Prophecy
Woe to the World
Ezekiel 13:3
Thus says the Lord God, Woe to the foolish prophets
who follow their own spirit, and have seen nothing!
ESV
As I mentioned at the beginning of this study, part of the driving force behind this lesson arises from a general study of prophecy I am preparing. But there was a second factor behind this lesson. Newsweek editor Mark Starr has a column entitled Starr Gazing that I read occasionally online. His column found online on May , 2002 dealt with the issue of gay baseball players.
This article was very distressing, for it involved a little editorial gossip and an immoral approach to a major problem.
When I was a youngster, baseball was the national pastime. It may have fallen from this position as I have grown older, but it may also be that the other sports have simply grown to the same level. Sports, it seems to me, occupy a pillar in society that makes it to many an idol.
Now, I should make it clear that sports, any sport, is not, in and of itself, bad. I ran track, played baseball and basketball, enjoyed golf, and played the fool trying a tennis racket. My daughter loves to play softball and basketball. The exercise is good. The teamwork is wonderful training. The concept of a proper approach to competition is excellent. But, it should stop there. Sports are not an end-all. Sports figures are nothing more than entertainers in today's world. Instead of going to the Coliseum in Rome to watch the lions eat the Christians, today's fans flip on the cable network to watch any number of groups battle one another. This occurs to the detriment of God, for many skip church and worship to play, watch, or push the kids to play. God is displaced by a ball.
Which leads me to the Starr column. Apparently the manager of the Mets suggested that baseball was “ready” for an openly homosexual player. The gossip was the speculation that the comment arose because the Mets knew they had such a player. The Starr column involved a long-winded discussion as to whether or not organized professional baseball was ready for such an event, not withstanding the opinion of one manager.
My complaint is this. The column did not address any issue of right or wrong. The column, in fact, seems to assume that it is ok to be a homosexual. The issue was one of societal norms and views. Did society view major league sports - presumably the major sports of baseball, basketball, and football - as being ready for such an admission. Where is right and wrong? Where is God?
Homosexuality is one of the first sins the Bible calls an abomination. Yet, here is modern society discussing this sin as though it were commonplace. How many other sins does society accept as commonplace? How much is America like Jerusalem as viewed by Ezekiel? To a good, faithful Christian, the answers to these questions should be obvious. But, to the church at large, they appear not to be.
Many denominations are now allowing and ordaining homosexual ministers. If this sin is present in the church, how many other sins are equally present? We should be today's watchmen. Where have we all gone?
Ezekiel 11:17-22 (ESV)
17 Therefore say, ‘Thus says the Lord God:
I will gather you from the peoples and assemble you out of the countries
where you have been scattered, and I will give you the land of Israel.’
18 And when they come there, they will remove from it all its detestable
things and all its abominations. 19 And I will give them one heart,
and a new spirit I will put within them. I will remove the heart of
stone from their flesh and give them a heart of flesh, 20 that they
may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall
be my people, and I will be their God.
