The Truth About Today's Key Cultural Issues

Chuck Colson was one of the leading defenders of the Christian faith and the absolute truthfulness of God's Word.

From shortly after his conversion in the late 1970s until his death in 2012,

in a 2003 interview, he was asked to fill in the blank to these two questions.

First, he was asked, the greatest crisis facing the church today is, and he filled in the blank, individualism.

The greatest crisis facing the church today is individualism.

Now he defined individualism as the idea that we can do our own thing.

The culture is radically individualistic.

People just do whatever they want.

The second statement, he was asked to fill in the blank, the greatest threat facing the individual Christian is,

and he filled in the blank with the dismissal of truth.

Here was how he explained this.

The Barna poll showed that 54% of evangelicals believe that there is no absolute truth.

We have been sucked into the biggest lie this culture can propagate.

Colson was saying back in 2003 that most people in this country, including professing Christians,

according to Barna, 54% of evangelical Christians,

most people in the country, Colson was saying, including Christians,

reject the idea of absolute truth.

That means a universal standard of right and wrong.

2003, the majority of Americans,

the majority of evangelical Christians said,

there is no objective standard of right and wrong.

No absolute truth.

Now, Colson is saying that we as a nation have replaced absolute truth with the idea of personal truth.

That is, I decide what's right and wrong for me,

and you get to decide what's right and wrong for you.

Not absolute truth.

Personal truth is what most people believe.

Now, Colson was describing that in 2003.

How much more does that accurately describe our country today,

the world in which we live in?

You know, if you think about it,

that helps us understand how behaviors

that were widely understood to be sinful and shameful

just a few years ago are now widely accepted

and even celebrated.

Now, as I wind down my ministry as your pastor,

I'm preaching a series of five messages

using Billy Graham's last public message as my theme.

I put it on the screen each week.

Let's do it again.

Billy Graham said his last gathering on his 95th birthday.

With all my heart, I want to leave you with truth.

The first week we looked at the truth about the Bible.

Last week we looked at the truth about the church.

Today we're going to look at the truth about key cultural questions.

I want to say this.

As I'm winding down

and you're going to begin a new search for a pastor,

it is a part of the pastor's job description

to preach and teach the Word of God

and apply it to life in this world,

including today's cultural issues.

A pastor is not doing his job

if he does not teach the Bible

in a way that helps Christians apply

what God says, the truth of God's Word,

to real life,

including controversial issues in our culture.

So I want to say

to the church

and to the search committee,

I am praying

and I have absolute confidence

that you will,

search committees,

seek for

a man who unashamedly

believes that the Bible

is God's inerrant Word,

a man who believes

what the Bible teaches

about the cultural issues of today,

and we're going to look at some of them right now.

But as you,

as a pastor's search committee

and church,

look at such people,

interview such people,

make sure that they not only

believe the truth,

but will stand in the pulpit

and preach the truth

on a regular basis.

That is vitally important.

It's not enough just to believe what's right.

We need to live it.

And if you're a teacher in this church

or any church,

you need to teach it.

You do not need to be ashamed,

afraid,

that you're going to offend somebody.

The gospel is offensive.

The Word of God

is offensive

to people who do not believe it,

who reject it,

who oppose it.

So,

that's just one word

as we get started this morning.

I want to look

quickly at two cultural issues

that we've looked at before,

but because we're on the subject

this morning,

I want to bring them out

just as a reminder.

Number one,

the truth about homosexuality

and same-sex marriage.

The Bible clearly teaches

that homosexual behavior

is sinful behavior.

Now,

I've preached on that

over the years.

There are some examples

of scriptures

that are very clear.

God condemns homosexual behavior.

It is sinful behavior.

But I want to say

in this context,

while I've preached that,

I've often so emphasized

that the Bible's solution

to all sinful behavior

is to admit

it's sin against God

and to repent of it,

change your mind about it,

turn from it,

and turn to Jesus

in faith and forgiveness.

Some people get the wrong idea

if anything controversial

they'll ever preach,

especially on these sexual matters.

I have always tried

to come across,

communicate clearly.

This kind of behavior

is sinful behavior,

but it is forgivable behavior.

God can change anyone's life.

And that's the message

you need to hear.

Sin is sin.

But by the grace of God

through faith in Jesus Christ,

anyone can be forgiven,

the slate wiped clean,

have a fresh start,

a fresh even orientation to life.

The Bible also is clear

that same-sex marriage

violates God's design for marriage.

And God's design for marriage,

as you see there in Genesis 2,

to join one man and one woman

in a one-flesh relationship for life.

Look at it.

Therefore a man shall leave

his father and his mother

and hold fast to his wife,

and they shall become one flesh.

That's the foundational statement

on marriage that God has given us.

He's given us that institution.

And so same-sex marriage

violates God's design for marriage.

That's clear.

Let's go on.

The truth about transgenderism.

The Bible teaches that transgenderism

is contrary to God's design

for human beings.

We've also looked at this in the past.

So let's just quickly review.

God created human beings

in his image as male and female.

Look at this.

So God created man in his own image

of God.

He created him.

Male and female,

he created them.

Since creation,

since creation,

this is the beginning,

human beings have understood

that their biological sex,

or the new word,

gender,

was determined by God

and revealed at birth.

God determined

that you would be male or female.

And when you were born,

it became obvious

if you were male and female.

And I want you to understand,

if you were born a male,

you are a male.

If you were born a female,

you are a female.

You can say, pretend,

dress up, disguise,

any way you want to.

But biologically,

you are what you were born biologically.

And you can't change that.

And that is the truth of God's word.

God creates us male or female.

Now,

God commands human beings

to present themselves,

appear,

present yourself

as either a male,

if you're a biological male,

or a female,

if you're a biological female.

Now,

and do it in a culturally appropriate way.

1 Corinthians 11,

1 Corinthians 11:2–16

verses 2 through 16,

brings this out

as it talks about

a way a man and a woman

ought to appear in worship,

and participate in worship.

That's a long passage.

I just want to give you

a little commentary

that explains what we're talking about

quickly here this morning.

Craig Blomberg

explains

about how we're to present ourselves

according to our biological sex.

Look,

most interpreters agree

that one timeless principle

that may be deduced

from this passage

is that Christians

should not try to blur

all distinctions

between the sexes.

God created men and women

as sexual beings

with sexual differences.

So we must not try

to destroy

these distinctives

by dressing

or grooming

in ways

that make it impossible

to recognize

a person's gender

or worse still,

by changing

our sexual appearance

through transvestite,

the old word,

or transgender behavior.

Bottom line,

God expects men

to look and act like men.

God expects women

to look and act like women

in whatever way

is appropriate

at this time

in this culture.

That's the clear

teaching of Scripture.

And anything

that violates that

is sinful behavior.

Now,

let's move on

to today's

most hot-button issue.

One we've never

tackled before.

The truth about

critical race theory.

Critical race theory

or CRT

may be the most

controversial issue

in today's culture.

It is being

strongly debated,

as most of you know,

on college campuses,

in public school

board meetings.

You're reading

and seeing that

on TV.

It is strongly

debated in government,

even in the military.

Of course,

the media.

It's even being

debated in

Christian churches

and denominations.

This was the most

controversial issue

at this year's

Southern Baptist

Convention,

and I am

disappointed to say

that Southern Baptists

failed

to clearly

identify

critical race theory

as incompatible

with the teaching

of the Bible.

Southern Baptists

put together

a resolution

to declare

that only Scripture

is God's Word.

That's where we've

got to look for

our ultimate standard

of what we believe

and how we live.

They alluded to it,

but the convention

failed intentionally.

They called it

a compromise.

It was too much

of a compromise.

They would not

identify

critical race theory

as being totally

incompatible

with the teaching

of God's Word.

Now,

one thing that has

happened this past year

that's positive

in Southern Baptist life,

we have six

Southern Baptist

seminaries.

Their presidents

meet from time

to time,

issue statements,

I think it's called

a President's Council.

Earlier this year,

the presidents

got together

and they

clearly stated

that critical race

theory is incompatible

with the teaching

of the Bible

and that it is

incompatible

with our

denominations'

statement of faith,

the Baptist faith

and message.

They got a lot

of flack.

They got a lot

of criticism

for that.

Some people even

threatening to leave

the convention.

You know what my

thought is?

When a person

threatens to leave

the convention

over the truth,

there's the door.

I'll open it

for you.

Wouldn't you?

You don't compromise

the truth of God's Word

to avoid hurting

somebody's feelings,

especially over

a cultural issue

that is hurting

the church

and the family

and as clearly

as we're going

to see,

contrary

to the teaching

of God's Word

about dealing

with these kind

of problems,

racial type problems.

Now we've all heard

about critical race

theory in recent months.

What exactly is it?

You know,

wherever you look,

it's hard to just,

you know,

just firmly,

clearly,

plainly describe.

CRT is rooted

in Marxism,

but it replaces

Marxism's focus

on a conflict

between social classes

with a conflict

between races.

One of the most

widely used

definitions

of CRT

comes from

the UCLA

School of Public Affairs,

which is a

pro-critical race

theory group.

I want you to read it

and it looks like

it came from

a school of public

affairs at a university.

But look at it.

This is one of the

most common

definitions you'll find

if you do any kind

of research on this.

CRT recognizes

that racism

is ingrained

in the fabric

and system

of the American society.

The individual

racist

need not exist

to note

that institutional

racism

is pervasive

in the dominant

culture.

This is the

analytical lens

that CRT

uses in examining

existing

power structures.

CRT identifies

that these

power structures

are based on

white privilege

and white supremacy,

which perpetuates

the marginalization

of people of color.

Let's try to

simplify that.

CRT says

that all major

legal,

cultural,

and institutional

power lies

with and was

designed by

white people.

Therefore,

racism is

systemic

and inescapable

in Western

society,

especially

in the United

States.

CRT says

that all white

people in this

country are

oppressors

by virtue

of being

white and

that all

people of

color,

especially

black people,

are the

oppressed

by virtue

of being

people of

color.

This is

because all

power structures

are rooted

in white

privilege and

white supremacy.

If you've

kept up with

any of this,

I think you

can call it

a growing

movement

against

critical race

theory throughout

our culture.

And one

thing that's

really stood

out to me,

school board

related

controversies

discussions.

More and

more black

parents,

like one

father in

particular,

are totally

against this

concept of

critical race

theory,

which teaches

their children

that they're

oppressed

because they're

black and they

can't do

anything about

it.

This black

father that

probably a lot

of you read

about or

maybe heard

on an

interview,

he said he

was teaching

his daughter

that she was

created in the

image of God,

that she had

gifts and

abilities,

that she could

develop,

and she could

be whatever she

wants to be

in life.

If she gets the

education, the

training, she has

those talents and

gifts, there's

nothing holding

her back.

She can go for

whatever it is she

wants to be,

and that's what

most of us have

taught our

children their

whole lives.

That's what is

normal to teach

in American

society.

That's what

throughout time

people have

taught their

children, wanted

for their

children, but

critical race

theory is coming

in and saying

in effect to

black children,

you're part of

the oppressed

group, you

can't do any

better, you

got to wait

until we create

a revolution to

do away with

white power in

this country.

That's what's

happening.

Now the best

resource that

explains the

problems of

critical race

theory and

its liberal

view of social

justice is this

book, Fault

Lines by

Votie

Baucom.

It's the best

resource I have

found.

He has done a

great job of

researching this.

He quotes

lengthy quotes

of people who

are writing in

favor of

developing critical

race theory and

he has the

ability to show

their weaknesses,

their flaws,

their errors.

He even points

out how a lot

of the things

that are being

said publicly

about police

out to get

black people,

black men in

particular, he

cites all kinds

of research,

studies,

government

studies and

others that

shows that is

not true.

It is a false

narrative that's

being promoted

by many but

especially people

involved in

CRT.

I strongly

encourage you,

get Fault

Lines by

Votie

Baucom.

It will

enlighten you

on a lot of

issues about

race and I

want to say

Votie

Baucom grew up

basically in

poverty, a

single mother,

a rough

neighborhood.

But he

talks about it

in his book

that his mother

believed in

taking personal

responsibility.

She highly

valued education.

She made

sure that he

didn't associate

with the wrong

people growing

up.

And by putting

him in the

right kind of

environments to

the best of her

ability, by

making sure he

got a good

education and

took responsibility

for himself and

his actions,

Votie

Baucom is a

world-known

now theologian.

He has

degrees from

Southern Baptist

seminaries.

He has

pastored churches,

preached in many

Southern Baptist

churches.

We used his

material several

years ago in

one of the

Sunday night

discipleship

classes that

we had back

then.

Votie

Baucom now is

teaching at,

he is the

dean of the

African Christian

University School

of Theology at

the African

Christian University

in Zambia.

He went over

there six years

ago.

Votie Baucom is

a black man.

He speaks from

the experience of

being a black

man growing up as

I described in

America.

But one of the

things he will

tell you in that

book based on his

experience of living

in Africa and just

living life in this

country, he will

say the United

States of America

is actually one of

the least racist

nations on the

planet.

Read what Votie

says and the way

he backs up his

arguments and shoots

holes in CRT

arguments.

Now, Baucom says

that CRT has

spawned what he

calls a new cult or

religion called

anti-racism.

And he points out

how anti-racism has

its own vocabulary

and assigns new

definitions to old

words and phrases.

He provides some of

the, he defines some

of these words and

phrases in a way that

will help us to

understand some of

the things we're

hearing today from

advocates of CTR when

they throw around

these words.

So bear with

we're going to

look quickly and

we're only going to

look at two

explanations.

We're just going to

look at the

statements on most

of them but we'll

look at two

definitions.

Number one, you're

hearing these words,

you're reading these

words, look at it.

Whiteness, a set of

normative privileges

granted to white

skinned individuals and

groups which is

invisible to those so

privileged by it.

He says the cult of

anti-racism roots every

aspect of its world

view in the assertion

that everything begins

with the creation of

whiteness.

More specifically the

creation of whiteness

with the express purpose

of establishing white

people as the dominant

hegemonic which means

illegitimate oppressors

and all non-white people

as the objects of that

oppression.

Another word I know

you know, white privilege.

That's a series of

unearned advantages that

accrue to white people

by virtue of their

whiteness.

Now here's one that I

really needed help on the

explanation.

White supremacy.

He says according to CTR

any belief, behavior, or

system that supports,

promotes, or

enhances white privilege.

He says this is not your

grandfather's version of

white supremacy.

When I think, hear that

word, I think about the

KKK.

I think about evil,

sinful, race, real

racist.

He says it does not refer

to the KKK or neo-Nazis

except when it does.

This version refers to the

very air one breathes in a

culture created by and for

white people.

CRT people would say that

if you are a white person,

you are guilty of white

supremacy because you are

a white person.

number four, white complicity.

White people through the

practices of whiteness and by

benefiting from white

privilege contribute to the

maintenance of systemic racial

injustice.

By you breathing and living,

according to CRT, you are

contributing to systemic racism

in this country.

white fragility.

The inability and unwillingness

of white people to talk about

race due to the grip that

whiteness, white supremacy,

white privilege, white

complicitly, knowingly or

unknowingly.

He's talking about the, not the

inability to talk like I'm

talking now.

He's talking about the inability

or unwillingness of white people

to stand up and be counted and

discuss this with people.

systemic sin, the last one.

The sin of racism is no longer

to be understood as an

individual sin.

Instead, the term now incorporates

the idea of institutional or

structural racism and its

implications.

Hence, America has sinned and

certain white Americans have

inherited that sin whether they

know it or not.

Now, everything that I pointed out

at the CRT, this is contrary to

what the Bible teaches about

humanity and race.

What you have seen on the screen,

what I've been talking about, about

CRT, this is not something that

maybe could be used to help us be

better informed as Christians.

No.

CRT teaches untruth.

A wrong explanation of humanity

and the problems of humanity like

race.

This is why people like Votie

Bauckham and others call critical race

theory a worldview that is contrary to

the Christian worldview.

As Christians, we should look at life

through the lens of Scripture.

A biblical worldview.

A Christian worldview.

Well, critical race theory, that's its

own worldview.

Secularism, atheism has their own

worldviews.

Now, let's go to what the Bible talks

about.

Critical race theory is contrary to

biblical truth.

And I want to show you why.

First, all human beings can trace

their origin to one common source.

And that is the creative work of God.

Look again at Genesis 127.

So God created man in his own image,

image of God.

He created him.

Male and female, he created them.

What I want us to focus on here is,

God created human beings.

Male and female.

Both in his image.

Because all people are created in the image

of God, all people have equal worth and

value and significance.

It comes from being created in the image of

God.

We don't separate people according to race

or ethnicity.

We're a part of the one human race.

That's the next thing.

All human beings can trace their origin to one

common ancestry, Adam and Eve.

Adam is the father of us all.

Look at what Paul said in Acts 17.

And he made from one man every nation of

mankind to live on the face of the earth.

And he made from one man every nation of

mankind.

Secondly, Eve is the mother of us all.

Scripture says, Adam named his wife Eve because

she would become the mother of all the living.

Now just based on what the Bible says about the way

God created human beings, two things are true about

all people.

Every person who has ever lived is of equal worth and

importance for this reason.

They were created in the image of God.

Everybody.

White, black, brown, red, every.

Then every person who has ever lived is a descendant of

Adam and Eve, which means everyone is a member of the

same original race, the human race.

This truth helps us understand that all human

prejudice, hostility, divisiveness that is based on

race or nationality or ethnicity, that's contrary to the

way God created human beings to live.

All human prejudice, hostility, divisive, division between

races, groups, whatnot.

That is contrary to the way God created us and intends us to

live in this world.

Therefore, the root cause of all human relational problems,

including racial problems, is sin.

Not whiteness, as CRT says.

CRT says the root cause of the problems of racism in this country

is whiteness.

The word of God says the root cause of all racial problems in

this country is sin.

We have failed to treat one another as equal worth and

value because we're created in the image of God.

We've failed to treat one another as brothers and sisters

universally in the sense that we're all part of the human

race.

Now, God's solution to the problem of racism and all sin is

found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

I want you to note quickly how Paul describes how coming to

Christ changes us and changes the way we view other people.

Paul's describing when a person is born again by the Spirit of

God, we are made different.

Look at this.

From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the

flesh, even though we once regarded Christ according to the

flesh.

We regard him thus no longer.

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation.

The old is passed away.

Behold, the new has come.

When a person truly is born again by the Spirit of God, they're

regenerated.

Their whole way of looking at life changes.

Supernatural work of God.

That's what Paul's talking about.

Then, he also describes how God used the death of Christ to

unite his people by tearing down walls of racial and ethnic

prejudice and hostility.

Look at this from Ephesians 2.

But now in Christ Jesus, you who were once far off, he's talking

about Gentiles, have been brought near by the blood of Christ.

For he himself is our peace, who has made us both, Jew and Gentile,

one, and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of

hostility.

That he might create in himself one new man, Christians, brothers and

sisters in Christ, the church, out of Jew and Gentile.

So, making peace and might reconcile us both to God in one body, the

church, through the cross, thereby killing the hostility.

One of the tallest and strongest walls of separation has ever existed

between Jews and Gentiles.

And a lot of you know that.

The Jews were responsible for building that wall.

They were God's chosen people, but God chose them for a purpose.

God chose them to be channels to whom he worked to reach all humanity.

But the Jewish people only heard the part about, we're God's chosen

people.

And they took it pridefully.

They became arrogant.

We're God's chosen people.

Y'all are not.

They were Southern Jews that said, you know, y'all are not.

But that was true.

Instead of becoming agents of peace and reconciliation, they became

agents of hostility, rejection, division.

Well, the walls of division that the Jews built also became the

Gentiles wall.

The Gentiles owned it.

And both Jew and Gentile embraced a common hostility and hatred for

one another.

Now, a major wall of division exists today between black and white

Americans.

Like the Jews, I want you to listen to this.

This is important.

Like the Jews, white people in this country are responsible for

building the walls to start with through the institution of

slavery that existed in this country's first 200 years, including

colonial times.

Now, those walls of division and hostility, they were reinforced by

the legal discrimination and segregation that took place in this

country 100 years after the end of slavery or until the mid-1960s.

That was the Jim Crow laws.

So we need to own up to what we have done as white people in this country to build

walls of division and hostility.

But, like the Gentiles, black people in this country have taken co-ownership of

these walls of division.

You see, racism and prejudice are two-way streets.

CRT does not believe that.

Critical race theory teaches that only white people are or can be racist.

Black people cannot.

That's wrong.

It doesn't make sense.

Racism and prejudice go both ways.

White toward black, but also black toward white.

CRT says that we have a problem with systemic racism in this country.

But it says very little about individual racism.

Systemic racism means that racial problems are embedded in the systems and structures of

this country, in government, in banking, in education, and everywhere.

Well, that was true in this country in the years of slavery and Jim Crow.

But in the mid to late 1960s, civil rights acts were passed.

Since then, many other laws have been passed.

And the truth of the matter is, systemic racism is illegal in this country today.

It is not allowed in this country today.

Our racial problems are not truly systemic, embedded in the culture.

Our racial problems are personal problems.

Their problems are problems of the heart.

You know, there are definitely groups of people and individuals in this country who are racist to the core.

You may know some.

Some of them have such evil hearts that they are proud and public about their hatred for people

who are just about in any way different from them.

These kind of people need to always be called out, condemned, and opposed.

We need to let it be known there is no place for groups or individuals who hate people of another race, nationality, or ethnic group.

We must not tolerate racism in any form, on any level.

It is sin.

It is evil.

It will destroy our country.

But at the same time now, the only real solution to the sin of racism is repentance.

The only real solution to the sin of racism is for the Spirit of God to, from within, change people.

The way they think.

The way they see life.

The way they live life.

The way they relate to other people.

Critical race theory says that I must repent of the sins of past generations of racists.

That is not true.

That is not true.

I cannot repent of my forefathers' sins.

You can't of yours.

We repent of our personal sins, but not anyone else's.

Critical race theory also says, get this, I must repent of being white.

That's not only wrong, that's ridiculous.

Being white is not a sin.

Now you need to be aware of this.

There are some evangelicals, including some Southern Baptists, who have actually called for white people to repent of their whiteness.

And their white privilege.

White people do not need to repent of their whiteness.

Because being white is not a sin.

If you're white, you're white because God made you white.

You don't repent of what God made you.

Black people do not need to repent of being black.

Because black is not a sin.

God made black people black.

The Bible says that we can and must repent of our personal sins.

You can't repent of past generation sin.

There is nothing to repent of about being white or black or anything like that.

But the Bible does strongly teach that we can and must repent of all personal sins.

We must all own the sin that we are guilty of against God and other people.

We must not only own it, admit it, confess it, but we must turn from it, repent of it.

Let's be more specific.

If you have or are prejudiced against someone because of the color of their skin,

in your attitude, word, or actions,

you have sinned against them and God.

I want to be clear about that.

If you are a prejudiced person, you look down, you despise, you mistreat,

you alienate someone because of the color of their skin,

because of their ethnicity or anything like that,

that is sin against Almighty God.

You are rejecting the way that He has created you,

equal, everyone equal in God's image.

And you've sinned against that person that you have shown

through your attitude, words, or actions, racist conduct.

If that's true, admit it, turn from it.

Change your mind.

Ask God to help you to change your mind.

We cannot be right with Him until we do that.

In fact, no one can be right with God and refuse to repent of,

turn from any sin that God has made clear to you that you are guilty of.

The racial problems that exist in our country today are complex.

And I don't want to mislead anybody into thinking it's just a simple thing.

But I do want to be clear that critical race theory has no sensible or workable solution to the racial problems in our country.

But the Word of God provides us with wise and workable solutions that will help us to acknowledge,

deal with, and overcome the sins of racism if we'll do it God's way.

I want to encourage you this morning.

By God's grace, let's all do our part to tear down the walls that keep people apart.

Let's do all that we can to start building bridges that will bring people together.

Let's pray.

Dear God, help us to see this morning the truth about these cultural issues of today.

The truth that comes from your Word.

And help us, Father, to develop our beliefs and our convictions based on those truths.

And help us, dear God, to reject everything that is contrary to your Word.

No matter how popular it may be with people around us or just people in general in today's world.

Dear God, help us to see that by your grace, through the power of your Spirit,

we can apply the truth of your Word and build bridges across the racial divides that exist in this country.

Help us, Father, to seek to do that humbly.

Help us to seek to do that dependently upon you.

And help us to seek to do that together with others in this church,

in this community,

of all races,

of all ethnicities.

Give us the desire and ability to do this.

Let's just, in attitude of prayer,

listen to the Lord.

You respond to Him as you need to this morning.

Listen, pray, obey.

Definitely, yes!

Hallelujah.

Lilly.

Allez Julubal.

Bre not for anyone else'spit,

welcome to Summit