Here’s a story to file under “things that wouldn’t be considered the least bit newsworthy five years ago” – a Christian woman has taken a part-time job teaching art at a Christian school. This particular woman, Karen Pence, just happens to be the wife of Vice President Mike Pence. Mrs. Pence, being the wife of such a powerful and prominent politician, almost certainly took this job just because she likes art and young people, not for the money or to make a particular political statement. Yet, somehow a Christian woman teaching at a Christian school has turned into a political story and garnered a headline in the Washington Post that reads “Karen Pence, America’s second lady, is teaching at Virginia religious school that bars LGBTQ students and employees.” One is left wondering why The Post didn’t also mention that school’s administrators also believe in God and the resurrection of the dead.
Two things stick out about the headline in the Post. The first is that the school, Immanuel Christian, is described as one that “bars LGBTQ students and employees” (another headline in The Post describes the school as “anti-LGBT”) as if the school is some kind of activist organization out to discriminate against a protected class when it’s really just a Christian organization attempting to educate young people according to a biblical standard. The second is that the school is described as “religious” and not “Christian.” This is very intentional wording; even in today’s secularizing zeitgeist the word “Christian” still carries a positive connotation. The word “religious,” on the other hand, implies bigotry, ignorance, and whatever negative attributes that can be broadly associated with any pagan religion (such as Islam or Mormonism).
The fact of the matter is that Christianity’s condemnation of homosexuality (along with a multitude of other sins) has been uncontroversial orthodoxy for nearly 2,000 years (longer than that if one considers pre-Christian Judaism). The recent moral revolution in America, however, is socially pressuring Christians to deny biblical truth and pervert Christian doctrine to appease the rage of the worldly multitudes.
Enter the celebrity.
Lady Gaga, has gone out of her way to condemn Mike Pence in the wake of the “news” that his wife took a job teaching art a Christian school. Claiming to be a Christian herself, Gaga (not her real name) stated:
I am a Christian woman, and what I do know about Christianity is that we bear no prejudice and everybody is welcome. So you can take all that disgrace, Mr. Pence, and look yourself in the mirror and you’ll find it right there.”
https://www.christianpost.com/news/lady-gaga-calls-herself-christian-slams-mike-pence-as-worst-christian.html
If one is wondering why an avant-gard pop star is commenting on where the Vice President’s wife works, he should remember that pop stars are a lot like politicians, they play to their base. Gaga has a legion of dedicated fans known as her “Little Monsters.” Among them are scores of homosexual men who are enamored by Gaga and her outrageous fashions. This is the society in which we live: grown men who sodomize one another and dedicate themselves to a pop-singer who risks bankruptcy by spending money on ever-more-ridiculous dresses are made to be an oppressed minority, while part-time Christian art teachers are made out to be the worst of all bigots.
Who would you rather leave your child with? Karen Pence or the Little Monsters?
Romans 1 has never rang more true. Quite frankly, the current American outrage culture has created thousands of angry little monsters ready to take offense at the slightest expression of Christianity. Rather than get caught up in a culture war to combat this, Christians should remember to depend on prayer and the gospel to lead these little monsters away from sin and to a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. The Lord himself said that in this world his followers would have trouble.
He also said he had overcome it.
*Please note that the preceding is my personal opinion. It is not necessarily the opinion of any entity by which I am employed, any church at which I am a member, any church which I attend, or the educational institution at which I am enrolled. Any copyrighted material displayed or referenced is done under the doctrine of fair use.
