A Changing America

7/29/2013

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An amazing change in viewpoint has overtaken American society since 2003. In a report on a social groundswell it has been tracking for ten years, the Barna Group, a California organization that surveys American beliefs about Christian ethics and morality, has discovered that support for homosexual issues is the new American norm.

The report claims that in the past ten years, every segment of society they assessed
has become more favorable toward same–sex marriage and the rights of Lesbians, Gays,   Bi–sexual and Trans–gender people (note that the designation is often written as LGBTQ, a
popular variant that adds the letter Q for those who identify themselves as queer
and/or are questioning their sexual identity--WikiPedia).
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Regardless of the label, the numbers appar-ently don’t lie:

Barna asserts that fully 53 percent of Americans now favor “changing laws to accommodate more freedoms for the LGBTQ community.” Breaking down the numbers, here’s what the Barna study has found, regarding the  identifier, “Americans in favor of changing laws to enable more freedom for the LGBTQ community”:
                                                      
                                                                2003                            2013
Practicing Protestant                             24%                             32%

Practicing Catholic                                 35%                             57%

Other faith                                                49%                             63%

No faith                                                     66%                             89%

All Americans                                          42%                             53%

All Americans under age 40                   51%                             65%

All Americans over age 40                     36%                             46%

Practicing Christians under age 40       34%                             46%

The implications are that every age group—and virtually every demographic group—is more in favor of legally making Lesbians, Gays, Bi–sexual and Trans–gender people freer to live as they choose without society’s interference today than ten years ago.

One explanation Barna suggests is that Americans are better able to identify the goals that the LGBTQ community is striving for, including achieving benefits equal to heterosexuals’, equal employment opportunities, and of course, same–sex marriage. Additionally, Americans are more aware of the goals of LGBTQ people to adopt children and provide foster care, and to gain protection from discrimination.

The historic and traditional definition of marriage as “the union between one man and one woman” was embraced by 52% of Americans in 2003. In 2013 48% of Americans held that view, a change of only four percentage points, but a seismic temblor as the nation’s new minority definition of marriage.

Protestants overall have experienced a small shift in that view of marriage, from 75% ten years ago, to 70% in 2013. Catholics, however, have felt the earth shift, from 64% who defined marriage as a union between one man and one woman in 2003, but only 50% ten years later. Less than one–fifth of survey respondents (18%) who identify themselves as having “no faith” view marriage as between one man and one woman.

Of interest, only 37% of Americans say same–sex relationships are morally appropriate. Can we thus surmise that “morally appropriate” is not a highly–valued quality for many, since 52% of Americans favor greater legal freedoms, including same–sex marriage?

My point in this Blog is not to draw moral or religious conclusions (plenty of that has been done and will continue to be done), but simply to show that our society has changed significantly in its view of this issue, and to wonder aloud what the church did or didn’t do to affect society’s changing viewpoint. 

During Washington state’s referendum on gay marriage in 2012 (which ultimately permitted such legal marriage), many churches stood in support. Other churches were vociferous in their opposition. So we can infer that, at the very least, the state’s churches sent mixed signals. And church people on both sides of the issue were adamant in their views. Not much milquetoast here.

We can be quite sure that a smaller and smaller percentage of Americans view the Bible as authoritative or even relevant on this issue. It speaks quite clearly about homosexuality, if one chooses to listen (cf. Leviticus 18:21, 22, 20:13; Romans 1:26, 27; 1 Corinthians 6:9; 1 Timothy 1:8–10).

Of course, this watering down of Biblical authority will only spread to other social and moral issues as people are more and more divided on those issues as well.

There’s the old saying, “People who won’t stand for something will fall for anything.” Maybe the point isn’t so much that Christians haven’t stood for the right things. Maybe it has more to do with the likelihood that our beliefs haven’t translated into behaviors that are both immersed in truth and awash in compassion, devotion and unselfish service.

*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©. They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.
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Belief Shapes Behavior

7/22/2013

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During the winter of 1976–77, I was a lucky member of the 101st Airborne at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. One day we got four inches of snow in a couple hours, and the post commander sent everyone home—16,000 GIs and 6,000 civilians—22,000 people sharing the snow-packed roads of a relatively small town, all trying to drive somewhere on narrow streets, all at the same time. To compound the problem, the local residents saw snow just once or twice a year, and had very little experience driving through it. And I suppose many of the GIs were from non–snow areas too. It was chaos. I was riding with a fellow–soldier, and traffic was just inching along, so we stopped at a coffee shop to wait out the traffic.
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As we sat and watched the cars slipping and
sliding, spinning and skidding outside, a car pulled into the gas station next to the diner and slid slow–motion into a gas pump, knocking it over. It happened probably all of 50 feet away from me. Sparks shot out from under the car near the broken pipes. The driver jumped out and began to throw handfuls of snow onto
the sparks. Talk about futility!

I sat before a large plate glass window, mesmerized, watching the drama unfold. Suddenly I realized that if the gas pump
exploded, the window I was looking through would shatter inward, filling my face with broken shards of razor–sharp glass. I dived under the table, not thinking that if the tank below–ground blew, the flimsy restaurant table would be scant help!

My belief shaped my behavior that day—I dived under the table because of what I believed was about to happen. As it turned out, the gas pump never did explode. I guess the cold air kept the fumes down and a disaster was averted.

Our beliefs always shape our actions. Sometimes we say we believe something, but it's only lip service. Other times, our professed beliefs come through and are plain to everyone because they are catalysts of the things we do.

How are our beliefs being displayed each day? Do we act in accord with the things we say we believe (that’s called integrity)? Or do our actions betray beliefs we would never admit?

Develop good beliefs. Because sooner or later they’ll stand out and everyone will see.

*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©. They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.
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One Bad Apple

7/15/2013

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The history of the apple, a member of the rose family, isn’t quite as ancient as people think. An atheist ‘proved’ the Bible wrong, claiming that apples didn’t grow in the ancient Mideast, so Adam and Eve couldn’t have eaten the forbidden apple in the Garden of Eden, as the Bible claims. But the Bible doesn’t make any such claim about Adam and Eve eating an apple—it just says they consumed forbidden fruit! The critic didn’t read the text he was
criticizing.
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In a recent year, China produced the most apples (41% of the world’s crop), followed by the USA (11%), then Poland, Iran, Turkey and Italy. In 2009, apple production in the USA was led by Washington state (growing over half of all apples), followed by New York (11%), Michigan (8%), Pennsylvania and California. 
 
The native home of the apple is uncertain, but the tree probably originated in the Russia–Ukraine region. Apples’ charred remains were found in prehistoric Switzerland, and were a favorite of ancient Greeks and Romans. 

America’s earliest settlers brought the seeds with them from Europe; apples were grown in New England as early as 1630. Seeds were carried westward by missionaries, traders and native Americans. One man alone, John Chapman (Johnny Appleseed), did extensive planting of apple trees in the Midwest. One of his many stops was Fort Wayne, Indiana, where he’s a hero with a park named after him.

Have you ever bit into an apple, only to find a worm or a worm hole inside? Kind of distasteful, huh? But finding a worm in your apple isn’t half as bad as finding half
a worm in your apple.

Or, have you ever taken a bite from a nice–looking apple, only to find that the entire inside is
going bad? The fruit looks fine on the outside, but inside it’s full of rottenness! 

That’s an accurate picture of some people, who seem clean and wholesome on the outside, but inside are spoiled because of the sewage being churned out by their minds? We can look like a nice, clean person on the outside (like maybe what we are trying to project at church) while inside we’re full of rot caused by our thought life! 
 
That’s why the Bible advises, “Take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” (2 Cor. 10:5). Otherwise, we have no defense against becoming the one bad apple that can spoil the whole barrel.

*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©. They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.

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What's That Smell?

7/8/2013

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Considering the years I spent teaching world religions, maybe I shouldn’t admit that one of the most un–religious people ever was Jesus. Don’t forget, he was always in hot water with the religious leaders of his day.

In one of his more famous un–religious statements, Jesus said that pious, holier–than–thou religious people were slamming the door of heaven on the fingers of rejected, hurting people who wanted to be saved. He rightly called those self–righteous people “hypocrites.”

For all our pious, holy–sounding words about being good and living right, I wonder if we sometimes resemble the hypocrites more than we resemble Jesus. When Christians talk about “reaching the lost for Jesus,” we often picture people in Africa or the Amazon jungle or China, people some missionary is trying to win over to Christianity. But how often do we talk about reaching the lost for Jesus while picturing in our minds the American—the Washingtonian? How often do we picture people we see at McDonald’s, or Wal–Mart or the corner convenience store? How often do we envision the panhandler standing on the corner with that ubiquitous “Homeless—need help. God Bless!” sign? How often do we see people with different tastes and lifestyles, different beliefs, different vocabulary, then go out of our way to avoid them? Do we even plan our daily lives to make sure we don’t come into contact with them? Maybe sometimes! 
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Jesus went out of His way, too. But He went out of His way to bring love and forgiveness and inclusion,  instead of exclusion, to people who fit into the “them” category—not the “us”
category.

Jesus didn’t say, “Hey, everybody, come on into
the big tent—there’s room for every lifestyle and every belief.” Neither did He say, “It doesn’t matter what you believe or how you act—it’s just important that everyone feels good about himself; let’s hug each other and sing Kum Bah Yah.” That’s not what He said.

What He did say is, “Hey, everybody, come on into the Kingdom—there’s room for every person who repents of his or her sin and embraces the love of God—regardless of taste or vocabulary or background or status—or . . . regardless of your aroma!”

*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©. They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.

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Beautiful Hockey Player

7/1/2013

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One of my most painful experiences happened because of gossip. It involved some people who didn’t see anything wrong with saying cutting things behind my back. And it might seem harmless enough, unless it’s happening to us, of course. I fully understand the damage done by the tongue, because I’ve been victimized by it.
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Because of my own pain and the damage caused by unkind talk, I’m more aware of it and more determined to help others avoid the trouble that lurks behind just “a few
choice words” of gossip.

A young grocery store worker was spending his first day on the job. He was working in the produce department. A woman came up to him and said she wanted to buy half–a–head of lettuce. He tried to dissuade her from that
goal, but she persisted.

Finally he said, “I’ll have to ask the manager.” He walked to the front of the store, not noticing that the woman followed right behind him. When he got to the office, he
said to the manager, “There’s a bird–brain back there who wants to buy half–a–head of lettuce. What should I tell the wacko weirdo?”

Then, seeing the horrified look on the manager’s face, he turned around, saw the woman, and added, “And this nice lady will take the other half off our hands! Will that be all right?”

Considerably relieved, the manager said, “That would be fine.”

Later, he congratulated the boy on his quick thinking. He then asked, “Where are you from, son?”

The boy said, “My family is from Toronto, Canada, home of beautiful hockey players and ugly women.”

The manager huffed, “Well, my wife is from Toronto!”

Without missing a beat, the young man asked, “Oh, and what hockey team did she play for, Sir?”

In the New Testament, James warns that the tongue is a raging fire, because it “sets the whole course of [a] life on fire.” Then he reminds us, “With the tongue we praise our Lord and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in God's likeness.”

For 2,000 years (okay, 6,000 years) the human tongue has been causing trouble. Wise indeed is the person who seeks God’s help to tame it.

*The views expressed in this blog are in no way intended to represent the views of Child Evangelism Fellowship©. They are exclusively the expressed views of Curtis Alexander.

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