The Message Is More Powerful Than We Know

I was reading an article posted on beliefnet.com by Richard Hays (an NT scholar who teaches at Duke Divinity School) on biblical teaching on homosexuality. He says the point about it made in Romans 1 is that homosexuality like many other sins, is a symptom, not the core problem. The symptoms (sinful desires) are results of our rejection of God:

"The genius of Paul's analysis lies in his refusal to posit a catalog of sins as the cause of human alienation from God. Instead, he delves to the root: all other depravities follow from the radical rebellion of the creature against the Creator (1:24-31). In order to make his accusation stick, Paul has to claim that these human beings are actually in rebellion against God, not merely ignorant of him. The way in which the argument is framed here is crucial: ignorance is the consequence of humanity's primal rebellion. Because human beings did not acknowledge God, 'they became futile in their thinking, and their senseless minds were darkened.' The passage is not merely a polemical denunciation of selected pagan vices; it is a diagnosis of the human condition."

This is a great point, but what struck me even more is something he says earlier in the article:

"The most crucial text for Christian ethic concerning homosexuality remains Romans 1, because this is the only passage in the New Testament that explains the condemnation of homosexual behavior in an explicitly theological context. The substance of Paul's exposition begins with a programmatic declaration in 1:16-17: the gospel is "the power of God for salvation to everyone who has faith, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed through faith for faith; as it is written, `The one who is righteous will live by faith.' The gospel is not merely a moral or philosophical teaching that hearers may accept or reject as they choose; it is rather the eschatological instrument which God is working out in the world." (emphasis my own)

This means that when Paul talks about the gospel being the "power of God" in vs. 1:16-17, that power is, well...powerful. Christ's message about the coming (and present) Kingdom of God is active, moving, affecting--as Hebrews 4:12 tells us, "the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart."

The gospel is having, and will have, its way with us whether we like it or not!

This brings to mind some things C.S. Lewis said in his essay, "What Are We to Make of Jesus Christ?" published in God in the Dock:

"What are we to make of Jesus Christ? This is a question which has, in a sense, a frantically comic side. For the real question is not what are we to make of Christ, but what is He to make of us?"

"The things He says are very different from what any other teacher has said. Others say, 'This is the truth about the universe. This is the way you ought to go,' but He says, 'I am the Truth, and the Way, and the Life.' He says, 'No man can reach absolute reality, except through Me. Try to retain your own life and you will be inevitably ruined. Give yourself away and you will be saved.' He says, 'If you are ashamed of Me, if , when you hear this call, you turn the other way, I also will look the other way when I come again as God without disguise. If anything whatever is keeping you from God and from Me, whatever it is, throw it away. If it is your eye, pull it out. If it is your hand, cut it off. If you put yourself first you will be last. Come to Me everyone who is carrying a heavy load, I will set that right. Your sins, all of them, are wiped out. I can do that. I am Rebirth, I am Life. Eat me, drink Me, I am your Food. And finally , do not be afraid, I have overcome the whole universe.' That is the issue."

Aslan (and his message) is on the move, and whether we like it or not, we are the ones being moved upon!

MM