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| Carl Lentz, pastor of Hillsong NYC |
Jesus On Social Issues
Would
Jesus Remain Silent On Social Issues?
JOSEPH MATTERA
Relating his stance on same-sex marriage, a New
York City megachurch pastor has on more than one occasion publicly claimed that
Jesus only dealt with the root issues of the heart - not merely the symptoms of
sin.
Jesus never took a stand on the moral issues of His
day; thus, we should not make general statements regarding important moral
issues of society, but only deal with these controversial issues in personal
dialogue.
I want to make a few observations regarding his
statements.
From a practical perspective, many pastors with
large ministries who rent in liberal cities such as NYC are very careful what
they say regarding same-sex marriage and other moral issues because they can
easily be thrown out of spaces they are renting.
Thus, in their minds, they have to be more cautious
than ministries who own their own buildings.
However, this caution should never become a
doctrinal issue for the church at large; it should merely be a method and or
strategy for one particular church or pastor (whether they are right or wrong
to take this posture).
Regarding the moral issue at hand - do you really
think Jesus, if He were here physically ministering today, would not take a
position on social issues such as slavery?
(As evangelical Christian William Wilberforce did
and eradicated the slave trade in the British Empire in the 19th century, or as
Charles Finney did, who was an avowed abolitionist in the 19th century ardently
preaching against slavery during the Second Great Awakening)?
Was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wrong to use his
pulpit to fight racism and launch the Civil Rights Movement?
What about today? Would Jesus not preach against
the sex slave trade or the abuse of children today? What about the Holocaust?
Was Dietrich Bonheoffer wrong for speaking out
politically against Hitler for exterminating the Jews and forcing Fascism on
the nation?
Would the early Church apostles have fought
abortion if they were in ministry today?
It is easy to know the answer to this since, the
oldest extra-biblical document we have on record is the “Didache” which is a
short treatise giving the early church guidelines for faith and practice.
In this document that many scholars date to
the middle of the first century A.D., the church took a stand against abortion
and infanticide.
(Yes, the church has historically been publicly
vocal against abortion for over 2000 years since the Roman Empire practiced
abortion and infanticide!)
Furthermore, the early church preached against
slavery and even released slaves in the presence of the bishops during worship
services during the second and third centuries.
Even John the Baptist was put in jail because he
preached against all the evil things King Herod was doing (Luke 3:18,19)!
Hence, John was beheaded for politically incorrect
preaching and prophetically calling out his earthly ruler!
Therefore, since same sex marriage has
ramifications for all family life, every time a pastor preaches on the
biblical framework for marriage and family it flies in the face of culture,
even if alternative forms of marriage are not mentioned!
In the Greco-Roman culture of Jesus' time, all
forms of sexual expression outside the norms of scripture were rampant!
However, Jesus' primary purpose was to the lost
sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:5,6).
His main concern was not with the majority culture
of Rome but to reveal Himself as Messiah to the Jews—which is why He did not
have to deal directly with all issues related to human sexuality (since it was
not a big issue for the Jews of His day).
However Paul the apostle did numerous times since
he was called to minister to the Gentiles (read
Romans 1:24-31, 1 Corinthians 6:9-11).
Furthermore, although Jesus did not focus on the
social issues of the (Gentile) Roman Empire, His very essence and ministry was
in and of itself a major threat and an affront to Rome!
Not many understand the fact that Jesus was
crucified because He wasn't politically correct since His claim to be King of
kings threatened the powers of the Roman Caesar - which is why the early church
was also persecuted (read Acts 17:5-7).
Hence, the real reason our Lord was executed and
the early church was persecuted was not for religious reasons (because, as a
polytheistic society the Roman Empire tolerated millions of gods) - it was due
to political reasons!
Related to Israel, Jesus did indeed deal with
controversial moral issues:
- like the issue of marriage, adultery and divorce (Matthew 19:3-9),
- greed and money (Luke
12:13-21), and
- the true meaning of the Sabbath (Mark 3:1-6).
As a matter of fact, Jesus said in Matthew 19 that
marriage is between one man and one woman, thus showing the biblical template
regarding the distinction between the genders and their complimentary role as
one flesh in marriage.
Furthermore, Jesus did not operate in a vacuum in
isolation but pointed to the Old Testament writings to affirm His legitimacy (Matthew 5:17-19).
Thus, to ask the question related to the title of
this article we need to include the Old Testament prophets and the New
Testament writings that practically applied the teachings of Jesus.
For example, the first two chapters of the book of
the Old Testament prophet Amos is a current events commentary regarding the
sins of the surrounding nations—all the OT prophets from Samuel to Elisha dealt
with social/moral issues.
Even John the Baptist explained to his adherents
that true repentance meant they were to cease from receiving bribes and
extortion (Luke 3) which were symptomatic of the social and moral decay of their culture
and not just an issue of personal heart transformation.
If you are silent as a pastor and never take a
position then your silence on such a major issue as same-sex marriage can be
interpreted by many in the congregation that you are condoning it!
Also, some may even accuse the silent pastor of
deceiving same sex partners who, after climbing the ladder of church
affiliation are then told (in a private conversation) that they do not qualify
because of their sexuality and or same-sex marriage.
(One prominent pastor I know almost had a major
lawsuit on his hands a few years ago because he was silent regarding same-sex
marriage and two of his same-sex leaders announced they were getting married to
each other!)
Because most pastors are silent and erroneously
separate the gospel from the kingdom and culture—we have left society to be
framed without a biblical template.
Whatever area the church does not influence will
come back to try and destroy us—there is no neutrality in this world!
In conclusion, it seems obvious to me that Jesus is
calling for the church to lovingly serve their cities without compromising
their prophetic call as salt and light to this world.
Joseph Mattera is overseeing bishop of Resurrection
Church, Christ Covenant Coalition, in Brooklyn, N.Y.
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