Evolve

Do Christians need to "evolve"?

I found myself asking this question while reading this article, citing an evangelical pastor being dis-invited from the US Presidential Ceremony benediction. The pastor in question, Louie Giglio, of Passion Conference fame, has been invited by the presidential committee due to his rather passionate battle against human trafficking. Yes, I deliberately used "passionate". However, as the committee found out from one of his sermons of 20 years prior, he had "backwards" notions against the issue of same-sex unions, of which they thoroughly disagreed. They deemed that a person of his beliefs does not typify what the President wants.

The issue touches on how a Christian should think of matters now being made highly relevant and seemingly important in society, among others like "Why get an evangelical pastor who believes that sin is sin, no matter how sensitized it is, and while sin is sin, that there is a Redeemer for sinners who repent and believe in Him, and that this Redeemer not only washes and forgives them, but grants them new life and empowers them to loving obedience and persevering faith?" Mohler's article points this out more beautifully and succinctly than I can dream of. Moving along, the issue is raised in the American context, and to be fair, might only be relevant to the post-Christian Western societies. I find it hard, however, to imagine that these same concerns not making their waves into this country. These issues are highly sensitized, and get considerable publicity. As for their publicity, I do not just mean the news. Isn't it amazing that we get more and more characters in movies and televisions imbibing these popular views? Nearly half a year ago, I found myself observing a rally promoting and supporting same-sex relationships, in my beloved campus no less. While that might be a small-scale expression, what we have in our teleseryes and movies are more powerful carriers of their message. If you are not of the teleserye-watching kind, US series' have more blatant characters. They are usually written well. While their perspective and lifestyle are clearly representations of the issues in question, we tend to overlook that because they are usually the funny, easily relatable types. They veer us away, successfully, from the issues at hand.

I will not deal with the specific issues at the mean time. This is more of assessment, rather than straight-up contention. Mainly the reason is that I am not an expert on such things. I have yet to spend considerable time studying them one by one, or at least reading, what seems to be primary resources. (If I am allowed to be excused, I am still adjusting to my new full time work. Barely a month in! But I am enjoying it.) While I can make preliminary opinions of same-sex unions, divorce, the RH bill and etc., it would be an injustice to how these issues mean to society at the legislative and practical levels. These issues have great impact, and deserves, at the very least, to be treated seriously. For example, it is a good thing that the dreaded anti-cybercrime law is under a necessary 120-day suspension. It definitely needs revisions. I believe discussions will resume later this month, and one can only hope for propriety. Crowdsourcing, which I think is necessary, is the way it is going. But I digress.

Back to the question: it assumes that the Christian worldview needs to be tweaked in order to answer the pressing issues of the day. However, is the Christian worldview lacking in answering such issues? In the article the Christian worldview, while not lacking an answer to the issue, is deemed backwards. The historical and biblical worldview has become outdated. There is a seeming need to "evolve", to progress in our thinking of such issues. One may argue that we need to evolve since we are facing newer realities now; we did not know back then what we know now. Are the issues posed in society new realities, new problems that we must overcome? Do we need newer laws to reflect what is the utopian dream, the perfect human society? I heard someone said that "laws don't just represent the realities, laws also represent aspirations." The pressing issues of the day ask for new laws to legalize their respective propositions, making them not just norms but somehow, aspirations. Do we aspire for a society where abortions, divorce, and all manner of "newer" realities are the norm? Is this the highest form of human society? I am but asking.

Plainly, my answer to the question is "no". It is my firm belief that the Christian worldview is able to answer what life should be like. It is not because the Christian is superior, but because the Lord of the Universe is. It is God who has clearly defined what human life is for, and where it finds its deepest expression, meaning, and satisfaction. It is God's aim for men and women to not find their joy in something less, but in the best. If anything, Christians must indeed "evolve" but not dismantling or tweaking away at truth. Rather, we must "evolve" into being more God-entranced, more Christ-centered, and more Spirit-filled in our thinking and lifestyle. There is an ever present need to grow in grace, and in the knowledge of the Lord. The pressing issues are only pressing, not because they are new, but because our minds might have been dulled and lulled. Serious matters demand serious answers, and the Christian has resources for just that. If it is backwards to hold on to clearly defined truth, then I'm more than willing to be the hardest man to convince. O, that we might recover wisdom.