“Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18)
Summer is my favorite season of the year. There are so many activities to do outdoors such as canoeing, hiking, basketball, swimming, etc. The NBA finals are currently happening which is another highlight of the summer, and I hope that every one of you is rooting against the Warriors, who have become as annoying as the New England Patriots with how successful they have been in the last couple years. Baseball season is in full swing and my St. Louis Cardinals are currently sitting at 3rd place in their division. My birthday is also during the summer (19 days from now, to be exact), and the 4th of July is also coming up.
All of these are great things that almost everyone looks forward to. But for another group of people, there is something else to look forward to.
June is LGBT pride month, where those of the LGBT community celebrate and take pride in their sexuality. I’ve never really cared for this to be quite frank except for when a few summers ago, my family and I were driving through downtown St. Louis trying to find a place to park so we could attend a Cardinals baseball game we had bought tickets for. It was nearly impossible to make our way through the city because of the parades that were happening for pride month. Rainbow flags and colored clothing were everywhere and it made me think of how far the world and our culture has fallen to believe that a rainbow is a symbol of sexual diversity.
Genesis 9 speaks of the covenant God made with Noah and the rest of the world that He would never again destroy the earth by flood waters. As a sign of this covenant, God placed a rainbow in the sky as a way to remind both us and Him of this promise.
As Christians, we often flippantly dismiss the power of this promise, and often God’s promises in general. We have become so accustomed to God always keeping His word that there is nothing significant to it anymore. We cling to the promises where God promises a “crown of righteousness” (2 Timothy 4:7) and says that we are “heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ” (Romans 8:17), yet we disregard the what seem to be the less important promises.
But there is a major problem with this. If the promise of God to never flood the earth were not as important as the other promises stated above, why would God promise it in the first place? If something is promised, it carries just as much weight and importance as any other promise. God could have just said, “Hey Noah, I may or may not flood the earth again sometime in the future. We’ll see how it pans out.” But He didn’t say that. He said, “I establish my covenant with you, that never again shall all flesh be cut off by the waters of the flood, and never again shall there be a flood to destroy the earth.” (Genesis 9:11).
So to take so lightly a promise of God and turn it into something that completely contradicts the nature of God by turning it into something that celebrates and takes pride in sin is to be regarded as an enemy, hostile to God. A rainbow is a reminder of God’s promises, not a reminder of the LGBT community.
The proverb rings true, “Pride goes before destruction, and a haughty spirit before a fall.” (Proverbs 16:18). The innate goal of sin is to make us prideful. It is to make us believe that we are better off on our own without God. Adam and Eve learned this the hard way after Eve was tempted by Satan and ate of the fruit that God commanded them not to eat. Adam and Eve believed that they knew what was best for themselves rather than relying on the instructions that had been given to them by their Creator. The same goes for us. Each time we sin, we rebel against God and his call to “be holy, as I am holy.” (1 Peter 1:16).
As Christians, our job is not to degrade and look upon the LGBT community with judgment. We are just as sinful as they are. The only thing that separates us from them is the saving grace of God accomplished by Jesus Christ on the cross. And this is not our own doing, but a gift from God so that no one may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9). We have no room to boast in righteousness against anyone else, for it is not our righteousness, but the righteousness of Christ that covers us and makes it possible for God to one day look upon us and say, “Well done, good and faithful servant…Enter into the joy of your master.” (Matthew 25:21).
Above All Things 