CONTENTS
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PAUL...and his SLIPPERY
SLIDE OF IDOLATRY
Paul's discussion of idolatry in the latter half of Romans chapter one is a fairly straight-forward passage, readily understood by those who actually take the time to read it for what it says. Unfortunately, it has been made complicated by two things. First, there is tradition, the tradition of using this passage only to condemn homosexuality. This tradition causes us to concentrate on two verses out of eighteen. The effects of this tradition has been so pervasive that when you mention Romans chapter one, most Bible readers think only of homosexuality.
The second issue that compounds this passage is knowledge. We no longer think in the same manner that Paul did. Therefor, we need to unpack this passage with care, to make sure that we represent Paul correctly.
I am going to use a visual image as an analogy of Paul's discussion of idolatry. That image is a children's slide, one that would be found in the better parks. This slide descends in circles, like a cork-screw. There are almost three revolutions of that slide before you reach the end. Finally, instead of having a center pole with arms radiating out to support the slide, our slide has three poles on the outside which act as supports. (While this may be more dangerous to the children using the slide, it suits our purpose better.) Those poles represent: first, humanity's sin of idolatry; second, God's response to this sin, and; third, the results of that action in humanity. We board the slide at the first pole, humanity's sin of idolatry. The slide takes us to the next pole, God's response. After passing this pole we continue on to the third, the results of that action. Then, we continue on to the first again, humanity's sin of idolatry, but on a lower level than before. Thus, we make a second revolution on the slide, passing the same poles again, until we arrive back once more at humanity's sin of idolatry. Then, we embark, in a continuous movement, once more around the slide, on yet a lower level, until we are dumped on the ground at the third pole, the results of God's action.
Now that we have visualized that ride in our minds, let us make it for real.
According to Paul, God witnesses idolatry in humanity, perhaps in a particular society. God wants that society to realize how repulsive he finds idolatry, so he responds by giving that society over to impurity (KJV), or sinful desires (NIV) Today, we would call that action "releasing the inhibitions" of that society. The result is that the society in question feels free to abandon concerns for chastity and practice sexual promiscuity. It's children become sexually active before marriage. It's married adults abandon the commitment to faithfulness and engage in sexual activities outside their marriage. Open marriages, where one or both partners are free to seek sexual engagements with others than their spouses, become common. Divorce becomes rampart, having no more justification than, "I grew tired of my spouse." But...this is only the completion of the first level. There are two more to go.
Paul said that they continued in idolatry, the worship of false Gods. This is the first pole, second go around, one level lower. God responds by releasing the inhibitions a little more, giving the society over to degrading passions (KJV) or shameful lusts (NIV) Now, not only do we have sexual promiscuity, but it is compounded by homosexuality. This is the only place where lesbianism, or female homosexuality, is mentioned in the scriptures. (There have been attempts to interpret this as some other sexual crime committed by women, but I am going with lesbianism. It seems to fit the text better to me.) But again...this is only the completion of second trip around the slide. There is still one more to go.
Our slide carries us on, past continued idolatry, to the pole of God's response. Here, he gives the society over to "a reprobate mind." Reprobate, in the KJV, carries the connotation of someone or something created only to inhabit hell. The NIV uses the word "depraved." To be depraved means to be without the benefit of something necessary for physical, emotional or spiritual health. What is this society depraved of? It is depraved of all knowledge or experience of the grace of God. The Greek word means "beyond redemption," and we have a similar expression in the manufacturing industry: "fit for scrap." Can I make it any clearer? When Paul used the term we translate into "reprobate mind," or "depraved mind," he was describing a condition that is as low as one can get.
Before we continue on and look at the specific sins that Paul said are manifested by a "reprobate mind," let us stop and note two things about this passage, or more specifically, about our use of this passage.
First, while the passage concerns idolatry, and homosexuality is presented as a symptom of idolatry in this passage, we tend to ignore most of the passage and concentrate only on homosexuality. To use our mental image of the circular slide, the homosexuality portion of this passage describes only one third of one revolution of our slide. Since the slide makes two and two-thirds complete revolutions before it stops, the homosexuality portion of the slide is only one-eighth of the entire slide. The text bares this out as well. Out of sixteen verses in the entire passage, only two of them are about homosexuality, or again, one-eighth of the entire passage. Yet, when we use this passage, we ignore the forest of idolatry and concentrate only on the single species of trees called homosexuality. Our traditional use of this passage misrepresents Paul, and presents a false Bible.
Secondly, Paul said that there is a sin condition that is far worse than homosexuality. That sin condition is the result of a "reprobate mind," something that is beyond redemption while, according to Paul, homosexuality is only the result of "shameful lusts." We implicitly misrepresent Paul when we ignore the conclusion of this passage. We explicitly misrepresent Paul when we say that there is no sin worse than homosexuality.
So, having said this, what could be worse than homosexuality? Paul describes the sins which are worse than homosexuality, the sins which prove a spiritual depravity far greater than his assumed depravity of homosexuality as follows:
They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; they are senseless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. (Romans 1:30 & 31 NIV)
A lot of this sounds like a good corporation CEO, one who concentrates only on the bottom line and doesn't let anything else get in the way. Then there is gossip and slander. The prevalence of tabloids in our grocery stores and gossip shows on our televisions establishes that our society consumes these things in the same manner as people with an addiction consume their drug of choice. This list of sins which Paul said was the result of a "reprobate mind." describes our society today.
Is it any wonder that we want to ignore the last portion of Paul's discussion on idolatry? Without the knowledge of these verses we have only the "faggots" to condemn, and no basis on which to condemn ourselves.
When we look at the issue of homosexuality and church, I believe that it is imperative that we look at how we have misrepresented Paul, that we rub our noses in it the same way we rub the nose of a puppy in the pile that it has left on the living room carpet. Hopefully, by taking such a drastic action, we will come out of the experience better...and more capable of representing our God to the world around us.
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