Chaos in the Catholic Church

It is fascinating to watch how people who hold traditional biblical values are now being treated by the media, and other institutions of modern society. It is especially interesting to note how churches and other Christian organizations are trashed for promoting the traditional beliefs and values of their faith. This kind of “in your face” criticism is relatively new in American society.

One very visible example of this is currently playing out in the Roman Catholic church. Christian beliefs have always regarded any kind of sexual relationship outside of the marriage of one man with one woman to be immoral. The Bible is very clear about that, and, in the past, even people who participated in sexual activity outside of marriage would generally acknowledge their actions to be wrong. Not so much any more.

In recent times a special focus has been placed on one aspect of this kind of behavior – that of homosexual relationships. These days, virtually every institution in modern society is being pressured to accept homosexual marriage as normative (and many are even in on the game themselves, working to apply pressure on society to accept it). This pressure is probably nowhere more strongly directed than toward Christian churches. The problem is, Christian churches can’t bow to this pressure without completely denying the very foundation of the Christian faith.

Of course, this means nothing to those who are advocating for homosexual marriage. In fact, many of those people have made it their mission in life to actually destroy the Christian church because they want to eliminate the stigma of immoral behavior that is promoted by Christianity. They believe that if they can turn the tables and stigmatize the church, they can win this culture war.

The Roman Catholic Church, as with other Christian churches, recognizes homosexual behavior as sinful because it is a form of sexual activity outside of what the Bible reveals as proper. As it happens, the current Pope has done all he can to mitigate the negative stigma associated with homosexual behavior. He has advocated for governments to allow civil unions, he has made various statements in support of the homosexual movement, and has even invited advocates of homosexuality to talks at the Vatican.

One line he has not been willing to cross, however, is to allow Catholic priests to perform same sex marriages. In fact, just recently, much to my surprise, he actually slammed the door on that proposal by saying that God “cannot bless sin.”

Well, as you can imagine, that set off a firestorm – both within the church and by homosexual activists who have no affiliation with it. In response to this, a lot of homosexual church members have decided to actually leave the church. On the other hand, there are also those who have chosen to stay in the church and defy the Pope. Bishops in Germany, in particular, have been quite defiant. Just recently a “day of blessing” was set up and around 100 different events held in open defiance of the Pope’s declaration.

As I mentioned before, what is happening in the Roman Catholic Church is but one example of this phenomenon. The same kind of thing is happening in some Protestant and Evangelical churches, as well.

And there is a reason why it is happening. It is happening because the very idea of objective morality that is part and parcel of Christian beliefs is being challenged. Naturalistic philosophy now dominates much of modern society, and it is inherently atheistic. And with no God to provide a basis for objective morality, people are left to create their own moral code. They are left with no choice but to embrace this kind of relativism.

Sadly, with the acceptance of naturalistic philosophy in many churches, massive internal division is resulting. In the Roman Catholic Church there is even talk of a schism. Many protestant denominations have already split.

The naturalistic view of theology corresponds to its view of beliefs in all other subject areas – that beliefs legitimately evolve over time. Applied to theology, Naturalists believe that moral views can (and should) “evolve” based on the evolving needs of society. For them, the Bible is not seen as an objective revelation from God. In fact, many of those people don’t even recognize God as God.

This result is inevitable. Moral relativism will always cause chaos and division as various power centers vie to impose their beliefs about what is moral and immoral on society. But this does not reflect actual reality. God does exist, and he has revealed His very character as the objective basis for morality. Christians had better grasp this and begin to stand strong for the truth. If not, the inevitable result will be more chaos and division, along with increasing persecution.

Freddy Davis is the president of MarketFaith Ministries. He is the author of numerous books and has a background as an international missionary, pastor, radio host, worldview trainer, and entrepreneur. Freddy is a graduate of Florida State University with a BS in Communication, and holds MDiv and DMin degrees from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is a popular speaker, particularly on the topic of worldview and its practical implications for the Christian life. He lives in Tallahassee, FL, with his wife Deborah.

You may also contact Freddy at Leadership Speakers Bureau to schedule him for speaking or leadership engagements.

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