The Dust-up over Duck Dynasty Star is a Blessing

It is both a lesson in political correctness and religious liberty but also a lesson that needs to be made clear during a time where many of us think we know but really don’t know the true word of God.  We repeat verses and quote them to make our point yet we fail to read and understand the rest of the chapter.  We think that just by quoting a few Bible verses, that makes our decisions right and proves our point but then we forget that this debate was never anything God commanded.

Mr. Phil Robertson spoke about homosexuality and from what I have read many of those reporting on it has taken exactly what he said out of context to prove their points.  If you dare to read the Bible, you will find that in 1^st Corinthians Chapter 6 those exact words spoken by Phil are written by Paul.  We begin with verse 9 and end with 10, “Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God?  Don’t fool yourself.  Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people-none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God”.   So what part of what he said was wrong or offensive and if it is then you must also be offended by the words of Paul as written in the Book of 1^st Corinthians Chapter 6.

Now what he said about blacks was also seen as offensive to some but they also bear false witness because they never took the time to read exactly what he said.  He said that he did not witness any mistreatment of blacks during his time with them.  That does not mean and history tells us that he was indeed alive and breathing during the times blacks were abused and murdered, only he chose to avert his eyes and ears when it came to hearing and seeing that happen.  People lived in a bubble back then and most times it was a bubble of their own choosing.  Talk to many whites who lived through those times and you will hear a similar refrain as you hear today.  “I did not want to get involved”.  By averting your eyes and ears, you can claim to not have witnessed anything.  Ask the police officers who canvas neighborhoods looking for someone who may have witnessed a crime in that neighborhood and ask them what sentence they hear today.

My problem with this entire “freak-out” is that those who seemed to be most offended never really experienced any of this and those who did has never taken the time to read exactly what was said.  If you choose to just listen and not learn it is not the fault of the tricksters who tell you this but yours for not verifying before believing. 

Why this is a blessing is because now we have a chance to address some of the long held myths that keeps us from becoming the spiritual being God has always wanted us to be.  In that same Book in chapter 8, it tells us what to do with the knowledge we have.  Verse 9 says “But you must be careful so that your freedom does not cause others to stumble”.  Meaning you may know more than others but that does not give you cause or the authority to judge.  Forcing others to live, worship and believe as you do is as much a sin as all the others mentioned about above.  See verse 12 for this as it says “And when you sin against other believers by encouraging them to do something they believe is wrong, you are sinning against Christ”.  Homosexuality may be seen as a sin but to those who believe different; those who attempt to correct their thinking are sinning against Christ as well.  Now how can one remove a splinter out of his brother’s eye, when he can’t even remove the beam from his own?

For many they find their solace in the Old Testament and I say that this is very wrong because the Old Testament was the old covenant made between God and his people by Moses but after sending his only son to earth to died, shed his blood and rise again to wash away the sins of all of us, there was then a new covenant between God and his people by Jesus Christ.  So stop looking toward the Old Testament to guide you on how you should live and look to the New Testament to get you home.  If you do, you might see the words of Jesus himself that tells us to do just a few things to find the path home.  Believe that Jesus did rise from the dead that he is the Son of God, love all others as you love yourself and treat them as you would yourself.  If you want religious freedom, then allow others to have theirs.  If you want respect then respect others as well and if you want others to love you as you are then love others as they are.  You can’t have it both ways and your will does not supersedes the will of God.

Religious Liberty is the right to worship as you believe and as we discussed already, a real Christian should not stop you from doing so.  It does not mean that you can cut and paste the words of the Bible to suit your taste.  We should be embracing the opportunity to debate God’s words since we so love to argue and not shut it down because our little feelings got hurt when we were told someone said this or that.  For those blacks who were offended by what they heard he said let me ask you this.  Where are all this anger and energy for those who use the “N” word like it’s no tomorrow or the rappers who seem to push violence or better yet how about those drug dealers and gangsters who are shooting up our neighborhoods and killing our children?  For the white people who took offense at the blacks who lashed out at Mr. Robertson here are a few questions for you.  You claim to be so religious yet you sit idly by and allow corporations and big money donors to lead you by the nose, where’s the outrage?  You say and do anything to appease those with deep pockets, sell your soul to the highest bidder and can’t find the backbone to stand against them when they go against something you once claimed you believed in, where’s the heart?  You sit in judgment of those less fortunate than you and yet when it is time for you to answer for any wrongdoing that you may have done, you beg the public not to judge you, where’s the sense?

Bottom line people we are all of the flesh and we live in Satan’s world here on earth.  We live in a place where evil will never be erased or eliminated and the only way to truly guard your most precious gift given to you by God is to commit yourself to his service and work hard every day to be right in his eyes.  We are here to control only ourselves and no one else.  Our only real task is to safeguard our soul which is the treasure entrusted to us by God.  Anything else is nothing more than Satan whispering in your ear so listen if you wish or make him get behind you because he does not control you; God placed you above him so exercise your authority over him.  Embrace the mistakes we have and will make, learn from them in order not to repeat and allow others to live as they believe and wish.  It’s not that difficult and it’s definitely not rocket science.  The Bible is simple in its understanding, we, along with an assist from Satan, seek to make it hard.