Gates of Hell, Part Four - Obey the Great Commission, or Run Like Jonah?
First, let's start with an article in today's Daily Bulletin:
The family of a student expelled from Ontario Christian High School because her parents are lesbians protested in front of the campus Monday and said they are considering legal action.
About 20 people, including lesbian couple Tina Clark and Mitzi Gray, and two of their three daughters, waved signs from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. challenging the school's expulsion of their 14-year-old daughter Shay Clark.
"We want to get the policy changed and bring awareness that there is a school in this community that discriminates," said Shay, who is not seeking a reversal of the decision. "The whole purpose of Christianity is to bring people into the church, not turn them away."
School officials did not respond to inquiries but released a statement saying the "family does not meet admissions criteria" because of the parents' participation in a homosexual relationship....
A number of parents said they supported the school's decision.
Georgina Reyes, of Chino Hills, said it would be hypocritical of the school to allow a child from a homosexual home to attend because such lifestyles fly in the face of the school's teachings.
"Some private Christian schools do not stand up for what they say their value system is," she said. "These are people (school administrators) who are actually living what they say their value system is."
Richard Gonzales, of Ontario, said he pays a lot of money to keep his son out of public schools, which he said are plagued by drugs and gangs.
"That's why we pay the big bucks, so we can keep them away from this contamination," he said, gesturing toward the protesters....
Although some protesters said it was hypocritical for the school to allow children of divorced parents to attend, Gonzales, who said he is divorced, said the school only requires parents to live "a moral life."...
At about 3 p.m. Monday, several students exited school and joined the protesters along the sidewalk.
"I support her," said Brooke Peterson, 14, of Shay. "She's not lesbian, her parents are. They're a normal family."...
In this post, I'll tell you why I disagree with Ontario Christian School's decision.
First, the decision shows that Ontario Christian School does not take sin seriously. Yes, I agree with Ontario Christian School's belief that homosexuality is a sin - but there are a number of other sins, including greed and slander. Apparently Ontario Christian School doesn't consider those sins important. Or maybe Ontario Christian School doesn't consider them to be sins. Sure, you can find parents who "live a moral life" - provided that you redefine morality. Sorry, but none of us make the grade there. Even our heroes and heroines have dark secrets in the closet.
Second, and most importantly, the decision shows that Ontario Christian School does not take the commands of Jesus Christ seriously. For example, take this key statement that Jesus made after Peter's confession:
[A]nd on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not overcome it.
However you interpret the word "rock," it's clear that Christ says that the gates of Hades will not overcome the church.
Some people, including one of the parents quoted above, think of the church as a fortress, a defensive area in which people can be protected from the world. The parent pays "big bucks" to keep his child away from the "contamination" of the world.
But that's not what Jesus Christ is saying here. In the statement above, the church is not a defensive fortress, but an offensive attacker, stalking Satan, attacking him, breaking down his gates, overcoming him.
Look at Jonah and Nineveh. God told Jonah to go to Nineveh, and Jonah refused to have anything to do with the people of Nineveh. God was not pleased with Jonah's refusal, to say the least.
And if anyone still believes that Christians are supposed to hide away, take a look at this passage:
18 Then Jesus came to them and said, "All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age."
Footnotes:
a. Matthew 28:19 Or into; see Acts 8:16; 19:5; Romans 6:3; 1 Cor. 1:13; 10:2 and Gal. 3:27.
Yes, Jesus said go. He didn't say stop. He said go.
So if a school truly wants to be a Christian school, then it should be actively encouraging the children of lesbians to enroll at the school. And it should be actively encouraging lesbians themselves to enroll. And crystal meth addicts. And drunkards. And idolators. And the greedy. And those who disobey traffic laws. And those who pencil in an extra five minutes of overtime. In short, everyone.
Gates of Hell Parts One, Two, Three, Four
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