By Edwin Crayton/Opinion
Many of us probably remember the story of the Trojan Horse from our school lessons. According to the story, the citizens of the city of Troy accepted the gift of a large wooden horse from the Greeks. But inside the horse Greek soldiers were hiding. Once inside, these soldiers opened the gates and let in the Greek army, capturing Troy. Hence, the words Trojan Horse have come to symbolize anything that seems good at first, but later on brings harm. Political Correctness is a Trojan Horse. In the beginning it seemed like a good thing to reward sensitive human behavior and punish racist, sexist or insensitive behavior or attitudes. But over time, that has morphed into a moral and social value system that persecutes and even denies freedom to some. In fact, in many cases, political correctness actually punishes people for having values or beliefs that conflict with popular ones. This is particularly true when it comes to religious beliefs. Christians in particular have many such conflicts. What follows is a partial list of examples of some of the major conflicts. It helps to understand that we Christians are called to obey the Holy Bible. It is the moral standard for all believers. This means the priority for believers is to follow, not what is politically correct, but rather to obey what is biblically correct. The challenge however, is this often means following God even at those times when worldly values conflict with Christians ideals (Acts 5:29). In short, Christians must place the priority on what is biblically correct, not on what is politically correct, regardless of the consequences. Read on to see what I mean:
It is politically correct to say a woman has the right to choose. Meaning a woman has a right to decide if she has an abortion because it is her body and she is in charge of it. The Pro-Choice Movement trumpets this.
In sharp contrast, according to the Holy Bible, it is biblically correct to believe that everyone who becomes a Christian gives up control of their body after becoming a Christian. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 says, “You are not your own, you were bought with a price.” The believer believes his or her body belongs not to self, but to Jesus Christ and so Christ decides what happens to it.
It is politically correct to celebrate gay life styles. We are now seeing gay pride festivals sponsored by major corporations and applauded in media and promoted by Hollywood stars. But read the Holy Bible and you will see it is biblically correct to recognize homosexuality as behavior, not an identity, and to believe that God did not make people gay. In fact, the Bible bluntly says it a sin in both Old and New Testaments. In the Old Testament, in The Book of Leviticus 18:22 God said,” Man shall not have sex with a man. In the New Testament, Romans Chapter 1 also says homosexuality is a sin. So, does 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 which warns of the eternal consequences. Verse 11 reminds us that it is necessary to repent and quit practicing a sin in order to get forgiveness and enter heaven. As for the new Gay Pride celebrations, the Bible says that pride is a sin as well (Proverbs 16:18). Most relevant of all for Christians, is the fact that it is God himself who has called homosexuality a sin. Sin is evil. And Scripture also says, “Woe to those who call evil good” (Isaiah 5:2)). How then can any Christian celebrate a sin by attending a gay pride parade, gay wedding, or by endorsing gay lifestyles in any way or by downplaying homosexuality?
It is politically correct for men and women to live together before getting married. Some corporations even proudly offer domestic partner benefits. But if you are Christian and the Bible is your standard, it is biblically correct to view sex as being for marriage only and to believe sex before marriage as a sin. It is the sin of “fornication” (1 Corinthians, Chapter 6).
It is politically correct to keep your faith to yourself. The Bible says it is biblically correct to share your faith so that those who do not believe in Jesus will one day accept him as savior and Lord of their lives and be able to go to heaven (Matthew 28:19-20). We Christians do not want anyone to go to hell. It is why we even pray for those who hate us.
It is politically correct to keep controversial Christian beliefs to yourself. People are afraid of the backlash from sharing unpopular views. Not long ago, the CEO of Chic Fil A Restaurants was soundly criticized for saying in an interview that he was not for gay marriage. Should have been his right. But some cities went so far as to threaten to ban Chic Fil A Restaurants. Over the top oppression has intimidated many who claim Christ. But Jesus warned us that it would be this way. He said that the world would hate us because we are Christians because he are his (John 15:19). The Bible also tells us that we Christians are assured that every one of us will be persecuted at some point in some way (2 Timothy 3:12). The intimidation is meant to make Christians ashamed of Christ, silence us and stop the teaching and spread of the full gospel. Sometimes even pastors and Sunday School teachers avoid teaching controversial doctrine such as the Bible’s complete teachings on morality—particularly sexual immorality. The problem is, this leaves their congregations at the mercy of a world that is determined to brainwash them into accepting immoral concepts. Even small children are targets. For example, recently I found a children’s book titled “My Two Moms”. On the other hand, it is biblically correct to be faithful and not deny Christ and not be ashamed of him or Bible teachings, no matter how unpopular they are. Jesus taught us that if we will suffer with him, we will be rewarded with him (2 Timothy 2:12). The ultimate goal is salvation. In the long run, the faithful are blessed with eternal life (John 3:16, Romans 10:9-10).
Why is there such a conflict between what the Bible says and so much of what political correctness promotes? Simple. Humans have an enemy: Satan. He has always sought to lure God’s people away from obeying him. Satan hates humans and wants all humans to be damned eternally to hell. He knows one sure way to make this happen is get people to disobey and reject God and his commands so God will then remove his arms of protection from them and they will pay the price for sin: death—-an eternity in hell (Romans 6:23). He has done this from the beginning of the world. God gave Adam and Eve only one command and warned them if they broke it, they would die (Genesis 2:15-17). Satan schemed to get them to break this one little command by telling them they did not have to obey God. Like a slick salesman, he used tricky words and told them what they wanted to hear. It worked. This brought sin, pain, suffering, hate and death into the world. He is still dreaming up new, creative ways to-tell people they can ignore God’s moral standards.
But why is Political Correctness able to effectively intimidate Christians even when it is in clear conflict with the Bible? Three reasons: 1) We all want to fit in. Violating society’s social norms brings consequences: people can lose jobs, friends, social acceptance and even lose their lives. We humans want to live like those around us. One reason Ancient Israel kept getting into trouble with God is that they imitated the pagan cultures around them, even though God warned them over and over not to. They did not want to stand out. But God wanted them to be different from the wild cultures that practiced evil moral concepts. The Bible even tells us he wanted them to be a “peculiar” people. 2) Many people who claim to be Christians do not read their Bibles so they have very little biblical knowledge. For instance, in 2012 Christianity Today released a study that showed only 20% of churchgoers read the Bible daily. This means Satan and his false prophets can distort The Bible and mislead people weak in biblical knowledge. In Matthew, Chapter 4, there is an encounter where Satan even tried to distort the Bible to fool Jesus himself. But it did not work because Jesus is the Word of God. It shows that reading the Bible is a form of protection. 3)We do not love God enough to obey him. Jesus said, “If you love me, you will keep my commands.” Love does not merely involve hugs and kisses and warm feelings. It requires sacrifice and obedience. Abraham loved God so much, when God asked him to kill his only son as a sacrifice, he was willing to do it. God blessed him for his faithfulness and did not require him to kill the boy. When we love others, we will be willing to sacrifice for them. Many moms would go hungry in order to feed their children. It is no different with God. He wants us, like Abraham to put ourselves aside and put him first on the priority list and then put other people second on it (Matthew 22:35-40). In 1 John 2:4, it says, “Whoever says, “I know him” but does not keep his commandments, is a liar and the truth is not in him.” That said, why would we give up our preferences for what God asks? Only love would enable us to. The Bible teaches that anything we place above God is an idol (Exodus 20). God is the only morally perfect being. So only he should decide what is moral. No other moral system should replace his.
Yet, the parade that is Political Correctness rolls on by. People are merrily joining the parade. People in this parade are celebrating all kinds of” perceived” freedoms, which are mostly just sins dressed up to look like rights. Will these so-called freedoms free them from God’s authority? No. God is always in control and his will is going to be done. In the end, being away from God is not really freedom. As Pastor Andy Stanley preached, sometimes freedom is a trap. That is because all good things come from God (James 1:17). We need him. Freedom that causes us to disobey God, leads to separation from him–this is also known as hell. Those of us who choose to obey God and not join this parade can expect to be mocked or worse. But when a believer sticks with God, God sticks by the believer. And that is definitely biblically correct (Romans 8:31).
Righteousness exalts a people. But sin is a reproach to any people. –Proverbs 14:34
So whoever wants to be the world’s friend becomes God’s enemy.—James 4:4, Second part of verse, Holman Bible
If God is for us, who can be against us? –Romans 8:31
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