5 Every word of God proves true;
he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
6 Do not add to his words,
lest he rebuke you and you be found a liar. – Proverbs 30:5-6
Sign Language
We expect, during an election year, to see yards dressed (or littered) with signs promoting political candidates. The fallen leaves and the dying grass share space with the political hopefuls that will set our world straight. Or so we perpetually hope.
However, I am sure you have noticed many signs that don’t directly endorse any candidates, rather they seem to promote a different hope. Social justice. Many of these signs are a list introduced by the exclamation: “We Believe”. I am not sure if these signs are intended to underhandedly promote one party over the other or to unite our deeply divided society with a common cause. Regardless, on the surface I suspect we would all agree that we are for social justice. Unfortunately, I believe there is a dangerous gap between what the signs say, and what they imply. (If they don’t have deeper implications, I am afraid we would have to dismiss many of them as utter nonsense).
The Bible has a lot to say about the importance of what we believe, as well as the seriousness of the words we speak. Further, as Christians, we are to defend Biblical Truth. And altering it is not an option. Therefore, when we see these signs, I think we would be wise to ask whether their slogans are in line with Scripture or whether they are meaningless or harmful platitudes.
So lets look at some of the sign language.
Black Lives Matter
Of course this is a true statement. At least it is to Christians. The issue isn’t which lives matter, it is why they matter. As humans we were created in the image of God, regardless of skin color. To God, every life matters. Shame on those who even make an issue of race.
13 For you formed my inward parts;
you knitted me together in my mother’s womb.
14 I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
my soul knows it very well. – Psalm 139:13-14
Since we are all “fearfully and wonderfully made” by our Creator God, we need to be careful about elevating any one race over another. Even under the guise of social justice. Further, if one black life matters, they all matter. Yet, despite the rhetoric, blacks like Clarence Thomas, Candace Owens, Thomas Sowell and many others are often slurred as Uncle Tom’s and even called the N word by their fellow blacks.
Let’s be consistent. All lives matter even if they disagree with the progressive narratives.
Love is Love
I believe it may be accurately stated that love is the most powerful force in the world, but I cannot concede, based on the Bible, that all love is equal, as this motto seems to imply.
God is love… – 1 John 4:16
16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life” – John 3:16
As you can see, the Bible tells us that God is love, and that out of His love for us He sent Christ to this earth to save us from the consequences of our sins. In addition, in 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen, Paul records what true love looks like. Further, the Bible uses different words to differentiate between different kinds of loves. But it never equates sin with love. In other words, the Bible doesn’t recognize the perverted “love” between two people of the same sex as equivalent to the love between a man and a woman. To the contrary, there are many passages condemning such relationships as an abomination.
When we are told that love is love, we must remember that true love is objective. It cannot be defined by itself (despite what postmodernists want to believe). The same God who is love, is also light. And since He is, we must recognize that true love doesn’t allow others to live in darkness, but rather points them to the light that true Love sent into this world.
Science is Real
While it is easy to concede that science is real, it is dangerous to assume that science makes a good “final authority”. While science (if I can assign to it human attributes) has done much good for civilization, it makes for a poor god.
2 Great are the works of the Lord,
studied by all who delight in them. – Psalm 111:2
17 then I saw all the work of God, that man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun. However much man may toil in seeking, he will not find it out. Even though a wise man claims to know, he cannot find it out. – Ecclesiastes 8:17
Unlike God, science (scientists) are often wrong. For proof, we need to look no further than the Covid projections that were based on scientific models. Technically, science cannot even “prove” mathematics (science is limited to propositions not proofs). Yet despite it’s limitations, unfortunately for many, science has become an idol. Perhaps Einstein’s quote should help us keep human reasoning in perspective. “Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity, and I’m not sure about the universe.”
Limited to the realm of the empirical, science will never answer man’s greatest questions or fulfil his greatest need. Only the all knowing and all powerful Creator can do so.
Science may be real, but it will never occupy God’s throne.
No Human is Illegal
While it may be true that no human is inherently “illegal”, that does not imply that no human is a lawbreaker. In fact, the Bible tells us the opposite.
19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. – Acts 3:19-20
Those that claim no human is illegal, are obviously pushing for open borders. When they ignore our border policies and immigration laws, they are snubbing the very fabric of our society. Imagine the anarchy if all of us could simply disregard the laws we disagree with.
God is a God of order, not chaos. Accordingly, the nuclear family, governments, and even borders were his idea to preserve life and order.
26 And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, – Acts 17:26
While I recognize that our country has a rich immigration “history”, that doesn’t imply that we should not protect our citizens from illegal immigrants. Laws exist that allow immigrants to become citizens legally. The fairest and most compassionate thing we can do for everyone is to enforce them not ignore them.
Sobering Words
My objective is not to make light of social justice. Not at all. But, as I mentioned earlier, we need to be careful about the words we speak, and in this case, the messages we send. Intentional or not. When writing about this subject, this is what Matthew Henry wrote:
“Add thou not unto his words, because they are pure and perfect. This forbids the advancing of any thing, not only in contradiction to the word of God, but in competition to it; though it be under the plausible pretence of explaining it, yet, if it pretend to be of equal authority with it, it is adding to his words, which is not only a reproach to them as in insufficient, but opens the door to all manner of errors and corruptions; for, that one absurdity being granted, that the word of any man, or company of men, is to be received with the same faith and veneration as the word of God, a thousand follow. We must be content with what God has thought fit to make known to us his mind, and not covet to be wise above what is written”.
Redefining words or stripping them of their meanings can be dangerous. May we never compromise Truth in our passion for “noble” causes. Even in the midst of an election year, social unrest, and a pandemic, His every word proves true, and He is a shield to those who take refuge in Him. May the sign language always send us back to Him.
BTW, my favorite yard sign:
Jesus-2020