Stolen Virtue

In 2013, the United States Congress passed the “Stolen Valor Act.” This act made it a crime for a person to fraudulently claim to have received a military “valor award.” Apparently, our society has zero tolerance for people who misappropriate the valor intended for others.
I could only wish our society felt the same way about “stolen virtue” as it does “stolen valor.” There is a segment of our society today who has “stolen” a virtuous symbol of a divine promise.
In Genesis 9:13, God used the rainbow as a sign of his promise to never destroy the world again with water. The rainbow is a heavenly sign reminding us of God’s faithfulness. Yet, today it has been misappropriated as a symbol of pride for behavior that ought to induce shame.
As a church, we have work ahead of us. We need to be a moral voice in a society that is presently calling “evil, good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20), and who finds pride in that which should produce shame. Be assured, we will never be able to reach all people with the truth, but if we are to ever reach some of them, we must keep these things in mind.
We need to speak the truth in love (Ephesians 4:15), even in the face of malice, anger, and contempt.
We must return good for evil (1 Peter 3:9). We must speak the truth “in season” and “out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). Presently, we live in a time when truth is “out of season” and is met with violent resentment.
We cannot engage in “selective moral outrage.” We cannot decry against homosexual behavior and remain silent or indifferent against other societal sins such divorce, pornography, and other works of the flesh (Galatians 5:19-21).
We must control our speech, attitude, and conduct so that it’s believable when we say, “We love the sinner, but hate the sin.”
Brethren, let’s be up to the challenge before us! There are a host of moral people out there who are put off by the sinful compromise of many “churches” and their unwillingness to call sin, a “sin.” Many of these people feel abandoned by their religious bodies and are searching for a church who still honors and respects God’s word in doctrine, life, and attitude. Furthermore, there are people who are engaged in a struggle with sinful desires. They need to see in the Lord’s church, a people who will embrace, strengthen, encourage, and forebear with them as they wrestle against sin.
Let us courageously rise up and be a moral voice for our culture. In so doing, we won’t save all, but we will save some.