Posted on 08/01/2006 2:07:51 PM PDT by Mr. Silverback
There they go again. The liberal media, it seems, likes nothing better than to play up what they see (or create) as divisions in the evangelical ranks. This Sunday’s New York Times featured a front-page story about Gregory Boyd, an evangelical pastor in Minnesota who is highly critical of the religious right and refuses to talk about abortion or other cultural war issues from his pulpit.
The article paints him in heroic terms, willing to stand against the tide. It quotes other Christian leaders who support him, but none of those who might give the other point of view. It seems if you want to get into the New York Times these days, all you’ve got to do is bash conservative evangelicals.
The New York Times quotes Pastor Boyd attacking “the ‘hypocrisy and pettiness’ of Christians who focus on ‘sexual issues’ like homosexuality, abortion, or Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl” two years ago. “These are buttons,” he said, “you push if you want to get Christians to act.”
Sadly, a lot of evangelicals believe this kind of propaganda. And since we are acquiring this negative image, we ought to abandon moral issues and adopt Boyd’s position. Particularly some younger evangelicals are suggesting that we stay away from divisive issues like abortion and homosexuality altogether and just go back and be like the first-century Church—stay out of politics, tend to our spiritual knitting.
I wonder what early Church they are talking about. Take just the issue of abortion. The early Church was outspokenly pro-life right from the beginning just as the Jews had been. In the second chapter of the Didache, one of the first discipleship books for young Christians written in the first century, was this stern injunction: “Thou shall not murder a child by abortion nor kill them when born.” Justin Martyr wrote about this in his first apology. And in the second century, Athenagoras wrote a plea to Emperor Marcus Aurelius: “We say that women that use drugs to bring abortion commit murder and will have to give an account to God for the abortion.” And you can be sure that that was not a hot-button issue then.
Note that the early Church was not afraid to call abortion murder. Tony Snow, the president’s press secretary, got roughed up badly last week for doing just that.
Now, Boyd is a good scholar. I was impressed with a book he wrote some years ago when he was on the Bethel Seminary faculty—although I took sharp issue with his embrace of open theology. But I think he ought to go back and refresh himself on the early history of his own church.
And as for his argument that we like these hot-button issues to gain support, let the record show that Christians did not bring these issues into public life. All the culture war issues today stem back to Roe v. Wade when the Supreme Court, by the stroke of a pen, invalidated all of the state laws in America that had been worked out through deliberate democratic debate.
Life issues, you see, go to the very heart of the Gospel, which is why the first-century Church cared so passionately. And we can do no less today. The Church does not just have the right to speak about it; it has the duty to do so.
Janet Jackson’s breast-revealing performance at the Super Bowl
What a joke. This guy has to know that he's bringing this up in order to play on the prejudices about us that East Coast liberal types have. Has anybody had their preacher sermonize on this? If so, is he still talking about it two years later?
Boyd is advocating for a Church that would be silent in the face of murder and tyranny, and doing so by cozying up to people who are avowed enemies of the Gospel and innocent life. "Evangelical" Pastor or not, I question his commitment to biblical Christianity.
BTW, I suggest that everyone give the NYT article a read...but bring your barf bags. Turns out Boyd is at least a pseudo-pacifist.
There are links to further information at the source document.
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Janet Jackson? Puleeze! What about the income the Internet makes on pornography? Jesus scorned a lukewarm Believer.
Excellent point, Mr. S. I never heard one thing from t he pulpit about Janet Jackson's "malfunction," and we don't hear so much about homosexuality either. Rather, what we do hear is what we are supposed to be doing and how we are to live our lives. By being taught what is right, we can easily see what is wrong.
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In the days of slavery, Boyd would have labeled preachers who advocated abolution from the pulpit as "manipulating" their congregations for political gain. In the future, we will look back on Boyd the same way we look at those spineless preachers who wouldn't preach that slavery was wrong.
MTV was the partner in Viacom's CBS Superbowl broadcast. They designed that half time show.
The mutilated nipple finale in a major cultural event was just another example of programming decisions from MTV's teen sex lifestyle channel (celebrating 25 years this month).
Really? Wish I had seen that...the statement not the roughing up.
From the very beginning, from the first man's first conscious instant, inwhich he forsaw his own mortality, ritual, repetition and religion became his only tools against his total anihilation. Those tools, systems, religions are with us yet, and, when applied beyond individual salvation, they continue to bring division, death and destruction.
"we stay away from divisive issues like abortion and homosexuality altogether and just go back and be like the first-century Church—stay out of politics, tend to our spiritual knitting."
Stay away from abortion? Let's see, harm little ones, millstone around neck, drown in the sea...hmmmm...
The infant in utero is the poorest of the poor.
I would say Pastor Boyd is obviously not a Christian since he refuses to selectively acknowledge what is and what isn't sin for personal gain. For the record, churches have many attendees who are not Christians, but they do go through the motions of going to church. I suspect that Pastor Boyd cares naught about abortion or sexual perversion but might have personal involvement in said sins.
The idea is to educate the flocks about sinful behavior such as the killing of the unborn and homosexual and pedophilic behaviors.
Indeed you did.
My politically conservative pastor talks about this stuff so little that we lost a member a couple of years back, because the guy was a hardcore lib and had just assumed our pastor was a lib because he's Black...and the guy had been a member for a couple of years before he figured it out. Boyd is putting up a straw man or is quite ignorant about what goes on in evangelical churches other than the one that's saddled with his leadership.
Excellent point. Perhaps Boyd should read the section about moderate, non-political white pastors in MLK's "Letter from Birmingham Jail."
Yeah, I think the NFL just never figured that even the MTV guys would do partial nudity on network TV, especially during an event that's widely regarded as family friendly. The next year they had the problem fixed; Beyonce Knowles did a very classy national anthem, and things stayed copacetic from there.
Yep, Tony compared embryonic stem cell research to abortion, and then used the word "murder" to describe ESCR. The implication of course, was that ESCR is murder just like abortion. He ended up issuing an apology; I think he should have stuck to his guns.
Not even close.
Oh, and for a guy who calls himself "continental Soldier," you sure do have a disagreement with Washington:
"Do not let any one claim to be a true American if they ever attempt to remove religion from politics."--George Washington
What i thought of was the warning about men who like to be called "Teacher."
"Going to church doesn't make you a Christain anymore than going to a garage makes you an automobile."--Billy Sunday
I wonder what early Church they are talking about.
I was about to post the same exact words.
harm little ones, millstone around neck, drown in the sea...
I like that! Who said it?
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