relics, the first titles in a fledgling “gay” category for youth and teachers: Rainbow Boys, Growing Up Gay/ Growing Up Lesbian, Queering Elementary Education, Queer 13: Lesbian and Gay Writers Recall Seventh Grade, and others.
I knew this was going to be a hard job, and I knew the proud and often pornographic corruption of minor children was going to infuriate me. But I didn’t expect how much it would make me cry, picturing the innocent eyes that would read this depravity and lose ideals, dreams, faith in humanity. And gain premature prurient curiosity and sometimes, sexual arousal and the risky behavior that soon follows.
That stack of books has been replaced by many, much more graphic titles in recent years: All Boys Aren’t Blue, The Bluest Eye, Gender Queer, A Court of Mist and Fury, This Book is Gay, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl, Flamer, Run the Game, etc. Many of these novels show up not only in public school libraires but are recommended by teachers of AP language classes, because gifted students need to be corrupted deliberately and early, I guess.
The content of many such books would qualify as “obscene” in the Ohio Revised Code, and distributing such material to a minor is a second degree felony. The only problem is, educational institutions are exempt from such liability in Ohio. That distinction, made decades ago, was granted in a time when parents could trust publishers and libraries. That time has passed.
So much of today’s content is educationally unsuitable and pervasively vulgar. It’s not just pro-“LGBTQ” novels – although most are pure trash/deception on multiple levels-- but so are others depicting teen nudity, porn and drug use, disrespect to parents, teens engaging in intercourse with all the graphic detail of who took what off, bodily fluids, etc. Again, pure trash. American publishers are profiting from the sexual exploitation of our children and the educational establishment and the American Library Association are the pimps offering up our precious youth.
And think about the minds and hearts of the young person who reads this garbage. Not only is the budding adolescent usually shocked at first that such material is in the library, many will of course have a sexual response, which is the wicked purpose of jaded adults. Accompanying the prurient curiosity is another reaction—loss, one that the adolescent may not recognize until sometime in adulthood, but that may be the moment when childhood ends, a door slams, and the chasm of a bleak future opens. “This is what relationships are like?” “This is what is expected of me?”
The arousal may prompt them to seek out more such material. The porn industry loves the school library providing children appetizers before the full course rot that smart phones can then deliver. And we wonder why 25% of teens now tell the Centers for Disease Control Youth Risk Behavior Surveys that they identify as something other than heterosexual. Experimentation is everywhere. Teen suicide is up. And easy to access porn puts girls in great danger of sex trafficking and rape.
And besides the book issue, more mental abuse occurs in the sex ed lessons in many schools that normalize teen sex, gender distortion and even anal sex (do most pastors realize this?). These latter topics meet the demands of “LGBTQ” groups for sex ed to be “inclusive.” What parents aren’t told is that such instruction is inclusive of grave, high-risk sin.
What I wonder about is why church pastors – and the Christians inhabiting church pews-- mostly do not fight any of this.
When I was so grieved in 2002, I foolishly thought, “It’s because churches don’t know.” So I began to write and broadcast, educating in my own modest way. And I certainly haven’t done everything possible, but I keep going because the grief won’t allow me to remain silent.
So where are the churches to partner with those of us trying to fight for our children? I soon learned that lack of ministerial knowledge is usually not the problem.
We must all choose among an array of tasks competing for our time, but letting God guide our hearts is the best way to do the sorting. Of course we can’t address every crisis in America, but it sure seems that Christian pastors are responding to perpetual “LGBTQ” intimidation tactics exactly as the those advocates want: by remaining silent.
Christians are allowing Satan’s puppets to dictate what we allow. We predictably recoil at the ammunition of pejoratives like “homophobe,” “book banner,” “racist” ( inaccurately unleashed in discussions of homosexuality or gender distortion).
Pastors, please check your hearts and your calendars. Who cares if you are called names? Sign up to speak at a school board meeting about the rotten books or sex ed ( do your homework first). Testify at a statehouse hearing on a “males-in-female bathrooms” bill. Urge people from the pulpit to oppose abortion. Form a committee in your church to tackle cultural issues in the public square.
To do so does not mean your heart is less loyal to Jesus. It means that you’ve decided to “love your neighbor” as He commanded, by protecting children and giving them the chance to hear and embrace the Gospel before Satan kidnaps them for sexual corruption.
But please do not hesitate. Your congregation needs your leadership. And whether you have figured it out yet or not, we are in a war. The other side gets that, and knows that knowledge of God is their greatest enemy.
But it’s our hope. Let’s unleash the power of Jesus to overcome evil with good.
