Now That We Know

(or "An Exercise in Sarcasm")

It used to be that much of God's views was well known, already clear, largely accepted among His people. We all knew that we are saved by grace apart from works. We all accepted that sex was reserved for marriage and the biblical sexual morality was monogamy (which, by the way, included "one marriage", not just "one sex partner"). We all accepted that homosexual behavior was a sin. Lots of stuff. Used to be.

We live in enlightened times. We now know that all that stuff about "men lying with men" and "women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature" (Rom 1:26-27) (see also 1 Cor 6:9-10) was not what we thought it was. Wise Christians have come out (small pun there) to point out that all Christians of all history were mistaken on this point. It's no sin. Well, it begs the question. Where else did we miss it?

One point that was never in question was the concept of marriage. And by "never" I mean not even in the secular mind. Marriage for all time has been the union of a man and a woman for purposes of procreation and mutual support. Always, be it Christian or not. Practices differed. Sometimes there is a preference for "church weddings" and sometimes there is the basic "a man and a woman" with the option of multiplying that practice, but for all time a man is not married until he weds one woman and a woman is not married until she weds one man and "marriage" is defined. Repeat (polygamy)? Perhaps, but that's the definition ... until now. The Bible says, "A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh" (Gen 2:24; Matt 19:5; Eph 5:31), but today we know better. All this time for all the world they were wrong. It can mean a man and a man or a woman and a woman might do the same. So wrong for so long.

Clearly the whole "monogamy", "sex in marriage only" thing was a mistake. Christian swingers swap partners and work to spread God's word (a quote from the article). Open Christian polyamorists declare their heartfelt love for God. Sure, the Bible says "Flee sexual immorality", but, look, just what is sexual immorality? Studies suggest that Christians divorce, have children out of wedlock, and commit "sexual immorality" at the same rates as non-Christians, so obviously we were wrong for all this time on that subject as well. (Note: There are lots of websites that argue precisely this point, calling themselves "liberated Christians". I will not offer those links.)

As we pursue this line of thinking, it turns out that very little of what we thought we knew can be trusted. Jesus did not die for our sins; He just died to be an example or something like that. We are not saved by grace through faith; that's just a starting point after which our works save us. Did Jesus even actually rise from the dead, or was that just a "spiritual resurrection"? Oh, no, we can't say for sure. We've managed, in our enlightened years, to clear up all the confusion that the Holy Spirit wrought in the first 2000 years of the Church. Now we're quite sure that "gay" is good, sex is not just for marriage anymore, that, in fact, marriage isn't clear at all. "Sexual immorality" is a dim concept that we don't really grasp, "murdering babies in the womb" is a throw-back to a confused idea of the value of human life, and "saved by grace" means "You're pretty much free to do what you want without anyone telling you you're wrong." You thought the Bible was God-breathed and sufficient to complete and equip you (2 Tim 3:15-16)? Think again.

What, with all the redefinition of terms -- "tolerance", "judgmentalism", "marriage", "God's Word" and so forth -- that we have today, we're pretty clear that nothing is pretty clear anymore. The "age of enlightenment" is upon us. Not "enlightenment" in the sense that "We can now more clearly see the truth," but "enlightenment" in the sense that "We no longer have to bear the burdens of biblical morality." We've managed to defeat that pesky sin of "certainty". Now that we know better than all those Christians from all those centuries, Christianity is a much better thing. Oh, not at all what you might see in the Bible, but did God really say all that stuff?