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Podcast
Debated Issues
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Transcript
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Hi, I'm Dave DeWitt, and today I'd like to talk about how to deal with debated issues
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in Christianity.
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What about things like drinking alcohol, gambling, body piercings, tattoos, eating junk food,
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euthanasia, abortion, funding businesses that support sinful issues, political involvement,
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smoking cigars, smoking marijuana, using medical marijuana, R-rated movies, karate,
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playing video games, cohabitation, using violence to defend your family, debt, personal business
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and college loans, owning world's goods like, say, a boat to encourage time with your family.
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This specific list is not intended to be exhaustive.
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For example, theological issues, theological debated issues, are not going to be considered
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here.
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Theology focuses on the nature of God, whereas this is about the application of godliness
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to some commonly debated moral issues.
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So let's start with the definition of a debated issue.
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On the one hand, we have liberal Christians like Brian McLaren, Rob Bell, and the Emergent
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Church who want to have a discussion about everything.
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On the other hand, we have the conservative Christian who says, it's just plain wrong,
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so why is there any need to debate it?
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I want to define my subject debated issue this way.
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A debated issue is an act that's not today nor has been historically generally agreed
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upon as being wrong by a plurality of Christian leaders.
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Now let me repeat that.
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A debated issue is an act which is not today nor has been historically agreed upon as being
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wrong by a plurality of Christian leaders.
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For example, what would Augustine, Athanasius, Luther, Calvin, Jonathan Edwards, Charles
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Ryrie, what would they say about this issue?
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If they would disagree, then maybe it's a debated issue.
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I realize this definition is a general guideline, not an ironclad, absolutely determinable rule.
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Many things are debated today that have not been debated throughout history, either because
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they did not exist historically or values have changed.
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Some which should not have changed, like the acceptance, homosexuality, and plastic, occasional
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blasphemy and cohabitation.
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Some of it, however, have changed, like relaxing the prohibitions on dancing, playing cards,
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drinking alcohol, or considering Sunday the Sabbath.
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Who is mature and who is a Christian leader may itself be debated, but usually, for the
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most part, most of the time, Christian leaders will be recognized as those who led you and
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spoke the Word of God to you and, considering the result of their conduct, imitate their
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faith.
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That's Hebrews 13.7.
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For example, drinking alcohol has been debated all through history, and violence in video
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games has not existed as an issue until recent times.
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What they have in common is all these are debated by Christian leaders today.
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Debated issues are simply issues that are debated.
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That means rational, biblical Christian arguments can be made for both sides of the issue, and
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the arguments are made, formally or casually, by those who are considered by a plurality
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of Christians to be mature leaders.
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Debated issues are not those which are clearly right or wrong to a plurality of mature Christian
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leaders.
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For example, the deeds of the flesh and the fruits of the Spirit in Galatians 5.19-23
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are not debatable issues among mature Christian leadership.
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I'll read them to you, starting with Galatians 5.19.
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Now, the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry,
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sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, and factions,
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being drunkenness, carousing, things like these which I forewarned you just as I have
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forewarned you that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God.
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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness,
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gentleness, self-control, against such thing there is no law, that's Galatians 5.19-23.
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These are not issues that are debated among mature Christians.
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There are three basic questions, though, that we should consider as we look at all debated
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issues.
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First of all, what's closest to the heart of God?
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Does it bring us pleasure or pain at the expense of our relationship with God, or does it benefit
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our eternal future?
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If we think of Christianity as a big circle and imagine the heart of God being in the
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center of the circle, many Christians are asking how close can we stand to the edge
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and still remain in the circle?
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But the question we need to be asking is, how can I move toward the center of the circle?
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What's closest to the heart of God?
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The principle is, actions we perceive as desirable that move us away from the heart
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of God are not beneficial.
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For example, when someone comes and asks me what I think about divorce and remarriage
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after divorce, I give him several passages.
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I give him Malachi 2.16, Matthew 19, 3-9, Luke 16, 18, Romans 7, 2 and 3, and 1 Corinthians
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7, 10-11.
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Then I tell him, go home and read those passages, and rather than ask what can I get away with,
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ask what would God prefer?
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Question number two is, is this a debated issue wrong for me personally or wrong generally?
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First, is it wrong for me personally?
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Paul discussed four debated issues which he said were only decided personally, not generally.
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They were, number one, eating meat offered to idols, number two, eating only vegetables,
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three, circumcision, four, regarding one day above another, like the Jewish holidays, Sabbaths,
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and in our case, Sundays.
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If I decide a debatable issue is wrong for me personally, it may be a preference, a personal
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conviction, or something that's sinful for me because of my own temptations.
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For example, I refuse to weigh more than 175 pounds.
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I'm an eataholic, so I have to stop eating when I'm over 175 pounds, and I exercise
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three days a week, legalistically.
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But that also means the debated issue itself is not wrong or sinful generally.
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I should not feel like I need to warn others or criticize others that don't do what I do.
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Here's some questions we might ask in determining if something is personally wrong.
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Is there a danger for personal addiction?
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Has my personal experience led me to prejudice about this issue?
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Am I against this because of my biblical understanding, or is it about my conservatism?
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Am I open to revisit my issue about this in light of further Bible study?
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We must not consider just being conservative about everything.
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If in condemning a debated issue, we create a prohibition which God would not or did not,
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then we have become like the Pharisees, creating laws not supported by Scripture and judging
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others by those laws.
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Even though Paul knew freedom in Christ is the danger of turning your freedom into an
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opportunity for the flesh, he still insisted we maintain that freedom.
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He told the Galatians, this is from Galatians chapter 2, but it was because of the false
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brethren secretly brought in who had sneaked in to spy on our liberality which we have
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in Christ Jesus in order to bring us to bondage, but we did not yield in subjection to them
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for even an hour, so that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
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And then in 5.1 he wrote, it was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore keep standing
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firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of slavery.
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The debatable issues are the circumcision of verse 3.
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Jewish believers, especially those who came to Christ from among the Pharisees, thought
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all Gentiles who became Christians should be circumcised, Paul called that, bringing
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them into bondage.
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What Paul was concerned about was that the truth of the gospel would remain with you.
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If they could create bondage by bringing an Old Testament law into the church, truth
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would be lost in legalism.
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Christianity would become a boring, if not threatening man-made religion that challenged
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the freedom of believers in Christ, which was needed for spiritual growth.
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Question number three.
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The third thing we need to ask about debated issues is, can I state both sides of the issue
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rationally?
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This is a big deal.
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Proverbs 18.2 says, the fool does not delight in understanding, but only in revealing his
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own mind.
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In Proverbs 18.13 he said, he who gives an answer before he hears it is a folly and a
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shame to him.
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When Solomon contrasted wisdom with foolishness, he understood the thinking of the fool.
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When the prophets challenged the sin of the Israelites, they understood the thinking of
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the Israelites.
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When Jesus challenged the legalism of the Pharisees, he understood their position so
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well he stated it to them, often better than they stated it to themselves.
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Matthew 23 is an example of the Pharisees, based on a complete understanding of what
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they believed and taught and why they did what they did.
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When Paul criticized the legalists, he did it with a thorough understanding of their
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belief in the need for Christianity to continue to keep the Mosaic law.
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He told them, told the Galatians, how is it that you turn back again to a weak and worthless
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elemental things that to which you desire to enslave all over again?
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You observe days, months, and seasons, and years.
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I fear for you that perhaps I've labored over you in vain.
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The tendency of both liberals and conservatives is to label their opponents or think of their
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opponents as idiots, morons, or stupid.
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But many of these are university professors, authors, billionaires, most of whom have a
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well-thought-out reason for what they believe.
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In every debated issue, even in the general society, there's a rational debate about
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the issue.
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That means someone on the opposite side of this issue thought through and made a rational
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case for it.
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If we're going to hold a position on a debated issue, we need to be able to state the opposition
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position with the basic thinking that has led them to that position.
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We need to understand why they believe what they do before we can make a case for why
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we believe what we do.
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If we simply tell people what we believe, our case will be defeated by someone who makes
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the opposite case.
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Solomon said, the first to plead his case seems right until another comes and makes
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and examines him.
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Even if the case is of issues which is not debated within Christian circles, but is debated
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in the general public, we should be able to state the reason why our opposition in the
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general society has a position that they have.
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For example, if you can't state the position of those favoring the acceptance of abortion,
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you'll not be making an effective argument against it.
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For instance, we have to deal with the opposition that a woman has the right to choose concerning
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her own body.
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Otherwise, we're just talking past each other.
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We're saying killing people is wrong, they're saying a woman has a right to choose.
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Neither of those issues deal with each other's issues, they just talk past each other.
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One reason Christian young people from conservative parents go away to college and come back as
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liberals, atheists, and progressives is because their parents did not make the case of the
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liberal and deal effectively with the progressive thinking.
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For example, if the thinking of evolutionists and progressives is not understood, stated,
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and debated in our homes with better reasoning and information, then our children will likely
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become evolutionists and progressives.
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If you think that sounds like a lot of work, you're absolutely right.
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That's a lot of work.
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That's what makes parenting difficult.
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But being on the offense against sin and lies is better than just putting out fires your
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kids get into.
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As a conclusion, I want to say this.
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Always remember the reason to debate debated issues is never to convince unbelievers of
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our position.
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It's to strengthen the faith of believers.
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It's to equip believers to be able to have a confidence in the Bible.
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Thanks for listening.
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A longer paper on this subject dealing with many more examples and references is available
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on our website, relationalconcepts.org.
