Are you a parent who’s ever had to explain the facts of life to your children? As you matured, did you have to figure out this subject on your own?
It’s a conversation that has become more challenging in recent years. There’s been a deliberate push to muddy the waters of sex, gender, personal identity and the relationships that build the family unit. Today we’ll take a brief look at how to bring simplicity back to the discussion.
But first, welcome to “Mornings with Bishop Robert,” thanks for joining me. My goal is to introduce people to the Jesus they never knew, and help them get to know Him and His word personally – and better ! If our time together today speaks to your heart, then let me invite you to like, subscribe and share it with a friend !
Last week a California court ruled that a bumblebee is a fish. Nope, you can’t make this stuff up. (And I promise you I’m not!)
The Third District of the California State Appellate Court said, and believe it or not I’m quoting here, “The issue presented here is whether the bumble bee, a terrestrial invertebrate, falls within the definition of fish.” Why it should take over a dozen attorneys and three judges to decide THAT issue boggles the mind. I’m neither a scientist nor a lawyer but, as anyone with the observational skills of a first grader can clearly see, a bumblebee is not a fish. It never was. It never will be. And no legal ruling can change that fact. One of these things is NOT like the other.
To be fair, these verbal gymnastics are a function of looking for a way to allow the California Fish and Game Commission to identify four bumblebee species as “endangered.” But changing the plain meaning of terms and insisting that things ARE what they obviously ARE NOT is hardly the answer. Sadly, the California courts is not the only place this approach is being taken.
Which brings us to today’s verse. GOD CREATED THEM MAN AND WOMAN.
This clear biblical statement stands in opposition to much of what the mainstream liberal media outlets and any number of groups claim. For example, a “health information site” on the Internet with over 200 million visits per month claims to uphold the highest standards of medical integrity and only publish information that is medically accurate and evidence based; but then publishes an article stating, “Although many are taught that there are only two sexes — male and female — that isn’t true.”
As we begin our discussion this morning, wisdom requires a few opening statements. They’re all things I’ve made clear before, but bear repeating here and now.
I do not “hate” certain types of people, nor do I have “phobias” directed towards any certain un-biblical behavior. I have both relatives and friends that I love dearly who struggle with issues of confused sexuality and gender identity. But the first role of the Church is to speak the truth, and most especially biblical truth. When we fail to speak truth then we fail to love well. I want to love well, and that also requires that I present the truth in a gentle and loving manner, inviting people trapped in darkness into the light of Christ and His freedom.
The bible clearly states the God created our race with two sexes or genders. It wasn’t until the 1950’s that anyone claimed these terms meant different things; up until then the acceptance of the fact that we are either male or female was universal. When Jesus was asked to address a question about divorce, He made reference to our verse in His reply. He said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’?”
Jesus speaks truth to two foundational issues. First, he defines our physical being clearly. “He who created them from the beginning made them male and female.” Secondly, he defines marriage as being between a male and a female. “A man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife.”
One could come to the conclusion that there is a concerted push to undermine and confuse the up and coming generations, to destroy the very foundations upon which society exists. We’ve already seen the destructive result of destroying the foundational family unit of a home led by a father and a mother in a committed marriage relationship. The global rise in violent crime speaks for itself. Deliberately re-defining terms that have been used for millennia while adding conflicting claims breeds only confusion. It’s the kind of insidious attack our enemy is known for.
GOD CREATED THEM MAN AND WOMAN
He did, and that is plain to see. It is just as impossible to change that as it is to legally declare that a bumblebee is a fish.
Are we not better off by speaking the truth in love? Are not our children better served by the simplicity this truth provides and the solid foundation it lays?
There is no shortage of real issues to be wrestled with as our youth grow into responsible adulthood. We have a responsibility to help them by speaking truth, not by standing on the sidelines and joining the throngs of people admiring the emperor’s new clothes.
You and I, we have a responsibility to speak the truth. Our kids deserve it. Our society deserves it. Most importantly, God expects it.
