By Dennis Pollock
In many of the moral, political, and controversial issues of our day, secular people, those with no interest in or faith in the God of the Bible, may appear to be more compassionate than evangelical Christians, at least in their own minds. Let me give you a few examples.
Let’s consider illegal immigration in America. The tide is changing, but there are still more than a few people who believe that it is the compassionate position to allow illegal immigrants to freely cross our borders. Not only that, but some of these folks also want the illegal immigrants to be given gift packages, put up in expensive hotels, given free health care, and allowed to vote in our elections. But most evangelical Christians don’t see it this way. Most of the Bible-reading, church attending Christians support the deportation of illegals, and hold to this idea: let them come over legally or not at all. How can these Christians be so unsympathetic to all these millions of people coming from poverty-stricken situations, and simply wanting to participate in the American dream? Why is it that non-Christians seem to hold the more compassionate view?
Another example is sexual expression. The people who have always pushed for sexual expression in every variety have always been secular, non-church going, non-Bible reading activists. Those who hold these positions are typically not Sunday School teachers nor evangelical pastors. They are not individuals who read the Bible daily. It is the evangelical Christians, the ones who hold to the command to “love your neighbor,” who strongly insist that the only legitimate sexual expression is that between a married man and his wife. Where’s the compassion? Why not allow everyone to do their own thing?
Eating Animals
Many of the vegans, who consider the eating of meat a terrible crime and sin, are almost universally secular. They don’t go to church, they never sing “Amazing Grace,” and they do not talk about being born again. Still, these non-meat-eating vegans feel incredibly virtuous by eschewing hamburgers, steaks, and fried chicken dinners, while they feast on salads, beans, and tofu. They would never harm a poor little chicken or a simple-minded cow just to satisfy their appetite. But most Christians eat meat freely without the least compunction, these followers of Jesus who carried lambs around His neck and told us to love each other. Does that not include the animals as well?
A fourth issue where the secular folks appear to be more compassionate than the Christians has to do with law and order. For a season, a sizable group of Americans felt that strict laws and their enforcement were a terrible blight upon our nation. They pushed hard to reduce penalties for many crimes, and they even began discussing defunding the police. In California, they succeeded in essentially turning shoplifting into non-crime, if you kept your stolen items under $999. Not to worry, if you didn’t get as much free stuff as you wanted, you could always come back tomorrow and steal another $900 worth of items or just go to a different store. Most of the people behind this nonsensical support of criminals were not evangelical Christians. They were unbaptized, prayerless, biblically ignorant, secular men and women. And perhaps they wondered, “Why aren’t the Christians more compassionate to their fellow human beings? Where is the sympathy, where is their tender heart? Why do they demand that shoplifters pay for their crimes? And why must rioters who burn police cars be hauled into court before unfeeling, tough-on-crime judges who will put them behind steel bars for years? Whatever happened to ‘Jesus loves me, this I know’? And what about grace? You Christians talk about grace all the time, but with criminals you insist on punishment and prison!”
Well, since I am one of these law-and-order, evangelical Christians, I would be happy to answer those questions. My first point to those who question our compassion is this: “You need to read the Bible.” Yes, the Bible says much about grace, forgiveness, and love, but it also strongly insists upon morality and accountability. In fact, the Bible is filled with morality, with “thou shalt” and thou shalt not.” Sometimes people suggest that the Bible strictly forbids capital punishment, when it declares “Thou shall not kill,” which is found in Exodus 20. But in the very next chapter, God declares through Moses: “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death” (Exodus 21:12). In fact, the laws of Moses are replete with strict and severe punishments for various sins and crimes.
New Testament Morality
You may be thinking, “Praise God we’re not under the Old Testament,” and I would say “Amen.” But do not suppose that under the New Testament God has suddenly become wimpy. Our Lord Jesus could be very forceful, calling the hypocrites of His day “fools and blind.” He also talked more about hell than any person in the Bible and made it clear that if you do not put your faith in Him, hell is precisely where you will land after death. The Apostle Paul is called the Apostle of Grace, but he also could be tough. He told the churches that if they have anyone in them who refuses to work, they must refuse him any food, saying: “If anyone will not work, neither shall he eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10). And Paul insisted that sexually immoral people, people who do not confine sex to that between a married man and his wife, these folks will not inherit the kingdom of God, which is about as serious a penalty as one could ever receive. He even instructed the Corinthian church to turn a man over to Satan for his sexual immorality.
The idea of Christianity being a bland confection of sickly-sweet cotton candy, mixed with jelly and covered with syrup, without any kind of moral discrimination, is patently false, which anyone who reads the Bible would know. Yes, there is forgiveness and grace and love – but there is also a code of conduct which God takes very, very seriously. And if you do not believe this, read the New Testament sometime. So, my word to our secular friends is this: do not be shocked or surprised when the Christians take a firm stance on moral issues. Our Master, the Lord Jesus, who died on the cross for the sins of the world and rose from the dead on the third day, offers salvation to us all freely, but He also insists that those who follow Him must observe His commands, and make it our aim to please God. He asks the question: “Why do you call Me ‘Lord, Lord,’ and not do the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46). And He insists: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15). And those who love and follow Jesus, who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, will do just that!
