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,
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.
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