As most of you already know and may have since forgotten, Phil Robertson (the patriarch of the Duck Dynasty clan), was asked in an interview for GQ Magazine what his beliefs were regarding homosexuality.  Mr. Robertson gave his honest opinion in a rather gruff, off-the-cuff manner and came under fire from conservative and liberal groups alike.  Some lauded him as a hero, others villified him and his entire family.  This is exactly what the writer of the article intended.  Constroversy sells.  Because of the polarizing nature of these remarks, and the remarks of others before him, it is my belief that Christians should stop answering this question.  Robertson was not the first high-profile believer to be confronted with this question and he won’t be the last.  It is a trap.  The New Testament records several occations in which Jesus was asked difficult questions in an attempt to stump him or discredit him.  And He always managed to turn the answer toward things that were more important than the question facing Him.  I think we should follow His example.  I used to think that getting involved in “causes” was a major part of being a Christian.  The older I get, the more convinced I am that our primary job is to love people and tell them that Jesus loves them.  1 Corinthians 15:3, 11 says, “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures…so we preach and so you believed.”  When we preach the love of Christ and what He sacrificed for us, people come to Him.  My hunch is that no one read that magazine article, and was so touched by the denouncement of homosexuality that they immediately committed their life to God.

I am not condoning a cowardly “No Comment” type of answer to the question of homosexuality, but simply a redirection.  For example, let’s pretend that I am somebody and am being interviewed by…say… “Rolling Stone”. Interviewer:  “Mrs. Sparks, do you think homosexuality is a sin against God?”  Response:  “I believe that question can be very inflammatory, so what I would like to say is that I believe everyone is a sinner.  And we all need Jesus to cover over those sins for us.  The most important thing for me to tell you today is that God loves you, and He sent Jesus to pay the price for all of our sins on the cross.  It is not my job, nor is it appropriate for me to judge individual sins.  And it really doesn’t matter what I have to say about homosexuality or any other topic.  What matters is what the Bible has to say about it.  And you can look that up for yourself if you would like.  I would like to tell you about Jesus.  And if you choose to enter into a relationship with Him, He will – in time – reveal any areas of your life that need changing for your betterment.  He is showing me things all the time.”  1 Corinthians 2:14 says, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”  It is only after we are walking with God that we can truly understand the “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots”, so we shouldn’t lead with those.  And we, as sanctified believers, have got to stop expecting those without a relationship with Christ to “have the mind of Christ”(v 16)

If you are in a spiritual one on one discussion with someone and that person asks you a direct question about an issue, I am not suggesting that you shouldn’t answer to the best of your ability.  But for an audience that you do not have a relationship with, pray about whether this redirection is more appropriate.  You say you don’t think you will ever be interviewed by “Rolling Stone” OR “GQ”?  What about Facebook.  Are we taking a stand AGAINST things when we should be standing FOR the love of Christ?  Tweets or status updates can be easily misunderstood and it’s hard to convey your heart on difficult topics in 140 characters or less.  So I say all that to sum up with this:  Love others where they are, and let God worry about the rest.  

This morning I watched Shelby try to put on her own sock.  There are two ways I could have responded to this.  I could have grieved (and trust me – there are many things I have grieved and continue to grieve about Shelby’s condition) over the reminder that my 13 year old cannot dress herself, or I could choose to find joy in watching her attempt something she has never tried before.  Picture a toddler holding a sock in one hand and lifting his foot to it and expecting it to go on just by brushing the sock over the top of the foot.  Over and over again.  It’s cute, right?  It makes you giggle.  My teenaged daughter was just as cute to me.  And I giggled.  Is it funny that Shelby can’t perform the most basic functions of self-care?  No.  But we have learned through the years to celebrate the little things.  Without the ability to find joy there, it would be a sad existence.  I will never get to see Shelby graduate from college or live independently or get married or have children, but I can relish every new word she learns.  I can savor every picture she colors.  I can celebrate when she almost clears the floor with both feet trying to jump.  Because those little things have become the big things.  The joy is in the day to day.

In so many areas of life, but especially at Christmas, I think we have gotten the big things confused with the little things.  What we spend the most time on during the holiday season is making sure everyone on our list has the perfect gift.  We work ourselves to the point of exhaustion to cook all the most delicious and aesthetically pleasing foods, and fill our homes with Pinterest-worthy decor.  We make sure we attend every party and every festive activity available to us.  Because we have to, right?  All of these “big” things often lead to stress, frustration and discouragement.  And somewhere, in the midst of all that busyness, what is really “big” becomes small.  The whole reason for Christmas gets lost.  We might attend a Christmas Eve service at a local church or take 10 minutes one day to read the story of Jesus’ birth in Luke chapter 2, but if we are honest; Christ’s coming takes a back seat to all these activities.  I wonder…if we made Jesus the most important thing about the season, would all those other things be nearly as important?  Would getting a card to someone we haven’t seen in 10 years seem trivial? Would spending too much money on extravagant gifts seem like an unwise use of our resources?  Would Christmas mean something totally different for you and your family?  Every year articles are published about “simplifying” the holidays.  Without a heart change, that seems impossible.  But if we allow Jesus to take the top spot in our hearts, I think the “small” things would start to organically become the “big” things.  God’s great gift to us – His Son – is THE Joy to the World.  Choose that Joy.  Choose Him.
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