'So What?' - How Christians waste Conversations

Huh?

He informed me that he didn’t like what the Bible had to say about sex.

Now he didn’t specify what he meant by that. Perhaps he was thinking that if he became a Christian he would have to stop knocking boots with his girlfriend. Either that or marry her – and he didn’t seem inclined to do either.

Ignorant of whatever his exact objection may have been,  I ventured a response,

‘So what?’

He seemed surprised.

Forgetting our Orders

We Christians are easily distracted. We’ve been given our marching orders from Jesus – our Commander-in-Chief. He commanded us to give the world around us the message he entrusted us with. Paul summed it up this way:

‘I passed on to you what was most important and what had also been passed on to me. Christ died for our sins, just as the Scriptures said.

He was buried, and he was raised from the dead on the third day, just as the Scriptures said.’    

-1 Corinthians 15

Christianity is a unique in a number of ways. One of the things that sets the Bible apart from other religions and lifestyle philosophies is that it’s not primarily about morality and ethics. Oh, that’s in there – and it is important. But it’s not the main player. 

The Biblical message is not so much about what we need to do, but rather about what has been done for us. Morality and ethics – sexual or otherwise - is merely a part of a coherent response to this good news. That’s why we deliver a message called ‘gospel’. Gospel is announcement of something important that has been done. It's a proclamation - a message with testicles. 

The Conversation

Him: I don’t like what the Bible says about sex.

Me: So what?

Him: Well, isn’t that important. I think the Bible’s wrong.

Me: Does the fact that you don’t like what the Bible says about sex mean that Jesus couldn’t have risen from the dead?

Him: Huh? What does that have to do with anything?

If Jesus wasn’t raised from the dead, then it doesn’t matter what the Bible says about sex or anything else. You don’t have to believe any of it. The book is of no real importance to anyone.

But if Jesus was raised from the dead, then what it says on any and every subject is of ultimate importance to everyone.

As Christians, our job is not to convince society around us to adopt a particular view of morality, family, sex or ethics. We can deal with those issues in house (1 Cor. 5). Our primary call isn’t to try and patch up the old, sinking world – it’s to call people into a new one. That’s only possible if Christ has been raised.

But he has been raised. The death knell has been reborn into a wedding bell.
And everything shall be made well. 

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For a look at how the Gospel changes friendship across the gender divide please check out Forbidden Friendships - available on Amazon in Paperback and Kindle in the USA and the UK.