Post by Daniel on Oct 31, 2015 8:44:20 GMT -5
WE CANNOT BE SILENT
Albert Mohler
October 27, 2015
One of my most vivid memories of childhood is standing with my grandfather, looking out on the landscape after a hurricane had passed through our town. Growing up in Florida, I knew to respect the great storms, but I was not prepared to see how much the landscape had been changed. I can remember thinking that I had underestimated the storm – a mistake I was determined not to make again.
Something similar is happening to many Christians in America today. We look out on the horizon around us and realize that our culture has been radically changed. In this case, the storm is a vast moral revolution, and that revolution is not even close to its conclusion. In fact, there will likely be no conclusion to this moral revolution within our lifetimes, or the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren.
We are now witnesses to a revolution that is sweeping away a sexual morality and a definition of marriage that has existed for thousands of years. This is the morality and understanding of marriage that has been central to societies shaped by biblical witness and the influence of both Judaism and Christianity. But, it is important to note that marriage has been understood throughout human history – in virtually all civilizations – as the union of a man and a woman.
We Cannot Be Silent is a book about that revolution, how it happened and what it means for us, for our churches, and for our children. It is important to trace the revolution, and understand that the most heated controversies of our day did not emerge from a vacuum onto the daily headlines. Every revolution has a story, and the story of this revolution is one that we can now trace. To put the truth plainly, this revolution did not start with same-sex marriage, and it will not end there.
The revolution that is centered on transforming sexual morality and redefining marriage has succeeded faster than its most eager advocates had even imagined, as they themselves now admit. But this revolution could not have achieved such a velocity if the ground had not been cleared by developments that came long before same-sex marriage. We will look at what came before same-sex marriage, and we will look into the future to what will come after.
Every Christian church – and every Christian – will face huge decisions in the wake of this moral storm. When marriage is redefined, an entire universe of laws, customs, rules, and expectations changes as well. Words such as husband and wife, mother and father, once the common vocabulary of every society in its own language, are now battlegrounds of moral conflict. Just consider how children’s picture books have to change in the wake of this revolution. As those who demand this revolution make clear, there will be no model of a normative family structure left in its wake.
But this revolution has also reached into our churches. Some are arguing that Christians need to revise our sexual morality and definition of marriage in order to avoid costly and controversial confrontations with the culture at large. Are they right?
Faithfulness to the Gospel and to the authority of Scripture will not allow such a revision.
So, how did we arrive at the momentous challenge? In We Cannot Be Silent we trace the revolution and its vast impact. Like a hurricane on a radar screen, this massive moral shift can be seen in its development and its storm track. We cannot tell this story without looking at how secularized our society has become. It turns out that the secularizing of the culture is central to the moral shift.
continue reading
www.albertmohler.com/2015/10/27/we-cannot-be-silent-released-nationwide-today/
Albert Mohler
October 27, 2015
One of my most vivid memories of childhood is standing with my grandfather, looking out on the landscape after a hurricane had passed through our town. Growing up in Florida, I knew to respect the great storms, but I was not prepared to see how much the landscape had been changed. I can remember thinking that I had underestimated the storm – a mistake I was determined not to make again.
Something similar is happening to many Christians in America today. We look out on the horizon around us and realize that our culture has been radically changed. In this case, the storm is a vast moral revolution, and that revolution is not even close to its conclusion. In fact, there will likely be no conclusion to this moral revolution within our lifetimes, or the lifetimes of our children and grandchildren.
We are now witnesses to a revolution that is sweeping away a sexual morality and a definition of marriage that has existed for thousands of years. This is the morality and understanding of marriage that has been central to societies shaped by biblical witness and the influence of both Judaism and Christianity. But, it is important to note that marriage has been understood throughout human history – in virtually all civilizations – as the union of a man and a woman.
We Cannot Be Silent is a book about that revolution, how it happened and what it means for us, for our churches, and for our children. It is important to trace the revolution, and understand that the most heated controversies of our day did not emerge from a vacuum onto the daily headlines. Every revolution has a story, and the story of this revolution is one that we can now trace. To put the truth plainly, this revolution did not start with same-sex marriage, and it will not end there.
The revolution that is centered on transforming sexual morality and redefining marriage has succeeded faster than its most eager advocates had even imagined, as they themselves now admit. But this revolution could not have achieved such a velocity if the ground had not been cleared by developments that came long before same-sex marriage. We will look at what came before same-sex marriage, and we will look into the future to what will come after.
Every Christian church – and every Christian – will face huge decisions in the wake of this moral storm. When marriage is redefined, an entire universe of laws, customs, rules, and expectations changes as well. Words such as husband and wife, mother and father, once the common vocabulary of every society in its own language, are now battlegrounds of moral conflict. Just consider how children’s picture books have to change in the wake of this revolution. As those who demand this revolution make clear, there will be no model of a normative family structure left in its wake.
But this revolution has also reached into our churches. Some are arguing that Christians need to revise our sexual morality and definition of marriage in order to avoid costly and controversial confrontations with the culture at large. Are they right?
Faithfulness to the Gospel and to the authority of Scripture will not allow such a revision.
So, how did we arrive at the momentous challenge? In We Cannot Be Silent we trace the revolution and its vast impact. Like a hurricane on a radar screen, this massive moral shift can be seen in its development and its storm track. We cannot tell this story without looking at how secularized our society has become. It turns out that the secularizing of the culture is central to the moral shift.
continue reading
www.albertmohler.com/2015/10/27/we-cannot-be-silent-released-nationwide-today/