The other day I wrote a brief post on the rising religious standard required by the politically-correct elites if one is to stand and speak in the public square. There are fun times ahead. Today I want to point to a couple of very helpful posts which addressed a different angle on the Louie Giglio incident. Let me recap.
Pastor Giglio preached a sermon some 20 years ago, and in it he condemned homosexuality as a sin. A few days ago, that fact came out in public and, because Pastor Giglio was due to pray at President Obama’s inauguration, Giglio got in trouble with the gay lobby and their friends (which evidently includes President Obama). Once in trouble, Giglio evidently stepped down from his role in the inauguration. He voluntarily stepped down. Here’s Giglio’s stated reason why he stepped down:
“Due to a message of mine that has surfaced from 15-20 years ago, it is likely that my participation, and the prayer I would offer, will be dwarfed by those seeking to make their agenda the focal point of the inauguration. Clearly, speaking on this issue has not been in the range of my priorities in the past fifteen years. Instead, my aim has been to call people to ultimate significance as we make much of Jesus Christ.”
Here is how I read it: Giglio is withdrawing because some people made a fuss about what he said about homosexuality, and because homosexuality has been an important issue in his ministry since ‘that sermon’ he would rather not cause a fuss about it. It would cause people to be distracted from the core of his ministry; the Gospel. At this point I will point you elsewhere, because anything I say from now on will be indebted to these fine folk.
Firstly, Tim Bayly’s response to the above statement:
“Which is to say Mr. Giglio has long been dispassionate concerning the souls of sodomites. Calling them to repentance “has not been in the range of (his) priorities for the past fifteen years.”
His passion is now reserved for “call(ing) people to ultimate significance” and “mak(ing) much of Jesus Christ.”
Is this quibbling over words? I think not.”
Indeed, Bayly goes on to point out that there is no real difference between “calling people to ultimate significance” in Jesus, and preaching God’s holy law and calling people to repent and believe. Giglio has made a false dichotomy.
Finally, Centurion over at Team Pyro sums it up well :
“This week, I pray for our nation which now can brand a man a bigot because he believes that sex is important enough to have inherent governing principles. And I pray for that man, because he doesn’t think those principles, and their creator and sustainer, are worth making a public fuss anymore.”
We should think long and hard about this, because we too are likely to be faced with an analogous situation in our own lives. At some point someone will ask “What do you think?” And if we balk and say “Oh, that’s not really a core issue, so what I think is irrelevant,” then we are following Giglio’s example. The world hates God’s law, and we are to love it, and make much of Him by our love for it.
Picture credit: Some rights reserved by whittmedia
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