Author: Evan Lenow

Christ-follower, husband, father, ethics professor

New Video Resource: Homosexuality and the Church

~ Evan Lenow ~ 10 Comments

I have recently been a part of a number of conversations about why the church seems to focus so much on the sin of homosexuality right now. That is a very valid question in light of all the other sins we see listed in Scripture. However, I believe one of the main reasons this has become a focus of the church is due to the fact that the homosexual lifestyle has been promoted so strongly in the culture. In some respects, we are simply responding to the most evident pressure point in our culture. While homosexuality is certainly not the only–or greatest–sin addressed in the Bible, it seems to be the one that comes with the most cultural approval today.

For that reason, I am thankful to Dr. John Mark Caton and his staff at Cottonwood Creek Baptist Church in Allen, TX, for producing this video resource addressing homosexuality and the church. I had the privilege of sitting down with Dr. Caton and participating in this interview back in October, and it is now available on YouTube. I pray you find it useful.

Will All the Ducks Fly Away?

~ Evan Lenow ~ 5 Comments

“God, Family, Ducks…in that order.” So reads the Twitter profile of Jase Robertson, one of the stars of A&E’s “Duck Dynasty” reality show. It looks like that saying is about to be tested. A&E has suspended Phil Robertson, father of Jase, Willie, and Jep Robertson and founder of Duck Commander, for his recent comments about homosexuality in an interview published in GQ.

A&E released the following statement:

We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty. His personal views in no way reflect those of A+E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.

Apart from the irony that Phil Robertson was doing an interview with GQ, the substance of his comments was not really surprising. In the interview Phil calls himself a “Bible-thumper,” and the author describes this commitment to the Bible by saying that Phil “thumps that Bible hard enough to ring the bell at a county-fair test of strength.”

The controversial statements that have led to his suspension from the blockbuster show revolve around the issue of homosexuality. The interviewer asked, “What, in your mind, is sinful?” Phil responded:

Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men. Don’t be deceived. Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.

In a further discussion of homosexuality, Phil makes a somewhat crude biological case against homosexuality and concludes by saying, “But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

So now both sides have spoken. Phil spoke his mind on homosexuality and other issues, and A&E has spoken by indefinitely suspending Phil from future filming.

What should Phil and his family do now?

For the Robertson family, this will be a test of their family creed. From the beginning of the show, they have committed to “three no-compromises” of “faith, betrayal of family members, and duck season.” The first two are now on the line for the Robertsons. The patriarch of the family has essentially been fired from the show for expressing his religious views. The rest of the men, including Duck Commander president Willie Robertson (one of Phil’s sons), are about to have their allegiance to family tested. Do they go on without Phil or stand by him?

When asked about the sons’ views on morality, the youngest son, Jep Robertson, replied, “We’re not quite as outspoken as my dad, but I’m definitely in line. If somebody asks, I tell ’em what the Bible says.” It’s now time to see if the Robertson family sticks together through thick and thin.

What’s the right decision for the Robertsons? I think they only have one option—walk out on the show. Sure, the show could go on without Phil, but the family couldn’t. Either Phil is a part of the show or no one is on the show. That is the only option.

Perhaps Phil was being more prophetic than he realized when he told the interviewer that the show would not last forever. He said, “Let’s face it. Three, four, five years, we’re out of here. You know what I’m saying? It’s a TV show. This thing ain’t gonna last forever. No way.” This may be the end of “Duck Dynasty,” but it would solidify a family who is committed to no compromise on faith and betrayal of family.

_________________________

Drew Magary, “What the Duck?” GQ, January 2014. (*Warning: This article contains profanity, not from Phil Robertson or any other members of the family but from the interviewer.)

A. J. Marechal, “‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Phil Robertson Fired Following Anti-Gay Remarks,” Variety, December 18, 2013.

Guest Post: What’s “Naughty or Nice” Got to Do with It?

~ Evan Lenow

This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for Biblical Woman, the blog site for the Women’s Programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The post originally appeared here.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Eph 2:8)

I love this time of year! Love everything about it! If you read my last post, you will understand that my feelings toward the Christmas season are the exact opposite from my thoughts of that last day of October. I love the music, the smells, even the craziness of all the parties. Being a mommy at Christmas time is like being a tour guide at some magnificent destination. I get the privilege of guiding them to experience all the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and activities of the season. Sometimes we focus on a favorite tradition my husband or I had growing up or sometimes we create our own new traditions. I enjoy the millions of questions that surface in the awestruck mind of a child. However, I have noticed a question arising more and more in the last few years, not necessarily with my own children, but with our culture as a whole. It has nothing to do with “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays.” It is the question of “Have you been good this year?”

Oh, I know. It’s just a saying. We’ve all said it without any real meaning behind it. However, through the marketing and merchandise around us, I believe this idea is creeping into our hearts and minds more and more.  Many of you know of a little elf that you can pretend watches your kids to make sure they are being good. Even in the Christian circles, merchandise has been created to encourage our kids to be good this time of year. If not, they will find switches and ashes in their stocking. Of course, many dismiss it as part of the make-believe game we play with our children at Christmas.

However, I would argue it is more dangerous than that. The danger comes from the fact that it preaches a different gospel. In the New Testament, Paul marveled that the church in Galatia was “turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6). Even then, the people of Galatia were turning away from a gospel of grace to a different gospel of works. The Gospel of Christmas is that God loved us so much, He sent his only Son and all we have to do is believe in Him and He will grant us eternal life (John 3:16). Ephesians says, “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God.” (Ephesians 2:8) The gift of Christ is a gift not based on our works. There is no naughty or nice list in Heaven where, if we have more checks on the nice side, we get the gift. The gift of Christ is given to us simply because God loves us and desires a relationship with us for His glory.

In light of this, I want to challenge myself to remove this false gospel from my vocabulary and most of all from my heart. How do I approach giving gifts this Christmas? Do I do it out of obligation? I truly desire my attitude of gift giving to be one that reflects the same attitude of God. I want to give out of an overflow of the incredible gift that God has already given to me. Most importantly, I want to love this Christmas in an unconditional way, expecting nothing in return, but pointing the object of my love back to my Savior who loved me so. What if my 4-year-old throws a fit that goes 10.0 on the Richter scale because he didn’t get the right color cup on Christmas morning? Am I going to be just as joyful about giving him gifts as I would be if he had been an angel? What about that family member who rubs you the wrong way? Will you buy her a present out of obligation or will you see it as a way to minister to her and show her the unconditional love that comes only from Christ? This Christmas, may we give our loved ones gifts not because they were nice to us, but because the greatest Gift-giver loved us so to give us Jesus.

As we talk with our children, let us make it absolutely clear that receiving gifts has nothing to do with their works, but has everything to do with celebrating the greatest Gift of all. None of us deserve the Gift of Christmas, “but God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us,” (Ephesians 2:4) gave us the most wonderful gift of all.

To Live Is Christ and To Die is Gain: The Morality of Suicide

~ Evan Lenow

The Pew Research Center released the results of a recent study on views of end of life medical treatment. Among the more interesting findings is how different faith groups view the morality of ending life. In an analysis of the findings, Christianity Today reports, “About a quarter of evangelicals believe that a person has a moral right to suicide if he or she is ready to die because living is now a burden, or if that person is an extremely heavy burden on his or her family.”

When the situation is escalated to an incurable disease, 36% of white evangelicals believe a person has a moral right to suicide. If the patient “is in a great deal of pain” with “no hope of improvement,” the percentage increases to 42%.

Should we be surprised by these increasing numbers? Is it concerning that growing percentages of evangelicals (and every other religious category) view suicide as a moral right?

When I was a seminary student, I took a class on the ethics of life and death. One of my classmates made a presentation asserting that he would rather take his life than live through a difficult disease. He based his conclusion on the words of Philippians 1:21,

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain.

My classmate rebuffed any attempts to be talked out of his view that his moral right—even his biblical right—was to take the supposed perspective of Paul and seek death in order to be united with Christ.

While the Pew Research Center did not equate the changing views of faith groups with the Pauline declaration of Philippians 1:21, I cannot help but think that is at least in the background. Is this what Paul meant? Did he really intend to encourage Christians to seek death over life in difficult circumstances?

Let’s take a moment and consider what was happening in Paul’s life.

In Phil 1:7, we see that Paul has been imprisoned. He is fighting for his own freedom (and possibly his life) in front of the Roman authorities. Even though Paul was a Roman citizen and may have spent some of his imprisonment in house arrest, the Roman authorities were still not known for making the lives of their prisoners as comfortable as possible. In fact, it is likely that Paul considered his own life to be at risk from the Roman government. His spirits are buoyed by the love and affection of the believers in Philippi (Phil 1:3–11), but life is still hard.

Taken out of context, Phil 1:21 seems to be Paul’s final desire for death in the face of his circumstances. But we need to take a closer look. He goes on to say, “But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose” (Phil 1:22). Verse 22 puts Paul’s struggle in context. He knows that if he continues living he will be fruitful spreading the gospel, but if his life ends he will be united with Christ. We then read the following:

But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake.  Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again. (Phil 1:23–26)

Paul sets aside his own personal desire to be united with Christ and sets his sights on living for the benefit of those he loves. He considers it to be more necessary that his sufferings continue for the sake of the Philippians so that they will progress in their faith.

Now let’s revisit the topic at hand. Do we have a moral right to suicide? The text most often employed to justify this right (Phil 1:21) actually compels us to continue living for the sake of others. No matter how bad the circumstances are, our suffering can be beneficial for the faith of others.

Suicide is often considered an escape from the pain of this world. No one desires to endure an extended bout with a terminal illness. No one wants to be a burden on family. However, claiming a moral right to suicide does not take into account the biblical understanding of the value of life and how persevering in terrible circumstances can build the faith of others and advance the gospel.

_________________________

Pew Research Center, “Views on End-of-Life Medical Treatments,” November 21, 2013.

Sarah Eekhoff Zylstra, “More Evangelicals Believe Suicide Is a Moral Right,” Christianity Today, November 21, 2013.

New Study Available: Biblically Correct

~ Evan Lenow

I am excited to announce that my study, Biblically Correct: Engaging Culture with Truth, is now available at Amazon and CreateSpace. This is a 10-week study on ethics and cultural engagement designed for use in the local church. The study addresses some of the most important ethical issues of our day and helps us consider the biblically correct perspective on these issues. Some of the issues include: worldview, marriage, sexuality, life and death, and the public square.

While designed for large or small group use in the local church, this study may also be beneficial for individual use. You can click the links in this post or on the right toolbar to order the study. If your church is interested in ordering a large number of books, please feel free to contact me by clicking on my faculty profile link on the right.

If you want to see how one church used the study this fall as part of a large group teaching time, you can watch the videos from the women’s ministry at Bellevue Baptist Church in Memphis, TN.

*Shameless self-promotion has now ended, and this blog will return to its normal content.