When Tim Hardaway came out—against homosexuality in the NBA that is—I was expecting that the outcry would be swift and merciless. There could have been a bigger outcry, but Hardaway apologized almost as swiftly as he made the comments. In all honesty, there are a lot of males who without a second thought would say the exact same thing, whether or not that is the way to persuade anyone.

I was surprised that more conservatives didn’t quickly bring up this particular incident. Of course, I know there is more important news. However, Michael Medved talks about this issue in his Townhall column. It’s linked here.

http://www.townhall.com/columnists/MichaelMedved/2007/02/21/where_tim_hardaway_was_right

There is an even greater clash going on culturally regarding homosexuality though.
Churches are having to deal with a difficult aspect of modern American culture. Every time we turn around in the entertainment world there is some sort of “gay” expert, usually in stereotypical areas such as fashion or hairstyling. With the prevailing culture, it’s no wonder that in the church (and in the media), there has been much controversy over homosexuals being members of the clergy.

The huge mistake that the media seems to make is that the church is a monolith. By absolutely no means is that the case. When people hear about the promotion of “gay” clergy it is really a very small percentage of the American church (and I use that term loosely) that would allow such a thing.

This is not because church people are bigots. That is generally the claim that is quickly made. Intolerance is a big taboo when it comes to the modern media, entertainment, and of course, politics. What is really occurring is a clash between two worlds: the culture and the church.

In order to understand what is happening, one must understand sections of the church.
There is also a clash within the church that is a just as serious issue, and it goes to a church’s views on Scripture. Let’s reason through it. I am going to make a little bit of a dichotomy here; this is not really a study of denominational branches of churches.

The traditional church says:
1. Scripture is inerrant (without error).
2. Scripture is inspired by God.
(For those who quickly balk at this saying, “Not true!” understand that those who hold these views recognize that there are some minor variations in various copies of the ancient documents, and would insist that this only holds entirely true for the original autographs, that is the actual documents written by those who wrote the books of the Bible. However, by no means are most of the faithful copies we have unreliable.)
3. What follows from these understandings is that the truths of the Scriptures are unchangeable.

The “progressive” church says:
1. the Scriptures were written by men and therefore do have errors.
2. the Scriptures are not necessarily inspired by God.
3. What follows from the first two (or a combination thereof) is that the Scriptures are “plastic.” This kind of church says what we do in the church is not necessarily dependent upon what the Scriptures say, but changes with the times.

This version of the church also has no problems going along with movements in the culture. The prevailing modern cultural view is that the Scriptures, along with most other ancient documents are backward thinking mythology. However, members of the traditionally-minded church not only find this offensive, but when homosexuality is promoted in church life it is seen as morally wrong. That is why the two “versions” of the church will always be at odds with one another.

Sometimes members of churches who think “progressively” and “traditionally-minded” members end up in the same church body, and that can be a problem too. Oil and water do not mix.

“Progressive” is seen as a good word in today’s culture, but when it comes to the church, many do not necessarily believe that that is the case. The churches that accept gay clergy may be seen as “progressive” by the media, but here’s where the problem lies. Traditional churches that see the Scriptures as Holy documents, without error, and carrying unchanging truths also recognize that homosexuality is morally wrong according to the Scriptures. This is not something that the traditionally-minded will ever be able to compromise on.

In today’s society intolerance is the greatest sin. If it can be said in modern eyes that such a thing as “sin” exists. More and more, though, there is a bigotry and intolerance against the traditional view, those with a real moral objection to homosexuality. The traditional church is not against people; it has a moral objection to the sin of homosexuality. The two views will always be at odds because they are irreconcilable. Is this hot-button controversial? Absolutely. People hate being told that there is such a thing as sin.

Modern morality says everything is OK as long as you’re happy. Real morals don’t exist unless there is unchanging truth. Dare I say? The Bible is unchanging truth.

There was one man who lived counter to his own culture. Nearly 2,000 years ago, the Apostle Paul visited the city of Athens. He visited a group of people who worshiped the Greek god Ares. He said to them, “Men of Athens, I notice that ye are very religious people.” This of course, was very troubling to Paul, because Athens was full of idols.
He told them, however, he noticed one inscription that said, “To the UNKNOWN GOD.” That day, Paul was prepared to tell those people about Him.

Paul’s understanding, and that of the traditional church is that there is one God—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit—if you do not know Him, may you discover the Lord of the Heavens and the Earth. Pick up the Scriptures and read them, learn them, and understand them. The truth is He does love you and care about you, whoever you are, whatever, and wherever you have been. –Cal Samuel August