In one
corner we have a man, Israel Folau who is contemplating his future. Because he refused
to delete a post on Instagram he has lost his income, his career, his prestige but
he has retained his dignity and his backbone. I am not a 100% sure Israel Folau’s
Christianity is orthodox, but I am 110% sure he is a man of principle and I
will back up a man who sticks to his Christian principles every day of the
week.
In another
corner we have the ultimate compromise candidate, Scott Morrison. The man the
Liberal Party chose instead of the left leaning Turnbull and the right leaning
Peter Dutton. But he is not just the compromise choice of the LNP, he seems to
want to carry that moniker into his Prime Ministership and into the election
campaign. Many Liberal supporters have been waiting to see if Scott would show
true conservative or progressive principles, many Christians were hoping this
would be the Christian PM to lead the country into a new age of honouring God.
But at the end of the day he has shown us he really is the true Compromiser:
“Question: How appropriate was it
for Bill Shorten to raise your answer to a question you
received about whether gay people go to hell and can you clear up your position
on that question?
Scott
Morrison: I
have already made a statement. It is not my view that’s the case. My faith is
about the - God’s love is for everybody.
That is what
I have always believed.
I found it
very disappointing that without even prompting he sought to try and politicise
this. And seek to exploit opportunity for it. I thought that was very
disappointing.
I don’t
think that should have a place in this election campaign. People’s faith are
people’s faith.
I’m not running
for Pope, I’m running for Prime Minister.
So, you
know, theological questions you can leave at the door.
Question: Do you believe...[gay people go to
hell]
Morrison: I just said no, I don’t.
Question: Why didn’t you say that when
you were asked yesterday?
Morrison: Yesterday I plead the point these are
-- made the point these are religious issues and I don’t want to see those
controversial topics being brought into the political debate. I don’t see how
that helps anybody” (The Guardian).
In an effort
to try and keep his job, gotten through ill-gotten gain, let’s be honest, he
has decided to compromise on his faith. He has clearly contradicted several
passages of scripture (1 Cor 6, 1 Tim. 1 etc) in an effort to keep at arms
length the baying progressive crowds. No he doesn’t believe gay people go to
hell, God’s love is for everyone, he says. He is right about the fact that God’s love is
for everyone, but he has clearly said something which contradicts the Apostle
Paul, who wrote the book on Christian belief, almost literally (he wrote much of the New Testament at least).
It’s really
sad that in today's world Christianity has been boiled down to what people think
about homosexuality. Because Christianity is about far more than that. Sexual
ethics is a key component, but Christianity at its core is about a loving God
who gave his life to redeem sinners, which we all are. As Paul said he is the
chief among them. I know that I don’t deserve to go to heaven, none of us do. Only by
trusting in Jesus can anyone get there. But for whatever reason our culture has
backed Christianity into a corner on this issue of homosexuality, and the truth
is the Bible does teach practicing homosexuals, along with gossips, slanders, the
greedy, hypocrites adulterers and others will go to hell unless they turn from
their sin and trust in Jesus (1 Corinthians 6:9-10), just as I would be still going
to hell if I continued to define myself by my sin, rather than placed my trust
in Jesus. It’s a hard teaching for our society to hear today, but in every
generation there are aspects of God’s word the culture considers blasphemous
and we have to teach it anyway. The good news is God doesn’t want to send
anyone to hell and has made a way for people to escape punishment by trusting in his son
who died on the cross for our sins.
But this isn’t
good enough for the cultural elites. They still hate this truth, even when presented
with nuance, love and care, and honest self-reflection. Indeed Bill Shorten
knows this and has done something that is technically unconstitutional: he has
used the media to create a religious test of office for the Prime Minister. Of
course it’s not an official law, so it is not technically in breach of the Constitution,
but it is definitely in breach of the spirit of the Constitution. But then
again the Constitution was written for a different people, with different
morals, in a very different age, an age when Christendom still was a valid name
for the Western world. A time when the Western world was forging ahead with new
liberal principles that had been hard fought through civil wars, revolutions, religious
tensions and even a couple of religious wars in the preceding several
centuries. Classical Liberalism was the new ideal for this new age Christendom
was entering into, an age of liberality for people of all ideas and creeds,
where all boundaries were being broken down and society was opening up in ways
it never had before. It is a beautiful dream that is starting to shatter before
our eyes.
You see this
whole situation with Morrison and Shorten highlights something problematic for Western
civilization. Societies with few to no boundaries will be over come by cultures
or societies with strong boundaries. Whatever you can say about the
leftist/progressive cultural framework, it has clear boundaries and a clear hierarchy.
They claim to be egalitarian, but that is far from true. There is a hierarchy
and sexual ethics, and sexual identity are key components to that hierarchy.
There are categories for working out how people should be situated in the
hierarchy: sexual orientation, race, ideology, etc, etc are relevant. And these
are progressively shifting towards more extreme identity groups with more
aspects of their identity lining up with the leftist check boxes of oppression.
It’s a very clear, systematic and hierarchical way to restructure society, and
it is working, we see it working more and more.
This very
clear framework will continue to overcome a "classical liberal"
framework because there is nothing which defines classical liberalism other
than nebulous, difficult to define things like tolerance, equality, etc, etc.
Which have all been disconnected from their roots in Christendom and the
philosophies of thinkers who forged their ideas in Christian discussion groups,
universities, and culture and therefore these values have been made far less
secure as guiding principles for our modern society. They are now disconnected from their originating document: the New Testament. These values were hashed
out in debates about how to live as differing Christians in a Christian
society, they were never designed to be principles for a multi-cultural society,
that looked on Christianity with disdain. Just read the writings of men like
Locke, and that is pretty clear. We need to completely re-evaluate how we move
forward, because the principles of a bygone era are no longer serving the
freedoms they were intended to foster, they are now being twisted and corrupted
to suit those who wish to use them for their own quest for power in the progressively less-liberal West.
In this new
context Christians will be better off laying their chips on the table and
letting what may come, come, it will be painful but its the best path forward.
Scott Morrison should just be honest that unrepentant sinners of all types go
to hell and take the public shame and criticism that comes with it. We should
all be willing to do the same, because at least that way we will keep our
principles, and as society begins to shift again we will have a base from which
to work from: solid traditional Christian values. By equivocating we just loose
respect on all sides and gain zero ground, and prove to many that Christian
principles aren't worth holding to (when really they are).
We have seen
two very public examples of how to navigate this sexular culture, one is Scott
Morrison the compromise candidate who likely will lose his job and his public
standing soon, the other is Israel Folau who has lost so much but kept his
backbone and inspired millions because of it. I know who I would rather be
compared to. I just hope when I am challenged I show the courage to stand firm,
I hope all of us who name Jesus Lord will do so.
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