Rousing Her Radiance: Day 25

Free Fall

‘Do not move an ancient boundary stone or encroach on the fields of the fatherless, for their Defender is strong; He will take up their case against you.’– Proverbs 23:10-11

35 years ago, a friend of mine dreamt of a woman attending a wedding in a large church. To her horror, she discovered both partners were men. She ran out disturbed, not only because of the event but because she knew she could not return to her church. She was homeless.

That nightmare came true. Rainbow rights now divide the Church and scatter sheep. I became a Christian during this free fall; throughout the 80’s and 90’s, I witnessed the relentless drive for sexual ‘diversity’ wearing down America’s historic Protestant denominations until the faithful cried uncle—"just ‘give ‘em want they want: ‘gay’ clergy and marital blessings,” etc. (Thank God for faithful Southern Baptists and related Biblicists who haven’t bent the knee.)

Churches that now fly the rainbow flag—Episcopalians, Presbyterians (PCUSA), Evangelical Lutherans, American Baptists, the United Church of Christ, and now the Methodists—are in free fall. Members have left and are leaving in droves. On average, these groups have lost approximately 60% of their members, and losses mount quickly to this day.

Did God withdraw His hand? Or did they force His hand? The issue isn’t sexually broken people. Jesus came for them. Rainbow rights are emblematic of a bigger problem. Persistent fools rushed into the void.

Embracing sexual ‘diversity’ indicates that the Church has abdicated her ‘good news’ for a fake gospel. Real ‘good news’ includes both a radiant kerygma, the living flame of Christ Crucified and Resurrected that ignites sinners and frees them to become saints and a radiant anthropology—what it means to be human, made in God’s image and how our sexuality is an essential part of that representation—that is binary, creative, dignified by committing to another’s dignity. A blazing kerygma (an empowered declared Gospel) and biblical anthropology (the Imago Dei) unite all Christians and invite us onto a compassionate trajectory toward chaste living.

That matters to God! These historic denominations lost the primacy of the Cross and the Divine Image in humanity. They made these two optional, debatable. As a Protestant seminarian throughout the eighties (alongside students from the aforementioned denominations), I recall a visiting lecturer arguing that love between two people, not sexual complementarity, defined the Imago Dei. I knew then that ‘gay’ and even ‘trans’ ‘love’ would race into that void. And it has. Put down the Cross and Imago Dei and fools rush in.

Last week a friend visited Rome and was dismayed to find a pride flag waving above the US Embassy to the Holy See (the seat of US and Vatican relations). When he asked why, the ambassador replied simply: ‘We follow USA social policy.’ Bad lead. May Catholics learn from their Protestant brothers before it’s too late.

Raising the rainbow flag signals a Church in free fall. We don’t know who we are and who He is as our Creator/Redeemer. The sheep scatter because they know better.

‘Father, help us to stay clear in our ‘good news.’ You have entrusted us with life-transforming truth that frees us from deception, frees us for You and each other’s best. Keep us free. Rouse Your Church in this hour to shine and gather lost sheep. Help us to do our part! How can we not? Your radiant love has restored our original dignity.’

‘Father, we thank You for Jesus who established the Church on a Rock against which hell will not prevail (Matt 16:18). We pray for every Christian leader to build on Her firm foundation of sexual clarity and integrity. Father, unmask the deceiver and divider of Christians and unite us in one Spirit. As weak members of Christ, we ask for truth to guide our pursuit of sexual wholeness, for grace to sustain it, and for spiritual power to transform us. May we reflect the chaste radiance of Jesus (2 Cor. 3:18) as we “shine like stars in the universe, holding out the word of life” (Phil. 2:15-16) to a lost and hurting world.’