Financial,
lawless manipulation, and sexual scandals among high-profile people in politics
and the media don’t surprise us. We’ve heard so much about it that we’re sick
of hearing it. What else can we expect from Godless people who lie for a
living?
A few
generations ago there was a clear line between what should be mentioned in
public and what should be kept private. That line was blurred by Hollywood movies
in the mid-1900s. It was erased in the rebellion of the 1960s and 1970s. Now
people don’t even have a concept of what is decent and what is shameful. The
Bible says there are things too disgusting to mention. When Paul warned about
having fellowship with the works of darkness, he added, “for it is a shame even
to speak of those things which are done of them in secret” (Ephesians 5:12).
Just because a thing is true doesn’t mean we should listen to every sordid
detail about it. What angers God-fearing people is the lying and hypocrisy in
those who make allegations and stir this news. There is a saying of Jesus that
is often ripped out of context that does apply here: “He that is without sin
among you, let him first cast a stone at her” (John 8:7). The Lord did not mean
a person has to be sinless before he can point out another person’s sin. He did
not tell us to be silent about evil because we’re not perfect. What he told
those Jewish men was that they had no right to condemn this woman of adultery
because they were adulterers themselves! Politicians today are like those Jews
in the Bible. They lie repeatedly and accuse their opponents of making false
statements. They convey many charges of sexual misconduct while they
themselves are adulterers and pedophiles. People like this have no conscience.
Are some
allegations false? Of course, they are. The story of Joseph is a good example.
Joseph worked for Potiphar who trusted him implicitly. When Potiphar’s wife
kept making advances toward Joseph, he refused to betray his master and sin
against God. This scornful Woman lied and accused Joseph of trying to seduce
her (Genesis 39)! She brazenly accused an innocent man of the very thing she
had done! Joseph was thrown into prison because of her lie. His reputation and
future appeared to have been ruined by a vindictive woman. But there is more
to the story. In time Joseph was released from prison and rose to a position of
great prominence in Egypt, being second in power only to Pharaoh himself. His
life in a strange land began in humiliation and ended in honor, but the woman
who falsely accused him was forgotten.
[Acts 2:38-39]
“Then Peter said to them, ‘Repent, and let every one of you be baptized in the
name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins; and you shall receive the gift
of the Holy Spirit. For the promise (everlasting life) is to you and to your
children, and to all who are a far off, as many as our Lord will call.’” Just
as Paul needed the courage to stand on the pagan Mars Hill and proclaim Christ
(Acts 17:16-34), we need to stand today as a rock in the sea of postmodernism,
denominations, and paganism, and proclaim truth. Truth, by its very nature,
draws a line in the sand; it excludes everything else. The truth offends, and
to offend today is being viewed as the greatest sin. That is the real reason
that the world hates us and why the proclaimers of tolerance are intolerant
toward us. Jesus’ disciples were concerned with this. After Jesus proclaimed
that it was what came out of a person’s mouth that made him unclean (Matthew
15:11), they said, “Do you know that the Pharisee’s were offended when they heard
this?” Jesus preached the truth anyway, because the greater sin is to let the
lost blissfully drift by while our hands never extend from the rock of truth to
save them. Do you proclaim truth? Why not?
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