Okay, by now this topic has probably been beaten to death by sports bloggers and others in the blogosphere who are much more qualified to attack it than I am; but that's not going to keep me from weighing in with my opinion, anyway.
To use the words of President Obama, it's disappointing. Regardless of whether you Alex Rodriguez or love to hate him, we love him or hate him for the same reason: he's such a freakin' monster on the baseball diamond. And we thought he did it naturally. He was the hope of legitimizing the Home Run record again. He was the one everyone pointed to as evidence that you didn't have to cheat to be great at Major League Baseball - the "Golden Boy," as my brother put it. Now, it's just disappointing.
Perhaps I'm most disappointed that all this happened while he was a member of the Texas Rangers....my team. I feel very betrayed - those three years while we marveled at his power, his defense, and rejoiced in an MVP coming from a last-place team. Looking back, everything has changed.
But the big question I have in all the steroids hoopla doesn't have to do with any player. My question is, why is no one holding the owners, GM's, and managers accountable for what is (hopefully, was) being done in their clubhouses. Granted, we cannot take blame away from the players - no one is shoving needles into their arms but themselves. But, it seems to me that some responsibility falls on the club execs to take the necessary measures to ensure that their clubhouse is clean. I know if I was an owner, GM, team president, manager, or even the clubhouse janitor, I would not want there to be any room for suspicion about what went on in my clubhouse on my watch.
Hopefully, Major League Baseball has taken the necessary steps to make sure that the steroid era is over. The worst part of all this is that we as baseball fans are going to scrutinize every single record that has been set over the past two decades, along with any that are set anytime in the near future.
Maybe ignorance really was bliss........
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
Homosexuality and the Gospel
Homosexuality is a hot topic these days (almost as hot as the bailout.....see the post below this one for that discussion). Homosexuality has gone from being a taboo that was not discussed (the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy) just a few short years ago, to being considered socially acceptable by much of the population. Anyone who would dare say that homosexuality is somehow wrong or immoral is immediately labeled a bigot. In some areas, simply saying those words constitutes a hate crime - which begs the question, "what happened to 'free speech?'"
With this cultural shift occurring so quickly, it has left the Church (the universal Church - all believers, everywhere) scrambling with how to react. Churches have reacted with a wide range of responses. We have seen everything from some deciding homosexuality is acceptable to singling it out as "the Sin" - that it is somehow worse than any other sin.
Believe it or not, both of these extremes have come from the exact same bible passage - Romans 1:26-27:
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion
The first extreme in Christianity comes from Paul's word, "natural." Those who hold to this view say that it is "natural" for someone to be homosexual, therefore for them to practice heterosexuality would be "unnatural" and a sin. However, this is a misunderstanding of the way Paul uses the word, "natural." In the way he uses it, the term means basically, "the way God designed things." In order to see the way God designed things, we must go back to Genesis chapter 2 when God created male and female to be together. This is God's design. Homosexuality is the result of a fallen world - things are not the way they are supposed to be. The "natural" order of things is for one man to be joined to one woman for a lifetime.
The other extreme comes from the assumption that since Paul gives so much space to the topic of homosexuality in Romans 1 when compared to the other sins listed there, that homosexuality must somehow be worse than the rest. This is a misunderstanding of Sin. Sin is sin, plain and simple. White lies, murder, stealing, and homosexuality are all equal under that heading. For sure, some sins have greater consequences in life than others. However, all Sin has the same consequence - separation from God Almighty for eternity. All sin is evil, and all sin will lead us away from God. Homosexuality is a sin; it is not The Sin.
To those who would say that I need to wake up and come into the twenty-first century, I have this argument. I believe in the unchanging Truth of God's Word - His Word does not change like cultures do. As cultures adapt, our methods change; this is true. But our message does not change: God hates Sin. Sin separates us from God. But there is wonderfully good news: God sent His Son to take away Sin and to bring us back into fellowship with Him.
The Gospel is not bigotry. The Gospel is the wonderful message of how our God loves us so much that he took drastic measures to bring us back into relationship with Him. God hates Sin, but He loves the sinner with all of His being. We, as His people, are called to hate sin the way He hates it, but to love sinners the way He loves them. May He teach us to do that.
With this cultural shift occurring so quickly, it has left the Church (the universal Church - all believers, everywhere) scrambling with how to react. Churches have reacted with a wide range of responses. We have seen everything from some deciding homosexuality is acceptable to singling it out as "the Sin" - that it is somehow worse than any other sin.
Believe it or not, both of these extremes have come from the exact same bible passage - Romans 1:26-27:
26 Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. 27 In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion
The first extreme in Christianity comes from Paul's word, "natural." Those who hold to this view say that it is "natural" for someone to be homosexual, therefore for them to practice heterosexuality would be "unnatural" and a sin. However, this is a misunderstanding of the way Paul uses the word, "natural." In the way he uses it, the term means basically, "the way God designed things." In order to see the way God designed things, we must go back to Genesis chapter 2 when God created male and female to be together. This is God's design. Homosexuality is the result of a fallen world - things are not the way they are supposed to be. The "natural" order of things is for one man to be joined to one woman for a lifetime.
The other extreme comes from the assumption that since Paul gives so much space to the topic of homosexuality in Romans 1 when compared to the other sins listed there, that homosexuality must somehow be worse than the rest. This is a misunderstanding of Sin. Sin is sin, plain and simple. White lies, murder, stealing, and homosexuality are all equal under that heading. For sure, some sins have greater consequences in life than others. However, all Sin has the same consequence - separation from God Almighty for eternity. All sin is evil, and all sin will lead us away from God. Homosexuality is a sin; it is not The Sin.
To those who would say that I need to wake up and come into the twenty-first century, I have this argument. I believe in the unchanging Truth of God's Word - His Word does not change like cultures do. As cultures adapt, our methods change; this is true. But our message does not change: God hates Sin. Sin separates us from God. But there is wonderfully good news: God sent His Son to take away Sin and to bring us back into fellowship with Him.
The Gospel is not bigotry. The Gospel is the wonderful message of how our God loves us so much that he took drastic measures to bring us back into relationship with Him. God hates Sin, but He loves the sinner with all of His being. We, as His people, are called to hate sin the way He hates it, but to love sinners the way He loves them. May He teach us to do that.
Bailout
The government bailout of large, irresponsible companies has received its fair share of media attention lately. There are lots of viewpoints on whether or not the bailouts should happen. To be honest, I don't know what I think of them. Apparently, some in Washington think that our economy would suffer even worse consequences by not providing the bailout. I'm glad I'm not the one who has to make those tough decisions.
There is one bailout, however, that I am a fan of. Rom 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We were undeserving. There was a large chance that we would take the grace we were given and go on a sinning spree. But even with those risks, Christ Jesus still gave up His own life to bail you and me out. I'm sure glad He did.
There is one bailout, however, that I am a fan of. Rom 5:8 says, "But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." We were undeserving. There was a large chance that we would take the grace we were given and go on a sinning spree. But even with those risks, Christ Jesus still gave up His own life to bail you and me out. I'm sure glad He did.
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