After performing His first miracle at the wedding in Cana and spending a couple days in Capernaum, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Passover. When He entered the temple he saw “those who were selling oxen and sheep and doves, and the moneychangers seated. He made a scourge of cords, and drove them all out…and poured out the coins of the moneychangers, and overturned their tables…and He said, ‘Take these things away; stop making My Father’s house a house of merchandise’ ” (Jn. 2:14-16).  Needless to say, Jesus was angry as He observed the perversion of the place that was to be sacred and holy into a place to make profit.

     Later in His ministry as Jesus approached Jerusalem, “He saw the city and wept over it” knowing what the future held for those living there. Rome would soon (70 A.D) come and besiege and destroy the city, not leaving “one stone upon another” (Lk. 19:41-44).  

     In these two passages, we see how the “Holy City” had been corrupted and would face the hand of God’s judgment. Jesus was both mad at how the sacred had been perverted and sad at the judgment they would have to face.

     I definitely experienced both emotions of anger and sorrow as we watched the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympics and saw our Christian faith openly mocked in the most offensive way imaginable as transgenders and drag queens desecrated something as holy as the “Last Supper” (which was beautifully depicted by famous Italian painter, Leonardo da Vinci in the 15th century). The parody by the drag queens was shameful, blasphemous, disgusting, abhorrent, and sickening–an insult to our Christian faith. It was a grotesque spectacle, an affront to what we, as followers of Jesus, hold sacred. 

    Yes, as you can tell, it made me mad, but it also makes me sad, for I know that such folks have been duped by the great deceiver, Satan, and Jesus warns us: “Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. For the one that sows to his own flesh (our old sinful, perverted nature) shall from the flesh reap corruption…” (Gal. 6:7,8a).  In his letter to the Romans, Paul speaks of those who knew the truth about God but suppressed it and did not “honor Him as  God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools…” And, sadly, it says: “Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie (from Satan) and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator…For this reason, God gave them over to degrading passions, for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural and in the same way also, the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error” (Ro. 1:18-27).  

     Wow, it couldn’t be any clearer than that.  When God speaks, He doesn’t stutter. He doesn’t make suggestions; He gives us His commands and His plan to follow–and it is for our good and His glory. In the beginning, God created male and female and He created marriage between a man and a woman and sex to be confined to that institution.  Again, pretty clear and simple! But, the deceiver, Satan, comes along and perverts what God has created and deceives people into thinking they are just being tolerant, accepting, inclusive and loving.  God’s Word gives a warning to those who mock what He has done and said. To the prophet Isaiah, who wrote some 700 years before Christ came, God  said: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” (Isa. 5:20).  

     What is really sad, about those who have suppressed God’s truth and listened instead to Satan’s lies, is that they not only promote an ungodly, immoral, perverted, blasphemous lifestyle, but they celebrate it, as we just witnessed in the opening ceremonies for the Olympics!  Blatant, in-your-face, sin is bad enough, but then to flaunt and celebrate it is disgusting!

     We recently had a “Pride” (LGBTQ) celebration in our own little rural community in northwest Montana.  Hey, God gave us the rainbow as a promise that He would not again flood the earth. Each time we see the beauty of a rainbow, we are reminded of the grace and mercy of God. For the LGBTQ to take that beautiful sign and pervert it to represent their ungodly lifestyle also makes me mad and sad. And I guess “Pride” is a good moniker for their lifestyle for that is really how sin began with Lucifer and the basis of all sin–thinking we know better than God. But, hey, leave the rainbow alone–that’s God’s!

     As believers we (at least I) can’t sit idly and silently by while our beliefs are under attack. We need to be righteously angry as well as sad, seeing the moral degeneration caused by sin and what the results will be. Our hearts need to be broken with what breaks God’s heart. And remember, that is what physically caused Jesus’ death on the Cross. He died of a broken heart as He bore our sin and suffered the wrath of God in order to pay sin’s penalty (Psa. 69:20; I Pet. 2:24).I also believe the International Olympic Committee needs to apologize to the Christian community.  

Forever His,

Pastor Dave