Denying gay people the full counsel of God
When Bible translators play into Satan’s hands
After an interview I had done for the monthly American Family Association magazine, I was contacted by a small church in Illinois inviting me to come do a speaking series on the Christian influences on the founding of our country. I was just starting to do itinerant speaking like that, and so I was very excited about the prospect.
About a week before the event was scheduled, the minister at the church contacted me and asked me to submit all my notes and presentation slides I would be using so that they could check the translation I used for my Bible references. They were a King James Version only church and required that be the only version used in presentations. I adjusted accordingly and happily submitted my material. The church was wonderful, the people were receptive, the minister and his family were exceedingly kind.
I may not agree with the perspective that says the King James Version is the only reliable and trustworthy English translation of the Bible, but I will always have a great deal of respect for anyone earnestly and honestly seeking to hold fidelity to the true Word of God. Personally, I think most English Bible translators make every effort in that regard, and rather than make accusations of nefarious intent over passages that seem to miss the mark, I’d rather just publicize and instruct why a different translation offers a better understanding.
And that’s why when I became aware of the bizarre rendering of a passage on homosexuality that was released recently in the New Revised Standard Version (NRSV), I thought it was important to draw attention to it. Coming on the heels of the House of Representatives voting to abandon the Christian (and time-honored, cross-cultural) definition of marriage, it’s no secret that those of us who hold to it are becoming increasingly marginalized in society.
For the Christian, marriage is etched into the very moral order of creation. Not only is it the foundation of the human community’s most consequential and fundamental unit – the family – but it is also a model to the world of what the Apostle Paul calls the grandly mysterious relationship Christ has with His church.
It’s not so much that pagan society rejects marriage or seeks to un-define it for their own purposes that Christians should be wary of – those who do so are merely acting in accordance with their own worldview. Rather it is the desire and effort to coerce believers into endorsing, promoting, and participating in their efforts that should draw our concerned attention.
Forget civil law for a moment and let me affirm unequivocally that jettisoning the natural boundaries of what God considers family, betraying His created moral order for sexuality, testifying that there is holiness to be found in what God specifically describes as sinful behavior is something a believer cannot and will not do.