Battle Cry

Way back in my teenage years I read the voluminous book Battle Cry by Leon Uris.  It was a long read but offered an insight into the minds of marines whose lives were intertwined with one another during WWII.  The bible uses battle imagery in the book of Ephesians 6 to encourage followers of the Lord Jesus Christ to be clothed in the Armor of God: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, and the helmet of salvation.  We have become slothful and failed to don our equipment and thus we are reaping what we have sown (or not sown) in the surreal world we live in.  But do we, as Christians, have a battle cry, something to screech before the charge?  Apparently, according to Krysten and Keith Getty in their song “O Church Arise” we do, and it is “LOVE”. 

We sang this song recently at church and I was excited to read about the battle Christians face to “stand against the devil’s lies” and to “face trials on every side”.  But then to sing our battle cry is “LOVE”???  I don’t know what bible they are reading but this is not what Jesus (or John the Baptist) cries out.  The song then continues in a very stirring fashion with foes crushed beneath our feet and with Christ we stand in Glory, but then says, “see the cross, where love and mercy meet”.  What a let down and what deception!  If the Christian battle cry was “LOVE” we would be no different than the pagans.  And to say the meeting place for love and mercy is the cross denies the atonement—Jesus’ propitiation for our sins.  This is moralistic therapeutic deism at its best. 

What changes would I make, you ask?  Our battle cry is “REPENT”!  These are the first recorded words of Jesus as he started out on his ministry and they are the words of the voice crying in the wilderness, John the Baptist.  Our problem in this world is not a lack of love, but an anemic view of our own condition of sin.  This is what we must come to understand—we are separated from our Creator because of our sin, not because we do not love.  And the cross is the place where justice and mercy meet.  Our sins must be paid for, there is no escaping that fact.  The only question is, who is going to pay? 

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14 For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility 15 by abolishing the law of commandments expressed in ordinances, that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace, 16 and might reconcile us both to God in one body through the cross, thereby killing the hostility. 17 And he came and preached peace to you who were far off and peace to those who were near. 18 For through him we both have access in one Spirit to the Father. 19 So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, 20 built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, 21 in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. 22 In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit. Ephesians 2:14-22

Not all sins are created equal

This is not a popular topic but a necessary one. There is a myth roaming the Christian community that all sins are equally grievous. This is not the case. While all sins are an affront to the holiness of God and a violation of His character, all sins are not created equal. Lusting after a woman is a sin but not of the same magnitude as actually following through with the act. Hebrews 2:2 says: “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. ² For since the message declared by angels proved to be reliable, and every transgression or disobedience received a just retribution, ³ how shall we escape if we neglect such a great salvation?” Also in 2 Corinthians 5:10 it says “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.” These two passages indicate that at the throne of judgment, each of us will receive what we are due according to what we have done. So–not all sins are created equal.

Before us, that is US citizens, we have a presidential election that will be ugly, contentious, and wholly without honor. I cannot and will not presume to instruct anyone how to vote as the subject is particularly onerous and bleak. Both choices are objectionable in so many ways. So what is a Christian supposed to do when faced with this choice?

We are to do exactly what we should always do in this world with the choices we are offered–honor the Lord and be an instrument in His hands of furthering His kingdom. So then, you must ask yourself, which candidate offers the best opportunity to share the gospel? Which candidate will be an instrument for God’s perpetual call to take care of widows and orphans? Which candidate will foster a climate in which Christians can speak the truth into the community? Both will require constant and vigilant prayer once elected and we must be up to the task.

There are sins our nation has committed for which we will not recover, they are so grievous. The harvesting of aborted baby parts for sale? Do we really think God doesn’t know about this and weeps? The redesign and distortion of marriage, God’s holy creation for one man and one woman? Do we really think we know better who is “bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”? Arrogance doesn’t begin to describe our thinking. These are not little peccadillos–these sins have altered the warp and weft of the human condition in the US and the world and we must repent. Which candidate is able to lead us down that road?

⁴ Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? ⁵ But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.

⁶ He will render to each one according to his works…

So Americans, pray and go vote! It is an ugly choice so be brave and ready to give an account, for one day you will. “But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Demons

One thing (among many) that I love about being a Christian, reading the Bible, and listening to biblical scholars, is the way the Holy Spirit teaches you along the way. Invariably I will come across Bible passages that I have “never seen before”, which isn’t possible because I have read the Bible cover to cover many times. I am an expert at reading the bible intellectually but utterly fail to take it in spiritually and experientially. (I guess this is why we never stop reading!) This has happened more times than I care to remember and is why listening to biblical scholars reveal God’s Truths is imminently helpful.

Today I was listening to a talk from a series on the Holy Spirit by Sinclair Ferguson entitled Trinitarian Fellowship https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/who-is-the-holy-spirit/trinitarian-fellowship/ . In this lesson he discussed something that I had never realized about the nature of demons and demon possession before. Many people chide Christians about the prolific presence in the Bible of demons and demon possession, when, in fact it is actually quite a rare phenomenon. So rare in fact that almost all mention of the topic is contained within Jesus’ ministry. Dr. Ferguson asks why this would be, and well, so did I, but only after he brought it up. Thankfully he could answer.

Before revealing his answer, here is a quote from CS Lewis: “There are two equal and opposite errors into which our race can fall about the devils. One is to disbelieve in their existence. The other is to believe, and to feel an excessive and unhealthy interest in them.” Lewis wrote an entire book on the subject called “The Screwtape Letters”. It is a wonderful, mind bending farce starring the ever-talented demon, Screwtape, and his attempts to mentor his underling, Wormwood. Mr. Lewis created a masterpiece of mind bending turmoil in his book demonstrating that demons have no interest in atheists because they are already well on their way to a hellish eternity. It is those who are open to or knowledgeable of the gospel that interest these Satanic workers. And so it is with demons in the bible.

Back to the recording…

What Dr. Ferguson unveiled to me was that the reason demons and demon possession were prominently written about during Jesus’ ministry is because of Jesus’ earthly presence–they were there because he was there. The times when Jesus healed people of demon possession was in response to Satan’s final assault of Satan upon the Lord Jesus Christ. He had lost the initial battle when Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness sent out by the Holy Spirit to do battle against the Prince of this world. Dr. Ferguson says:

“One of the things you see immediately if you place the gospel narrative within the context of the whole of the Bible is that there is an especially powerful activity of the demonic world in the holy land during the period of Jesus’ public ministry. Why? Because this is their last opportunity to destroy God’s saving purposes. And Jesus has come and He has defeated their master. And because He’s defeated their master, they know that the end has drawn near. And so…they cry out to Jesus, ‘Have you come to destroy us before the time?’ They have this sense of foreboding as Jesus, in the power of the Holy Spirit, vanquishes the enemy by the word of his mouth or his spit in mud. (See Luke 11:20)

The biblical portrayal of demon possession has been a wonder to me. Dr. Ferguson’s explanation was very helpful, the bottom line being that demon possession figured prominently in Jesus’ ministry because Jesus figured prominently. This is Satan’s final attack, his kamikaze assault, and he failed…utterly. Praise the Lord.

The Chosen

The ad for this show appeared on my Facebook page so naturally I ignored it.  What good can come from Facebook?  But then I read about this program in World Magazine, a favorite publication of mine that looks at the world and everything in it from a Christian perspective.  They recommended this show so now I had to take a look.  It has an unusual platform in that you can watch it via the app or on YouTube, the former providing a better picture.  I have thoroughly enjoyed season one and season two will be out shortly, God willing and the Covid 19 waters don’t rise!  It is a refreshing look at the life of Jesus from the perspective of the people around him.  And let’s face it, the bible doesn’t give us much information about a lot of people that figure prominently or not so prominently in Jesus ministry on this earth, which could be for a very good reason. Maybe the Lord wants us to see ourselves in these people?  In any case, with the help of a Protestant pastor, a Messianic Rabbi, and a Catholic priest, the show has panel of knowledgeable advisors to keep the “puppies in the box” so to speak, unlike the makers of Noah!  What a hermeneutic mess that was!

It is the title that I find intriguing.  “The Chosen”.  To whom is this title referring?  Jesus? The Apostles? Other disciples?  For my part, I think this is referring to the character of God.  Odd you say?  Well, not really.  God has been in the habit of choosing since before  Moses first put pen to papyrus–in other words, from the beginning.

Recently our bible study group read through the Gospel of John looking for the Doctrines of Grace (the Calvinists among you would recognize them by the acronym TULIP).  the “U” in this acronym stands for unconditional election, which is to say, our salvation hinges not on our choosing to follow God but in His sovereign choosing of us.  Left to our own desires we would not choose God.  The term du jour is “Sovereign Election” which describes God’s authoritative sovereign role in the election (choosing) of sinners to salvation.  Ligonier Ministries has a series done by Dr. Steve Lawson on this topic which is very informative. Here is a link to his teaching series: https://www.ligonier.org/learn/series/doctrines-of-grace-john/

From the beginning of creation, the Lord God is in the habit of choosing.  He chose to create all that is, He chose Abel’s sacrifice over Cain’s, He chose Abram and Sarai to move to His chosen country in Canaan and create a chosen nation, He chose Isaac over Ishmael, He chose Joseph to save the Israelites, He chose Moses to lead His people out of bondage, and on and on it goes.  Jesus chose 12 apostles to be sent out and teach the gospel.  In essence, this is part of the nature of God–He chooses people to fulfill His purposes.  And He does it from before the beginning of time as we know it.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places, ⁴ even as he chose us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before him. In love ⁵ he predestined us for adoption to himself as sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will, ⁶ to the praise of his glorious grace, with which he has blessed us in the Beloved. Ephesians 1:3-6

For our part we can be thankful that it is the sovereign Creator who chooses and not us because He is holy, true, just, merciful, and all knowing.  The choice is in good hands.

I hope you will take a look at this show.  For those who have been walking with the Lord for a long time, it is interesting to see different possibilities of interpretation in the nature Jesus’ followers (I particularly like Matthew and Mary Magdalene).  Taken with the proverbial grain of salt, we don’t truly know what the followers of Jesus were like but it is interesting to ponder.  For others who may be newer to the faith, I hope this drives you to look in the scriptures to see what is actually written by God for us to know and understand about Him.  He is the point and the purpose of it all.

What matters?

The world seems to be spiraling out of control.  Bush fires, drought, Covid 19, and now the Black Lives Matter protests.  We are a world unsettled and wanting.  Wanting of what?  A good dose of reality.

Why should anything matter?  If this world appeared out of nothing, from chaos to order, why should anything matter?  If this world is made up of chance particles colliding together to create sharks, roses, rocks, kangaroos, and people…why should anything matter?

Ravi Zacharias has suggested that there are 4 questions that any world view needs to answer (my paraphrase).

1. Where did we come from? (Origin)
2. Why are we here? (Meaning)
3. What are we to do? (Morality)
4. Where are we going when we die? (Destiny)

If our answers to these questions are:

1. We came from nothing.
2. We have no reason for being, we are a chance encounter of various molecules.
3. What is right for you is not necessarily right for me.
4. When we die we just cease to exist.

THEN NOTHING MATTERS!!!

Black lives don’t matter…unborn babies don’t matter…women raped, beaten, and killed in (name the country) don’t matter…cruise ships carrying Covid 19 don’t matter…

But we all know differently.  We know WE matter because we are made in the image of God and that is the only reason we matter.  It is God’s decree that in the beginning..

 “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” Genesis 1:26

“It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him…Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the shall become one flesh.” Genesis 2:18,24

As followers of Christ, we say:

1. “In the beginning God created…” Genesis 1:1
2. “He has told you, O man, what is good;
       and what does the Lord require of you
   but to do justice, and to love kindness,
       and to walk humbly with your God? Micah 6:8
3. ⁴ “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. ⁵ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. ⁶ And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. ⁸ You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. ⁹ You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Deut. 6:4-9
4.  “Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. ² In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? ³ And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.” John 14:1-3

So yes, black lives matter…unborn babies matter…women matter…

We all matter because, and only because, God matters.  Now go in peace.

Meditating on a Deck of Cards

First let me say that this blog might be a tad long, but I hope you hang in there to the end.  You will never look at a deck of cards the same way.

With the title you might ask why would anyone want to meditate on a Deck of Cards?  The story goes that soldiers, deployed to areas where bibles are forbidden, can actually use a deck of cards to meditate on God and the scriptures.  Here is how it works:

Ace–The ace reminds me that “…the Lord our God, the Lord is one.”  Thank you father that you are one and that You call upon us to love You with all our hearts and will all our soul and with all our might.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5)

Two–The two reminds us that we have two parts of the bible, the Old and New Testaments where in the former we anticipate Jesus, and in the later we see him. We praise You Father, that we have the complete revelation of Your word to us in the Old and New Testaments.  In the Old we see the anticipation of Your Son, our redeemer and in the New we see him as You sent him and revealed him to us. 

Three–this card reminds us of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. We understand, Father that You are one essence but 3 persons all at work to bring Your people back to You so that we might worship and glorify You.  We are called to “make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit…”

Four–The four reminds us that in the New Testament we have 4 gospels–Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.  Thank You, Father, that we have 4 accounts of Jesus life, death, and resurrection on this earth.  We see in these gospels the length to which You will go to redeem Your people. 

Five–The number five reminds of the 5 loaves used to feed 5 thousand of his followers. (Matthew 14)  Father, You feed us with more than just loaves of bread–You feed us with Your word.

Six–When we turn over the number six card, we are reminded of the number of days it took for Elohim, God the Creator, to bring into being all that is.  As Creator of all that exists, we are thankful for the beauty of this world that You have given us to enjoy.  Please guide us to take care of it as you commanded us to do.

Seven–“And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.” (Genesis 2:2).  We thank You, Father, for Your design for us to have a day of rest, a day to worship you in community (virtually or personally).

Eight–the number 8 reminds us of the 8 people you saved in the ark: Noah, his sons, Ham, Shem, and Japheth, and their wives.  Thank You, Father, that You are in the business of saving and redeeming a people that will honor and glorify You above all else.

Nine–this number reminds of Jesus healing of the 10 lepers.  Yes, 10, but only one came back to Jesus to thank him.  The other nine, wrapped up in their new and freshly healed skin, failed to give thanks.  Father, help us to be eternally thankful for all that You provide for us–health, food, shelter, love, family, and hope.

Ten–the number 10 reminds us of Your law as You gave it to Moses in the Ten Commandments.  This law is to be upon our hearts so that we might teach it to others.  Jesus do not come to abolish it but to fulfill it. [At this point, you could meditate through each of the commandments.]  Thank You Father, that Jesus was able to honor You in obedience to the law.  Help us to understand Your design in giving us these commands so that we understand how far we are from You and our need for Jesus to provide the way to You.

Jack–the Jack reminds us that Satan is alive and active in this world.  When we were unredeemed he did not care about us and could not be bothered.  But as redeemed followers, he now has an interest in bringing us down.  Father, we do not have the power to fight Satan or his demons–we are not strong enough.  But You are.  Help us to focus on You and not on what Satan would have us focus on, so that You will fight the fight for us. 

Queen–this card reminds of the Church as the bride of Christ.  Forgive us Father, that we have altered Your design for marriage which was Your plan to demonstrate the relationship of Jesus to the Church.  Help us to honor marriage–our own and others such that we see Your righteous and glorious plan for men and women in this world.

King–and lastly the King reminds us that Jesus is “…the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords…” (1Timothy 6:15). Father, Thank you for our King Jesus, who reigns in our hearts and minds.  Forgive us that we do not honor him as much or in the way we ought.  We know that he has immortality and dwells in unapproachable light.  May he have eternal dominion.

Amen.

Pruning

This is our lemonade tree.  Never knew there was such a thing but now we know.  This poor tree was black with some sort of fungus or mold and produced fruit, that when it finally turned yellow, smelled like an over-ripe lemon.  As you can see, she is not looking very pretty for the severe pruning we did to her several months ago.  But, look at all those lemons!!!  The pruning was a challenge as the tree has long thorns that rival any medieval spear.  Fierce barbs they are.  Anyway, with pruning, the lemons are glorious.  Wonderful flavor and, as you can see, very prolific.  And so it is with us.

Pruning hurts but the dead wood must go.  Otherwise our fruit is not flavorful and our limbs get covered in a black soot-like film.  We don’t thrive in the way God designed for us, instead we languish and produce bad fruit.

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. ² Every branch in me that does not bear fruit he takes away, and every branch that does bear fruit he prunes, that it may bear more fruit. ³ Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. John 15:1-3

Father, 

Correction and training in righteousness hurts sometimes.  It hurts our pride, our confidence, and our self-image.  And a good thing it does.  These get in the way of Your shaping us into Your image, making us more like Christ.  Please forgive our vanity and pride.  May Your Holy Spirit be our guide to see it and put it to death ourselves.  And if we do not, we trust that You will because we know that You want to mold and shape us into Your children that can be useful in this world where we live.  Thank You, Father that you care enough to prune us.  Amen.

Secular?

There is a pervasive lie hanging out there in the wind and it goes by the name of “secular”.  My dictionary of Theological Terms defines secular “that which is worldly, earthly and temporal and thus not religious or spiritual.”  In other words that which is secular is something that remains outside the purview of God All Mighty.  Can someone please tell me what exactly is outside of the interest and influence of the Creator?

I recognize there are secularists, people who think there is no God who created all that is seen and unseen, who formed us all in the the secret place where nothing is hidden from him.  I could go on and on. But the bottom line is–there is no secular world. There is no aspect of all of creation that is not under the rule and authority of God Almighty no matter how many people think or act otherwise.  Those who thinks so should have a read of Job where God puts everyone in his place when he says:

“Who is this that darkens counsel by words without knowledge?
³ Dress for action like a man;
    I will question you, and you make it known to me.

⁴ “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?
    Tell me, if you have understanding. Job 38:2-4

and

And the Lord said to Job:

² “Shall a faultfinder contend with the Almighty?
    He who argues with God, let him answer it.” Job 40:2

 

With that, I would propose the division of this world into two worldview camps: Judeo-Christian and Pagan.  Yeah, pagan sounds– harsh doesn’t it?  Judgmental, maybe?   Good, I have succeeded!  My dictionary of theological terms says a pagan is “one who is a non-Christian and thus does not worship the true and living God.”  The bible makes the distinction between Jew and Gentile along the same sort of line–Paul was the apostle to the Gentiles.  In that time (and even today in the mind of a Jew), you were either a Jew or not and if not, you were a Gentile or “one who is not Jewish my racial origin”.  On this side of the cross, we are either Judeo/Christian or pagan.  It has a certain ring to it, I reckon.

Wondering why Judeo/Christian and not just Christian?  Fair enough. It seems to me that as a Christian, our roots are bound up in the Jewish experience since…well, since the beginning.  We don’t come to be Christian without a Jewish history of God and His interaction with His people.  We don’t understand Christianity without understanding all of God’s character in righteousness, love, grace, justice, and mercy that He has demonstrated since the beginning of time and into eternity.  Christians are the wild olive shoot grafted onto the olive tree.

“¹⁷ But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, ¹⁸ do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you.” Romans 11:17-18

The olive tree has many branches but the root is the same–Jesus Christ.  No one comes to the Father but by him.

So let’s toss away the notion of anything secular.  It doesn’t exist and never has except in the minds of men.  And we know what lives there:  “And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.” Romans 1:20

May God be glorified in our hearts and minds.  Amen.

 

End times?

It was only a matter of time before the comparison was made.  After a summer of fires, floods, hail, and heat (here in Australia), I must confess a measure of wonderment at what these times are declaring.  I have studied the book of Revelation a couple of times and find myself more confused with each iteration.  But here we are with an undeniable correlation of world events over which we have no control.

There are people who look down their noses at others who are declaring this to be the end.  And the end timers stare in wonderment at those looking down there noses pleading “How can you not see?!?”  Ignorance abounds on both sides for those who deny and those who profess.  But that is human nature, almost a form of Gnosticism that each side has a secret cache of knowledge that the other doesn’t.  Ah, well!  times have not changed much.

To those who say this is not the time of the end I ask, “How do you know?”  And to those who say it is the time of the end, I ask “How do you know?”  This is knowledge that God has not revealed and the reason I DO know that is because Jesus told us.

⁷ He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority.” Acts 1:7

and

³² “But concerning that day or that hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father.” Mark 13:32

So where does that leave us?  What I can offer is that we ought not to declare this is the end and we also ought not deny it.  To do either is to say we know the mind of God–I don’t know about you, but I am not in a position to do that.  I am sure that those who mocked Noah didn’t think they were experiencing the end of anything.  And those who lived in Jerusalem eating their babies during the invasion of the Babylonians, didn’t think it would be the end of their city.

What do we do?  Exactly what Jesus told us to do when he arrived: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” (Matthew 3:2) What did he say with regard to the people who suffered accidents and injustices?  ^“No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.” (Luke 13:5)

And a final word on the matter:

³³ Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come. ³⁴ It is like a man going on a journey, when he leaves home and puts his servants in charge, each with his work, and commands the doorkeeper to stay awake. ³⁵ Therefore stay awake—for you do not know when the master of the house will come, in the evening, or at midnight, or when the rooster crows, or in the morning— ³⁶ lest he come suddenly and find you asleep. ³⁷ And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake.” Mark 13:33-37

Amen.

Goose and Gander

We have two situations before us, one in Oz and the other in the US having to do with sports figures and their apparent “homophobic” statements or actions.  In Australia we have the Israel Folau case and, in the US, the Jaelene Hinkle case.  Both are at the top of their respective athletic fields of rugby and soccer, and both, through their tweets or actions, have chosen not to drink the multicolored Kool-aid that the world guzzles by the gallon. De rigeur  in these absurd times under the mantle of “inclusivity” and “tolerance”, is to make everyone believe in the same things.  Oh, the irony!

Isreal Folau tweeted “homophobic” comments via Twitter and Jaelene Hinkle refused to wear a multi-colored jersey that was designed to demonstrate the US Women’s soccer teams support of the LGBTQI+ community.  The sponsors of the Australian rugby team, Qantas, Asics, and Land Rover took exception to Folau’s remarks and Hinkle withdrew herself from the team (or was kicked off, I couldn’t follow the ups and downs of the case very well from afar) as the requirement to wear a jersey to support a behavior she (and the Lord, btw) deems sinful, has brought them to the place where they now sit…on the outs.

What seems to be missing in the whole conversation is the notion that “what’s good for the goose is good for the gander”.  If Israel Folau, in order to be a good little rugby player, must remain quiet about his worldview, then so too should Rugby Australia, Qantas, Asics, and Land Rover.   Jaelene Hinkle should be allowed to make the same sort of statement as her employers by not wearing the multi-colored jersey.  The athletes too have a reputation to maintain and to speak and act otherwise compromises their beliefs. If sports figures must shut up about their worldview, then the same should apply to the companies and teams they work for.  You know, the goose and gander thing.

As an officer in the US Army years ago, we were not allowed to participate in parades or political events while in uniform as the military did not want to “take sides”.  At the same time, however, the military was apolitical, they did not promote one way of thinking over another.  These days, I don’t think that is the case, but I do not know for sure.  Presidents used to be apolitical, to a degree, such that once in office they represented all the American people.  That is no longer the case as flamboyantly demonstrated by Barack Obama when he lit up the White House with multi-colors to “celebrate” the Supreme Court’s decision to legalize same-sex unions. At the time of the illumination there were still nearly 50% of the population that was not in favor of the union of same sex couples. That’s a large group of people to thumb your nose at.

The bottom line as far as I can see is: if companies or employers want their employees to remain silent on controversial issues, then they too should remain silent.  If the companies speak out on an issue, then their employees should be able to do likewise lest they be painted with the same worldview brush as their employers.  If Israel Folau’s remarks or Jaelene’s actions leave a bad mark on their respective employers reputation, then the employers remarks and actions can also leave a bad mark on the reputations of the players. Back to the goose and gander business again.