This past Sunday I shared a critical thinking for the church that is too important to our future simply to assume we all understood. Here is a brief summary: we are moving into the letters of Paul and Paul loves lists. He presents us with many of them. Romans 1 has a list, a long one. The purpose of the list is twofold. First, for the believer, the list exists to be inclusive not exclusive. Paul does not present behavioral lists to exclude people from the kingdom. Rather he presents them so that we (believers) are reminded that we are sinners in need of a savior. So Romans 2:1 follows the list and Paul says believers are not to judge others. The second reason Paul presents the lists is to remind us that what we do matters to God. We are not free to just do whatever we wish.
As important as it is that believers not be judgmental, the more important teaching of Romans 1 is that everyone is responsible for responding to the truth of God. Paul says creation itself should have been sufficient evidence for us to humble ourselves and worship a good and loving Creator. When someone (or a church or a nation) chooses to reject God and create idols, God’s response is simply to turn us over to ourselves. Simply put, we get to make up what we think is true based on our own opinions. In our society, this means that those we elected to office will determine what is true and the truth will be handed down to us. We will not vote on it. And if we are being handed over to ourselves, we would vote in favor of godlessness.
The evidence that we are being handed over to ourselves is seen in the lists Paul gives us throughout his letters and in the call to become Holy Jesus offers his disciples. So what are we to do?
We are to seek holiness and accept the reality that God’s people have always been called to be different and set apart. We are to remain steadfast and cling to the truth. We are to understand that eventually others will be drawn to the truth. Light in the darkness always gets attention. In short, we are not to conform to the pattern of the world but to be transformed by the Spirit of God. Romans 12:1-2
Pastor Ernie