“Phobe” Name-Calling as a Means of Intimidation

It wasn’t too long ago that a phobia referred only to an extreme or irrational fear of something. Acrophobia (fear of heights), claustrophobia (fear of small, enclosed spaces), and aquaphobia (fear of water) come to mind. In recent years, however, new “phobias” have been added to the lexicon as a way of deflecting criticism and/or questioning. Along with this, the word “phobe” with specific prefixes has come into vogue as a way of name-calling. Let’s take a look at four of them and at what Scripture has to say about them.

Homophobe: a person who is supposedly afraid of homosexuals. This word is freely applied to people who have the gall to question homosexual behavior. In a previous post about whether a Christian should attend a gay friend’s wedding, I wrote about what Scripture has to say about homosexuality. To again quote Romans 1:26-27, “Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion.” Now, since the Bible is very clear that homosexuality is sinful, does that mean that I am a homophobe for believing so? There is a sense in which I am, especially when it comes to the indoctrination of our children in schools to believe that homosexual behavior is OK. Matthew 18:6 tells us, “But if anyone causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, it would be better for him to have a large millstone hung around his neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” This applies to all believers, including our kids.

Transphobe: a person who is supposedly afraid of trans people. This word is applied to those who think that gender identity is biologically determined at birth, not by what you may “feel” your gender is. And of course, some trans people go all the way, physically mutilating themselves and transitioning from one gender to another. Here’s what the very first chapter of the Bible tells us (Genesis 1:27): “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” Psalm 139:13 says, “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.” People who reject their biological gender are telling God, whether they realize it or not, that He made a mistake! Now, am I afraid of trans people? There is a sense in which I am, especially (but not only) when it comes to the protection of children; I refer you again to Matthew 18:6.

Islamophobe: a person who is supposedly afraid of followers of Islam. This word is applied to people who are ostensibly afraid of Muslims. Let me say first of all that as an ESL teacher, I taught many Muslims, particularly over the last ten years of my career. I found them as a group to be very respectful, and I had no fear of them whatsoever. I sought to show them–and my other students–the love of Christ in my teaching. In the U.S., the vast majority of Muslims self-identify as moderate Muslims, which means they don’t follow the teachings of radical Islam. However, if you study the history of Islam and investigate the culture of the majority of the Middle East, you get a different picture. Those who dare to at least mention this are quickly branded “Islamophobes.” What does Scripture have to say about this? Let’s focus on what the Qur’an says about Jesus. Since it denies His deity, Scripture tells us that Islam, like all religions other than Christianity, is wrong. The good news is that ever since the 1960s, Muslims have been coming to saving faith in Jesus in large numbers. A Wind in the House of Islam (2014) by David Garrison is an eye-opening look at this incredible phenomenon.

Xenophobe: a person who is supposedly afraid of people from other countries. I noticed this word being used a lot last year in reference to people who sought to discover the origin of COVID-19, specifically those who investigated the source as possibly being a lab in Wuhan, China. I have noticed it picking up steam this year in reference to those who are trying to investigate the chaos at the U.S.-Mexico border. At issue is whether the U.S. has the right to “close” its borders, meaning to carefully regulate who crosses and who doesn’t. What does Scripture have to say about borders? Acts 17:26 says, “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands.” If you think that borders are not important, take a look at Joshua 14-19, where the Lord meticulously lays out the borders for each of the tribes of Israel. Or read the book of Nehemiah, where under his leadership, the Israelites rebuilt the wall of Jerusalem after their return from Babylonian exile. I would say that not only do we have the right to “close” our border with Mexico, but that we have the responsibility to do so. After all, one of the primary responsibilities of a government is to protect its own citizens, and Scripture is in agreement with this.

On a personal note: the majority of students in my ESL classes were from Mexico, and I found them very respectful as a group and had no reason for fear. However, many people, regardless of ethnicity or nationality, seem to be confused about compassion, thinking that it applies as much to governments as it does to individuals. Many years ago, after my class had ended, a student from Mexico who was in another class entering the room asked me what I thought about illegal immigrants. I answered her with a question: “If I entered Mexico illegally and was discovered, would your government allow me to stay? What would happen to me?” She was silent.

There are people who like to resort to name-calling with words like “homophobe,” “transphobe,” “Islamophobe,” and “xenophobe” because they don’t want to hear any criticism of the behavior of groups of people or of government policy in relation to them. As always, these people like to say they are “tolerant,” but only as long as other people agree with them. People who disagree are “intolerant” and “phobes” of various kinds; I have mentioned only four. As with everything, however, we have to examine it with the lens of Scripture.

How Should We Respond to Mass-Death Events?

It’s been nearly 20 years since 9/11/01, when almost 3000 people died in the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and United Airlines Flight 93. Before that, there were terrorist attacks around the world as well, but since then, the pace of such attacks has dramatically accelerated.

Another type of mass killing that had been accelerating pre-COVID, at least in the United States, is mass shootings. The most infamous one prior to the new millennium was at Columbine High School in April of 1999, in which 15 people died. In April of 2007, 33 students and teachers were shot dead at Virginia Tech. In June of 2016, 50 were killed in Orlando, and in what seems like a deadly “game” of one-upmanship, 61 were killed in Las Vegas in October, 2017.

I should also mention other mass-death events that are natural catastrophes, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, and of course plagues like COVID-19. There are a number of ways that one could analyze these mass-death events, but for the purposes of this post, my question is: how should we respond to them?

On the morning of 9/11, when the horrifying events were unfolding in real time, I found myself thinking about Scripture and what might give me the best perspective. What came to mind was a passage that I didn’t remember very well, but I knew it was somewhere in the Gospels. That passage is Luke 13: 1-5, which I’m writing here, in its entirety:

“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, ‘Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them–do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.’“

The first event was a mass killing of (likely) Galilean rebels ordered by Pilate while they were offering sacrifices; the second was a “natural” event, in this case the collapse of a building. Notice that Jesus did not say that the people who died in these two events were “innocent;” He said that they were not “worse sinners” (verse 2) or “more guilty” (verse 4) than the survivors. This was to counter the widespread belief that those people who suffered, or even died, were somehow worse sinners than those who didn’t die or who didn’t suffer in a similar way. Even Jesus’s disciples were not immune to this belief, as we can see in the first three verses of John 9: “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. His disciples asked him, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ ‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.'” Jesus then goes on to heal this man of his blindness.

However, notice that in Luke 13, Jesus warns us, twice, that even though the people who died in the two events were not worse sinners than the survivors, “unless you repent, you too will all perish.” In other words, if you are not already a believer, repent and trust Jesus; if you don’t, you will go to hell when you die. That does not mean all of the Galileans or the 18 people who died when the tower fell on them were unbelievers; however, it is a warning to the survivors because they still have a chance to repent, unlike those who died in their unbelief.

Several months after 9/11, my wife and I were talking with a close friend who was not a believer but who was seeking. She was in anguish because her close friend had died. Among other things, our understandably upset friend mentioned the events of 9/11 and how horrible it must have been for the passengers when they realized that they were about to die. She said that she would rather die instantly, without knowing death was coming. We told her that at least those passengers who didn’t know Jesus had a chance to trust Him in their final moments, whereas those who die “instantly” don’t have that opportunity at the end.

We have since lost touch with that friend, who moved to another city; whenever I think of her, like now, I pray that she will turn to Jesus in saving faith before it’s too late. For everyone who has not died from COVID or some other mass-death event–or from anything else!–and has not put their faith in Jesus, His message is still the same: Repent while you still can. If you are reading this and have not trusted in Jesus for your salvation, I pray that this will be the day for you.

Evidence for the Resurrection

For some people, supporting evidence for what we believe does not seem to be very important. There’s a song that my daughter and I like called “All This Time” by Britt Nicole. She sings in one part, “I hear these people asking me, ‘How do I know what I believe?’ Well, I’m not the same me. And I saw the proof I need. I felt love; I felt Your grace.”

While I like that song very much, and I’m not discounting the importance of feelings, having objective evidence has always been very important for me. I’ve been a Christian for 41 years now, and early in my Christian walk, thanks in large part to Charles Colson, I began to learn about various kinds of evidence for the resurrection of Jesus Christ that have strengthened my faith immeasurably.

  1. Where is the body? This is probably the most obvious evidence for the resurrection. It would have been easy to disprove Jesus’ resurrection if someone had found His body. In fact, this is what the Jewish chief priests and elders told the Roman guards to say in Matthew 28:13: “You are to say, ‘His disciples came during the night and stole him away while we were asleep.'” Sadly, in verse 15, we are told, “And this story has been widely circulated among the Jews to this very day.” It’s very easy to say, of course, that someone “stole” Jesus’ body, but of course, it was never found.
  2. Notice the burial cloth. This is a detail that absolutely fascinated me the first time I came across it. In John 20:6-7, we are told, “He [Peter] saw the strips of linen lying there [in the tomb], as well as the burial cloth that had been around Jesus’ head. The cloth was folded up by itself, separate from the linen.” Why is this detail significant? If someone had stolen Jesus’ body, would they have taken the time to fold up the burial cloth? Really?! Highly unlikely, as they would have been in a hurry to escape with the body.
  3. More than 500 people saw Jesus post-resurrection. If you read John 20:10-18, you will see that Jesus appeared to Mary Magdalene. Continuing in John 20 and then John 21, plus Acts 1, you will see that four separate times, Jesus appeared to His disciples. In Luke 24:13-32, one of my favorite passages in all of Scripture, Jesus walks and talks with two of the disciples. In verse 27, we are told, “And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, He explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself.” How I would love to have been one of them! Finally, we are told in I Corinthians 15:6 this amazing nugget: “After that, He appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep.” Now, is it possible that these 500 people experienced a mass hallucination, as has been suggested? If you know anything about psychology, the suggestion is laughable. Or is it possible that they all lied? That brings me to the fourth piece of evidence.
  4. Torture and death of martyrs. I think the best way to express this is an extended quote from Charles Colson: “I know the resurrection is a fact, and Watergate proved it to me. How? Because 12 men testified they had seen Jesus raised from the dead; then they proclaimed that truth for 40 years, never once denying it. Every one was beaten, tortured, stoned and put in prison. They would not have endured that if it weren’t true. Watergate embroiled 12 of the most powerful men in the world–and they couldn’t keep a lie for three weeks. You’re telling me 12 apostles could keep a lie for 40 years? Absolutely impossible.” Let me add a couple of things to Colson’s incredible observation: all 12 of the apostles (including Matthias, who took the place of the traitor Judas Iscariot) except John were martyred, and even John died in exile. In my most recent post, I wrote about persecuted Christians and how we should pray for them. Suffice it to say here that in the 20th century, it is estimated that more people died for their faith than in the previous 19 centuries combined–and that martyrdom continues in this century. These believers, now in heaven, continue to give evidence of Jesus’ resurrection.

In I Corinthians 15:13-14, we read, “If there is no resurrection of the dead, then not even Christ has been raised. And if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” Then in verse 20 we read, “But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.”

As we approach what in some Christian traditions is known as Holy Week, culminating in that most glorious of days, Easter, the resurrection has taken on added significance for me; two of my sisters have preceded me to heaven within the past six months, but I know that I will be with them again, and that eventually, we will receive new bodies, imperishable ones that will live with the Lord forever.

The resurrection of Jesus was, and is, very real; the Bible tells us so, and there is a plethora of evidence that gives us assurance. Have a very blessed Easter!

How Should We Pray for Persecuted Christians?

“The 20th century has produced double the number of Christian martyrs [than] all the previous 19 centuries put together.” So concluded the Commission for the New Martyrs of the Great Jubilee around the turn of the millennium. Martyrdom continues in the 21st century, particularly in predominantly Muslim countries, as well as countries like China. In addition to those who make that ultimate sacrifice for Christ, there are plenty of God’s children who continue to live without rights that many others enjoy, to put it mildly.

In February 2018, over 100 girls were abducted from their school in Nigeria by Boko Haram, a group of Islamic militants. All of them were released within a month except for Leah Sharibu, who refused to deny her faith in Jesus Christ. At last report, she was still in captivity. At the time I first heard about her, I prayed that the Lord would keep her strong in her faith, and I have continued to do so since. I wondered, though, if that was how I should pray. If I were in captivity and were offered my freedom in return for renouncing my faith, how would I pray for myself, and how would I want others to pray for me?

2 Timothy 3:12 says, “Everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.” This is a promise that understandably makes North American Christians very uncomfortable, but for those Christians who live in countries where persecution is the norm, this is not hard to understand. There’s another related verse, Acts 5:41, that astounded me the first time I read it in my early Christian walk. The context is that the apostles have just been flogged for teaching about Jesus in Jerusalem, but this verse says, “The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” I had to, and still have to, ask myself: Do I rejoice, for example, when I am mocked very personally and directly for my faith?

So, how should we pray for our persecuted brothers and sisters? I think one good way to answer this question is to ask them. There’s a church in China with about 22,000 members; they have four services every Sunday, with about 2000/service, and the church leadership asks that people attend only once every three weeks to make sure everyone has a chance to come. There are ~100 smaller groups meeting together as well. Here’s what the pastor said: “Persecution has caused us to grow.  Don’t pray that the persecution will stop; that makes us stronger.  That has built our faith.  I also pray for the church in America.  I’m praying that persecution will come to the church in America so that their faith will become strong.” If you live in the U.S., you probably don’t like that last sentence! However, this pastor understands that, at least in the Chinese context, persecution has made the church stronger. In 1949, when Mao Zedong and the Communist Party took over in China, it’s estimated that the number of Christians there was less than 1%. Now, after seven decades of persecution, the estimated percentage is somewhere between 5 and 10%; let’s call it 7.5%, which amazingly is the same current estimated percentage of Christians in the United States, but more than four times as many people!

The January 2021 issue of the Voice of the Martyrs (VOM) magazine reported that Mina, a believer in Indonesia, prayed for herself: “I just prayed in my heart that if it is time for me to die, I’m ready.”  The context is that Mina had been confronted by an angry man outside a mosque; she had been sharing the Gospel with a woman there. Now, would it have been wrong for her to pray that she not be harmed or killed? No, I don’t think so, but her focus was on the Lord, and if she had to die at that moment, so be it.

Here’s another story, this one from the March 2021 issue of VOM: Daniel is a pastor in Nigeria, which is divided into a Muslim-majority north and Christian-majority south. A concerned Christian from the U.K. once offered to help Daniel’s family get asylum after hearing that they witnessed to Muslims in Nigeria. Here is Daniel’s response: “You think God made a mistake keeping me in Nigeria? If you want to pray for me, pray that the Lord will give us safety there so that I can preach the gospel of Christ. This is where we live; the same with my wife, and thank God we are of the same mind.” Notice first of all that Daniel and his wife don’t want “asylum” in another country. Second, notice the reason he gives when asking for safety: so that he can preach the gospel of Christ.

Many years ago, when other Christian teachers and I were getting ready to leave for a summer of teaching in a Third World country, we heard a young man who spoke about the persecution he and his family had endured in that country. His little brother had been beaten to death in front of his family, yet he had died singing praises to the Lord. His mother had been thrown in prison, which she regarded as a mission field: she told many other prisoners, and even guards, about the Lord. As this young man spoke, I don’t think there was a dry eye in the room–certainly not mine. I also noticed a glow on his face. Since I was a very young believer at the time, afterwards I asked another teacher who I had been getting to know and who was much more mature in the faith about the glow; she had seen it, too. In fact, she said, “I heard his mother speaking yesterday morning at a church service; she had it, too!”

Is it wrong for us to pray for safety when we or others are being persecuted? I don’t believe so, but these examples will hopefully inspire us to focus on remaining strong in the faith, regardless of what may come. Speaking of: Cancel Culture will continue to restrict our religious freedoms here, so we should be aware and ready. If you don’t think so, perhaps you’ve heard of the so-called Equality Act, which prohibits discrimination based on sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity; the language of “gatherings” and “public accommodations and facilities” is vague enough to include churches.

A final note: I strongly recommend Safely Home by Randy Alcorn; it’s a novel, but it’s also very true-to-life in its account of persecution of Christians in China. In addition to being an incredible story, it has great spiritual truth throughout.

Planting, Watering, Harvesting

In 1984, when I was young in the faith, I had a roommate who was attending a Bible college. For one of his classes, he was required to do some door-to-door evangelism. One night when he came back to our apartment, he was excited because not only had someone invited him and his partner in to talk, but he had also accepted Christ! While I felt happy, I also felt a little uneasy, but I didn’t know why. Was it because I felt envious? Did I think that I should also be knocking on doors? Or was there something else?

Several months later, while I was attending a university in another city, someone knocked on my door. I invited him in and noticed he had a Four Spiritual Laws tract. He quickly started to explain the first spiritual law, but I interrupted him and told him I was already a Christian. Undeterred, my visitor continued his spiel, unwilling to listen whenever I tried to interrupt him. When he reached the “end,” I reminded him again that I was already a Christian, but he still said something about asking Jesus into my heart.

Thinking back on my roommate’s excitement a few months earlier, I understood my feeling of uneasiness. Had my roommate and his partner also behaved in this way when they talked to the man about Jesus? I sure hoped not! Don’t get me wrong; even though I would never do door-to-door evangelism, I know that people come to saving faith in the Lord in a wide variety of ways, including in that way. My guess, though, is that someone is not very likely to trust Jesus as Savior and Lord when someone is trying so hard to explain the Gospel that they have little or no regard for the person they’re explaining it to.

Scripture suggests another way to share the Gospel that I have found to be, dare I say, a better way because it takes more account of personhood. I Corinthians 3:5-7 says, “What, after all, is Apollos? And what is Paul? Only servants, through whom you came to believe–as the Lord has assigned to each his task. I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow.” In other words, sometimes you may plant the seed in a person’s life; they hear something of the Gospel for essentially the first time. Sometimes you may water the seed; a person already knows something of the Gospel, but they learn more of it from you. The Bible also often speaks of harvest as a metaphor for people who put their faith in Christ; sometimes you may even have the privilege of being there for that moment. Regardless, as Scripture says, it is God Who makes the seed grow.

In the 1980s and 1990s, my wife and I spent five years teaching in a foreign country; in the 2000s, when our kids were 10 and 13, I was able to get a short-term summer teaching contract in that same country, so we all went back there for a few weeks. One of my students, who I’ll call Mr. Intellectual, often dropped in to visit; several of his questions were spiritually related. Three years after that, at the urging of our kids (!), I again secured a short-term summer contract at the same university. I had e-mailed Mr. Intellectual prior to our departure from the U.S., but I hadn’t heard back. However, the Lord brought him across my wife’s path one day; we were amazed at the Lord’s arrangement of that on a very crowded campus.  Mr. Intellectual had many more spiritual questions during our remaining time there.  Before we left, we put him in touch with someone who would be able to meet with him and continue to answer his questions. 

On Christmas Day of that year, we received an e-mail from Mr. Intellectual:  “Today is Christmas Day.  It’s very meaningful for me since I have taken Jesus as my Savior.  Thank you so much for leading me to the world of Christian.”  With eyes a bit misty, we agreed that was our best Christmas present, perhaps ever!

Around that time, another former student, this one from the 1990s, contacted us to tell us that she and her husband were now living in the U.S. and wanted to visit us. While they were with us, she (I’ll call her Mrs. Seeker) had many spiritually-related questions, with a somewhat more life-application focus; she had already learned something about Christianity. A couple years later, we heard from her again; she said that she had become a Christian. She asked me, “Do you remember that evening when you and I were talking while you were washing the dishes?” I replied that I did except that I didn’t remember the exact things we had talked about. She said, “Well, that conversation was very important in my coming to faith in Jesus.” She said that there were other people who had answered further questions as well.

In the case of both Mr. Intellectual and Mrs. Seeker, the Lord gave us the privilege of watering; in the case of Mr. Intellectual, also planting. We were not there for the moment of harvest, when they put their faith in Christ, but that in no way lessened our joy! In addition, there have been other times when we have been there for the moment when someone we know and love has prayed to receive Jesus as Savior and Lord.

Imagine traveling through a Third World country with a colleague. He is a citizen of that country, but you are not. You need a place to spend the night, so you get two rooms at a small motel where both of you are allowed to stay. The motel is lacking in certain amenities, like towels, so you dry yourself off with an extra bed sheet. Your colleague comes to your room to talk. You have previously talked some with him about the Lord, and now he wants to ask some more questions. That very night, he asks Jesus into his heart.

I have been a little hesitant to write this post because I don’t want to come across as boastful. My intention is simply to say that as the Lord brings people into our lives, sometimes we have the opportunity to tell them something about Him. And as we are faithful, sometimes we have the joy of seeing people that we have loved come to faith in Jesus. I would encourage you to keep planting and watering even when you don’t see fruit right away!