Went to the eye doctor yesterday to get new glasses.  I've been needing new glasses for quite some time now as it's been probably 5 or 6 years since I last had my eyes checked.  The world, it seemed to me, had started growing "a little cloudy" or blurry.  Certain small fields of my vision were perfectly clear, but others it seemed could not be brought into focus.

I sat through the battery of tests where they show you the little farmhouse off in the distance, the "little pufts of air" for each eye, and the dilation drops which turns regular sunshine into something bordering on offensive.  In the end, it turns out my eye glasses were just really scratched up.  There were no changes to my vision, but my perspective had changed because of what my glasses had been through.  I was looking at a perfectly clear world through a bad set of glasses.

As I walked, squinty-eyed, to my car, I began to think of a conversation I had with a friend earlier that week about the whole gay marriage debate.  My friend, who is a Christian, felt that people could be born gay.  Not that he was completely convinced of it, but leaned toward that as he has also held the opinion that not everything in the Bible is true.  It was a very interesting conversation for me, because I like rational discussion with rational people who can explain their position without finger-pointing and name calling.  For my friend, it all seemed to revolve around the concept of a question: How could two people, mutually committed to each other in love, be wrong?

I conceded that I have seen some gay/lesbian couples in relationships that seemed far more loving, healthy, and even "more Christian" than some Christian marriages.  However, I still held the view that it was wrong, simply because the Bible very clearly spells out that homosexuality is wrong.  Where I think my perspective differs from others is that homosexuality is wrong, but it is no more grievous or wrong than the other sins of fornication or adultery.  For that matter, homosexuality is no more wrong than any other sin.

I think there is too much focus on homosexuality being wrong, and not enough focus on simply loving people where they are, regardless of where they are.  This is not in any way a condoning of homosexuality, but it is my view that it is not only useless to condemn people for it, it is also hypocritical.  As abhorrent as the idea of homosexuality is to some people, every single one of us is equally abhorrent in the eyes of a perfect sinless God without Jesus Christ in our lives.  Only by the blood of Christ are we made perfect.  I believe it is enough that the Bible condemns homosexuality (and all sin), there is no need for me to do so.

Because of my acceptance of Christ, I am forgiven, loved, and accepted.  I will not lose my place of relationship with Him, nor will I ever exhaust His love and forgiveness for sins.  I can accept that I will do wrong things, for nothing prevents my sinful flesh from being tempted, and I am still just as human as anyone unsaved.  The difference in my life is an acceptance of forgiveness, a recognition of right and wrong behavior according to the Bible, and a desire to please my Savior through a life that is pleasing to Him.

And what would be pleasing to Him?  Should I then, as a forgiven, loved, and accepted son of God, run around finger-pointing and name-calling?  Or rather, should I be just as accepting and loving of others as Christ was of me?

To my friend, I made it clear that while the Bible may actually speak of some people being born not attracted to the person of the opposite sex (Mt 19:12), the Bible is very clear that homosexuality is wrong.  The greater explanation is that maybe these people were born to serve God unencumbered by marriage (I Cor 7), and that while others may be tempted by sexual sin with someone of the opposite sex, there is no way the devil would leave these people untempted by sexual sin, and so we have the sin of homosexuality.

I wish I could get into all the aspects of the topic we talked about as the discussion was very interesting.  I am convinced that what confuses people on the topic is not what the Bible says, but where we stand on our perspective.  Just like my glasses were scratched up and had affected my vision, if we see this sin-scratched world first and try to align it with what we know about the Bible, our perspective will be skewed.  However, when we look through the clear prism of the Bible first at the world, we then see the world as God sees it.

There is no need to justify the world of sin to relate to it, Jesus justified all who would accept His payment on the cross.  Homosexuality is no less wrong than any other sin just because it is forgiven, the difference is a recognition of what is right and wrong, and a born-again life that seeks to please God.  As God sought you in your sin, to redeem you to Himself, so ought we show the love, forgiveness, and acceptance of God that is available to all regardless of where they are in life.

As a Christian and a parent, I wish to both protect my children from the dangers of the world while at the same time educating them about the problems they will face in life.  Sometimes this comes by way of learning experiences when things happen to them, and other times it comes by way of an event they happen to witness.  Then there are those teachable moments when something happens outside of their perception, and you actually bring it to the attention of your child so they can see and understand.  Such was the case when I read an article yesterday.

I want my children to be aware of bullying, how and why it happens, and to be able to defend both themselves and others from the practice of bullying by others.  However, when I read the article yesterday, it kind of set the whole thing of bullying and intolerance in its proper perspective.  You can read the article here: "Anti-Bully Speaker Bullies Christians"

When you read the article, what strikes me most is that Dan Savage, the speaker invited to address specifically the topic of bullying, is a known homosexual, yet many Christians still went to hear him speak - not to judge him, hold up signs, heckle or protest, but to listen with an open mind.  They certainly didn't go there to be bullied.  The audience?  Teenagers.  Not a group of adults, but kids.  What happened next is all too typical of what happens by the same people who call Christians intolerant.

Dan Savage chose this moment to address his personal views about Christianity rather than talk about what he was actually there for.  Instead of talking about bullying, he cursed, name called, and generally bullied anyone in the audience who was a Christian.  Exactly what he was there to speak against, he began to do.  The Christian response?  They got up to simply walk away.  They did not scream, yell, protest, or anything.  They quietly rose up and walked out.  Dan Savage's response?  He name calls and bullies them even more.  Typical.

How does he justify this behavior?  He makes a claim leveled by many by saying "there are people using the Bible as an excuse for gay bullying, because it says in Leviticus and Romans that being gay is wrong."  This is wrong on two counts.  First, there are not "many people" doing anything even remotely like "gay bullying" and there is not one single account I have heard of where someone specifically used the Bible as their justification for bullying gays.  The Bible does say homosexuality is wrong, but as soon as some idiot bully happens to bully someone who is gay, it is people like Savage that assume the context must be the person was using the Bible condemnation of homosexuality as the cause of the gay bullying.  Again, typical.

Savage is but the tip of the ice-burg.  The situation in that moment all too clear.  Christians, when bullied, are expected to remain silent and are expected to take it, while if the same speech had been given anywhere in the nation by any Christian leader, that Christian speaker would have been labeled a "hate-monger" and accused of inciting "hate-crimes" against gays.  Savage is a hypocrite, and a bully.  Savage is also just one of many who persecute Christianity and Christians in general for no other reason than that they are Christian.  They like to lift their own banner of "free speech" while conveniently labeling any dissent "hate-speech not covered under free speech", and seek to remove the freedom of religion.

It is one more example I am going to use to educate my daughters about what they will face as a Christian.  It is a lesson about intolerant people claiming Christians are intolerant, bullying by those who claim to help the bullied, and hypocrisy from the same people who point the finger at others claiming they are hypocrites.  Dan Savage, as is the case with those who hate and do not understand Christianity, is simply ignorant.  My task in educating my children will be to teach them how to deal with that ignorance, intolerance and oppression, simply because they are Christians.

A few weeks ago I read an article on Fox News.  You can read the entire article here: INSIDERS.  In the article, they ask the question "But could all the Tinseltown-type attention jeopardize his game and wholesome Christian image?1"

Reposted from: MenRising

Rewind years ago when the nation didn't really know who Tim Tebow even was.  As an Alabama fan and a Christian (yes you Auburn fans, it IS possible!!), my first gut reaction to his public displays of faith were to shrug them off as meaningless.  How many times have I seen players kneel in the end-zone, point to heaven, thank God on TV, or make some other overt display of faith on the field only to be caught up later in some drug or immoral scandal later?  I thought he was a fake.  First impressions can be hard to shake.

As Tim Tebow grew into the role though, I began to pay attention more.  I read about his background as a home-schooled kid and missionary kid.  As a former missionary to China, I know how tough life can be on missionary kids, and now that we live in the states and home-school our two daughters, we see how the homeschooling movement is just now starting to be accepted even in largely conservative circles.  I can only imagine that it must have been tough for him growing up, and here he was experiencing success on levels most people will only dream of, and how does it affect him?  It doesn't even seem to register.  Nothing changes.  Tim Tebow is still the same person, and that is when I became interested.

I watched his last year in college with great fascination and wonder at the unprovoked hate that came from people who did not even know him and from the liberal media, and I found myself in the awkward position of rooting for him even though he played against Alabama.  I wanted Tim Tebow to win, but for Florida to lose.  It was an interesting year.  Then came graduation, and I assumed we'd heard the last from Tim Tebow.

Then came his chance to shine yet again.  After a losing start to the 2011 season, Tim Tebow was put in to replace Kyle Orton at halftime and quarterbacked the Denver Broncos on a wild ride taking them almost to victory against a 16 point deficit.  The rest of his season, as they say, is history but nothing short of inspiring.  The whole time, the media kept touting his style as awkward and that he'd never find real success, yet he kept winning.  His win streak was only broken by the New England Patriots weeks later, and again the Patriots handed him the defeat that would take his team out of the playoffs.

What was Tim Tebow's reaction to all this?  He was still Tim Tebow.  Nothing had changed.  Meanwhile, the rest of the nation had heard about him by now, and they couldn't seem to make up their minds about him.  Was he a good football player or not?  Was his Christianity real or not?  Who is this guy really?  And why does he have to keep making public displays of his Christianity?

Let me at least answer the last question for everyone.  The reason he keeps making public displays of his Christianity is simple: he is a Christian.  Would that all Christians had his courage.  Then comes this article and I think to myself, "Hollywood just doesn't get it".  Maybe the nation at large just doesn't get it.  Now, I've never met Tim Tebow, and I'm not his best friend or have any close relationships, but I've seen him enough over the years to realize one thing: Tim Tebow is legit.

As for the worryings of the media over how Hollywood will affect him, all I have to say is "Hollywood, Tim Tebow is not your type."  While Tim Tebow is only human and prone to failings and mistakes just like the rest of us, I tend to think he'll take the world on the same way he always has - by just being himself.  If he'll do that, then we'll never hear of a drug or immoral scandal unless one is manufactured, and we'll never even have to wonder if Tinseltown will ever jeopardize his Christian image.

He's a great example of a Christian man simply being a Christian man.  Maybe the real question isn't why the world thinks he's so odd, but rather why, in the public Christian community, his consistent example as a Christan man is so rare.