Sunday, May 27, 2007

The Gay Community's Non-Sense On Stilts!



A few days ago I read one of the more absurd articles I’ve read in recent times. The article was entitled “Churches Ban Gay Marriage”. This article was in response to South Africa’s recent legalization of same-sex marriage. The gay community is now lamenting the fact that some denominations, churches, and pastors refuse to officiate same-sex weddings, even though the recent legislation in South Africa provides for ministers to exercise their conscience on the issue.

The gist of the article was that, in light of some refusing to perform same-sex unions, now the issue had advanced from one of “gay rights” to one “human rights”. The letter below is my response to this absurd notion of marriage being a “human right”:


Dear Editor;

As a pastor I found the comments of Vista Kalipa (Churches ban gay marriage 17-05-07) telling. According to Kalipa and Triangle Project, marriage is now a "human rights issue".

I have always approached marriage as a God-given privilege. As such, there are a host of reasons why I won't marry some couples--being same-sex is but one.

If I don't think a couple is ready, or prepared, or fails to meet other biblical criteria, my policy is simple: I am not obligated to marry them. To date none of those I have turned away have ever died, gone hungry, suffered from lack of shelter, or been psychologically harmed as a result of my policy.

Since marriage is now a "human rights" issue, what about the following scenarios? :


  • Refusing to marry polygamists, which is technically legal here?

  • A case of pedogamy, whereby an intergenerational couple, ages 12 and 50, wish to marry. They are both consenting, loving, and the 12 year old has a signed permission slip from his or her parents. Am I obligated to marry them?
  • In the UK, animal rights activists have filed a court case on behalf of a chimp, to accord the chimp "human rights" status. If chimps are granted "human rights", would their human rights be violated if I refused to marry them?


In the end, Kalipa's absurd statement has more to do with trying to legislate opposing thought than human rights. For this reason I urge all truly God-fearing pastors and denominations to lovingly, yet firmly, stand true to their God-given convictions, and to obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29)!

Rev. Mark Christopher

The paper did print the letter and I did not receive any responses, either positively or negatively. What the original article underscored was the fact that the gay community isn’t interested in equal rights. Rather, they desire special rights whereby their “rights” trump everyone else’s. This is about them holding Bible-believing Christianity hostage with their transvalued logic. I have read enough of their own literature to know their goal is to destroy traditional Christianity and all of its institutions like marriage and family, which is all seen as the progenitor of their plight.

What I find interesting in this whole debate is that it is always Christianity that is the target of the gay lobby’s attacks. My questions is, what about Islam? As this debate has raged here in South Africa for the last several years, not one word or peep from the Islamic community or the Muslim Judicial Council—Why? Why hasn’t one of these avante-garde, postmodern journalists investigated Islam’s position on the whole homosexual, same-sex issue? For some inexplicable reason Islam has slid under the radar here. While the papers printed the names of churches and pastors that will marry same-sex couples, why didn’t they print the names of Imams and Mosques where same-sex couples could exchange their vows? –PROBABLY BECAUSE THERE ARE NONE!

Though I don’t pretend to know why Islam has been so silent on the subject here, I do have a theory. Could their silence be because they know this watershed event, of same-sex marriage, heralds the demise of western civilization as we know it? Is their silence part of their strategy to win the ultimate victory over the perverse infidels? Or is it because they hope the sanctioning of same-sex unions will lend greater credence and acceptance to the polygamous marriages they endorse? At this point I can only surmise, because the media is conspicuous by its silence toward Islam on this matter.

What I do know is, if the media were to pursue Islam on this topic the way they have Christianity, they would find themselves in a similar situation to that of Salmon Rushdie, after he wrote “Satanic Verses” a few years ago. Quite frankly, the modern day media doesn’t have the courage or the stomach for such an investigation. So it is that the gay community and its obedient lap-dog, the media, will content themselves with relentlessly attacking Bible-believing Christianity and making the true Church out to be the villain. This, of course, will ultimately fail, as Jesus Christ has built His Church and the gates of hell will not prevail!

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Streams of Spiritual Subterfuge--Part 2



In part one of this article I began discussing some of the major streams of thought that insidiously seduce many professing believers and poison the well of thought in the Church. In the former article I briefly examined the nature and consequences of individualism. Though the Bible teaches aspects of individualism, it does so within the confines of Christ and His blood-bought community, the Church. For this reason, we are to love our neighbor as ourselves!

Another dangerous contagion of thought that has mutated and made major inroads into the minds of many is the philosophy of radical egalitarianism. Egalitarianism is more practically known through the various equality movements … a.k.a equal rights. While some of the goals of the equal rights movement are noble and even laudable, like most secular philosophies many have gone to seed and burst the banks of all reasonable thought. It is one thing to promote equal pay for equal work, or to seek social and legal equality for those of a different ethnicity and culture. But when egalitarians seek to erase all known, observable God-given distinctions, reason has jumped the fence and given birth to radical egalitarianism.

The Bible clearly recognizes an equality of essence, whereby all men and women of all races, classes, and creeds share an equality of derived essence (or being) from God as Creator. The New Testament underscores this equality of essence in the very nature of the gospel message. In passages like Galatians 3:28; Colossians 1:28; & 3:11, it is clearly taught that there is no segregation or apartheid at the foot of the cross. The finished work of Jesus Christ on Calvary provides a level playing for all who desire salvation and the forgiveness of sin. There is one salvation for all mankind that transcends the barriers sinful man has constructed.

This God-given equality underscored in salvation through Christ, gives way to the obvious distinctions found in function, form, and responsibility. It should be obvious to all (sadly it is not) not all were born with equal abilities. Some are stronger, faster, smarter, wiser, more talented, more skillful, more experienced, more qualified, and more proficient. In the Christian economy such distinctions of ability are duly noted in the function of the Church. All believers are gifted differently and variously (1 Corinthians 12:4-31; Romans 12:4-8). Apart from such variation and degrees of giftedness, the Church couldn’t adequately function. Further, God established a simple hierarchy of leadership (1 Timothy 3:1-7; Titus 1:5-11), without which the Church would cease to fulfill her divine mandate.

Radical egalitarianism endeavors to eradicate all such distinctions of form and function from society. The result is the homogenizing of culture into a bland and ambiguous tolerance. When all distinctions are expunged, all perversions become acceptable. Many academics and postmodern think-tank elites promote the notion of the androgynous ideal. In the androgynous world there is neither male nor female, as these are constructs of society. Hence, the neuter-gender ideal is ardently promoted. Radical Feminism has advanced this cause for over forty years now. The gay rights movement has this as their cardinal virtue. This why we see them tenaciously embrace trans-sexuality, trans-gender, and transvestitism. In this bazaar world without boundaries everything is acceptable except the obvious—distinctions.

How has such none-sense on stilts influenced the Church? Here are but a couple of ways:

  • The feminist movement—both the secular and evangelical versions—has so conditioned men through the various appendages of the media, academics, and culture, that many are now confused. Many men have become frustrated and now suffer from Gender-Identity Crisis (GIC). Men no longer know what it means to be a man, let alone a godly man. We have been told to get in-touch with our feminine selves. The result is that men are in the process of being feminized, while the women are being masculinized. Many men are now on the pathway of emasculated masculinity. Think of the impact of this on the family, the Church, and society. As a pastor, one of the greatest challenges I have is to get men to be godly men and lead their families in a truly spiritual way. This is why godly, qualified leadership in the Church is becoming increasingly harder to come by.

  • Closely related to the Gender-Identity Crisis, is the breakdown of the family. Radical egalitarianism has sought to subvert biblical gender-roles. This has produced a situation where the wives are often actively in-submissive, while the husbands are subjugated and passive. There has been a role reversal and a corresponding blurring of authority. This has produced more confusion and ultimately chaos in the home, as God-given guidelines are ignored. The believing husband is to always love his wife as Christ loved the Church (sacrificially), while the believing wife is to voluntarily and functionally submit (Ephesians 5:23ff). In this, they both realize their fulfillment as they mirror the relationship Christ has with His Church! This is the only antidote for the current ills that plague our homes.

  • Radical egalitarianism has negatively influenced the Church in profound ways. Thus, it is now fairly common-place for women to pursue the pastorate (1 Timothy 2:9-15). It is no mere coincidence that homosexuality in the Church and homosexuals in the pulpit, has become the issue de jure of the day. What few realize is that the same hermeneutic used to justify women in the pulpit, is the one-in-the-same hermeneutic marshaled to advance homosexuality in the Church. A Church that advocates women in the pulpit today, will more than likely either soften, or abandon altogether, its stance on homosexuality tomorrow. The issue as it relates to women is not one of individual ability, but rather an issue related to divinely sanctioned suitability for a God designed role.


    There is no doubt radical egalitarianism has gone to an unacceptable extreme as its advocates have sought to influence all of society. But they have forgotten not all ideas are equal. Not all have equal strength, intelligence, or ability for a given task. Not all who ride in The Argus Cycle Tour have equal talent, training, experience, or equipment, as the results clearly attest. Though the lowly private is equal in essence to the general, in function there is an observed hierarchy, apart from which the military could not operate effectively.

    Outside of death being the great equalizer, there is only one place where all of humanity has an equal footing—in the shadow of the cross of Christ. God’s provision of salvation does not discriminate. Yet, in the living out of that salvation there is a biblically prescribed form and function that must be observed. The Church ignores this to its own detriment. Our true identity and fulfillment as the Bride of Christ is at stake. If we, as the Church, are to comply with our divinely appointed mandate, we must shake off the fertilizing effects of radical egalitarianism by refusing to compromise with the spirit of the age.


    (Part Three of this article will address the issues of democracy and freedom respectively)