The Gospel

Have you heard the story about Tarek El Moussa? Tarek is a reality series star of Flip or Flop. Back in 2013 a registered nurse was watching a marathon show, spotted a lump on Tarek's neck, and contacted the show's producers to suggest he get it checked out. It turned out that the nurse had rightly recognized the symptom of a tumor. It turned out that Tarek had Stage-2 thyroid cancer and today Tarek is in remission because of the anti-Tarek sentiment of this nosy nurse.

Oh, wait, that's not how we see that, right? Nope, that nurse was a hero, possibly saving his life. The guy had cancer, someone figured out the danger, and notifying him was a good thing. So why doesn't that work elsewhere?

Rugby player Israel Folau was fired from Rugby Australia for posting that homosexuals go to hell. Mind you, it's not Israel's idea. That one comes straight out of the Bible (1 Cor 6:9-10). (He quoted it in the article.) Rugby Australia canceled his contract because they wouldn't tolerate hate. So warning El Moussa that he might have cancer was kind and even heroic, but warning people about the sin of homosexual behavior that the Bible says results in eternal torment is hate? (And why are so many people that do not believe in hell so upset that he warns about a fake place?)

Here's what I'm not saying. I'm not arguing for Israel Folau. Folau has gone on to other things. He has been working hard to raise money for his legal defense, sued the organization, and been shot down by GoFundMe for trying to raise the money through them. I don't agree with Folau. Paul wrote, "All who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, so be sure to get good lawyers." Oh, no ... he didn't. The biblical perspective is 1) we will be persecuted (Phil 1:29; 1 Peter 4:19) and 2) thank God for it (Rom 5:3-5; 1 Peter 4:16, etc.). There isn't much "Fight for your rights!" in the New Testament. There is a lot of "rejoice in suffering" (Matt 5:10-12; James 1:1-4; etc.). I don't find a single reference to "go to court to get your just dues." Maybe there might be instances when there is a good reason to take your case to the public, but I don't see it here. Nor am I backing Folau's theology. He is touted as a Bible-believing Christian and a fundamentalist, but denies the Trinity, rendering him neither Bible-believing nor fundamentalist. Nor am I arguing for religious freedom. Since the beginning we've had to choose whether we would obey God or man (Acts 4:19-20).

Here's what I am saying. Christ came into the world to save sinners (1 Tim 1:15). We were told to proclaim the Gospel (Mark 16:15) and, more importantly, make disciples (Matt 28:19-20). The Bible is full of warnings about the consequences of sin and we are commanded to love, and ignoring people headed for consequences of sin would not be loving. Folau probably didn't do the best job of expressing the Gospel, but we live in a world that is hostile to God (Rom 8:7) and the cross (1 Cor 1:18). We err, I believe, by focusing solely on the sins of a small group called "homosexuals" today when there is a larger group called "unbelievers" who equally need to hear the bad news -- the wages of sin is death -- and the good news -- the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom 6:23). But in no case is "Ah, let 'em alone to die in their sin and trespasses" a good thing. And we shouldn't be guilty of it. We won't be viewed as heroes like that nurse was, but let's also not be silent in the face of such suffering simply because it's not socially acceptable to speak up.