Gorillas, Bathrooms, Culture, and the Bible

   It’s really pretty simple.  Of course the gorilla should have been shot – with sadness, yes – but still shot because a helpless human life was at stake.  That should take about one half of one millisecond for every armchair critic to figure out.  Should biological boys use the boys’ room and biological girls use the girls’ room?  Of course they should.  Same time frame to figure that one out.

But the reason our culture is paralyzed by these kinds of decisions and has lost its corporate common sense can be found right under our noses – in the Bible.  God has been telling us for a long time exactly what is at the bottom of such nonsense.  Listen: Romans chapter 1 describes those who, although they knew God, “they did not honor him as God.”  (1:21)  “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper.” (1:28)    When God gives a culture over to a depraved mind, when He pulls back His hand of restraining grace, the dam bursts, and it doesn’t take long for the land to be flooded with the worst kinds of folly.   The most perverse kinds of behavior can be defended; the most radical positions applauded and any opposition to those once unspeakable behaviors suddenly gets branded as bigotry.  How else can we explain the almost overnight implosion of a once God-fearing nation?  It’s really pretty simple:  we told God to take a hike, and He did.

Should those who have trouble figuring out who they are be treated with compassion and patience?  Of course.  Should every parent on the planet be called to a more careful vigilance where their children are concerned?  Of course.  Should every zoo examine their enclosures with a fine toothed comb?  Of course.  But more to the point, should our culture collectively beg God to have mercy on us and to bring us back to that place of acknowledged dependence upon Him?  Of course.  Should we beg for forgiveness for having lost our way?  Of course.  Should we look to Jesus Christ alone as the only Savior from ourselves and the sinful mess we have created?  Of course.  It’s really pretty simple.