The mainstream media are at it again, bashing Christians with unbridled abandon. The chief perpetrator seems to Bill Maher, whose HBO talk show recently sank to a new low. Maher began a recent program with a mocking diatribe aimed at Rev. Jerry Falwell just three days after his death. Later in the same program, he made a sexually-explicit comparison between the Roman Catholic eucharist and homosexual intercourse!
As offensive as Maher’s comments were, more astonishing is the lack of apology from HBO or any sign of concern from the media or human rights watchdogs among us. Contrast this with what happened to former CBS radio talk show host Don Imus, whose ill-advised reference to the Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed ho’s” stirred a week of public protest followed by his ignominious dismissal.
Should Imus have been fired? I certainly think so, and for his sheer stupidity if not his racist remarks.
But what about Maher? Imus lost his job for a brief, unthinking, off-hand comment on live radio, three words he apologized for and wishes he had never said. Maher made his comments in a rehearsed and scripted show, and stands by them unapologetically.
So where is the outcry? Where are the national media personalities coming to the aid of conservative evangelicals and Roman Catholics, calling for earnest apologies and early dismissals?
There aren’t any. And I don’t expect it to happen.
So, then, what should conservative evangelicals and Roman Catholics do? Certainly it’s appropriate to write letters of protest to Time-Warner, which employs Mr. Maher. I’ve done so myself. But, ultimately, there’s a better thing to do, and it’s modeled for us by the early church.
As recorded in Acts 4, as the infant church unabashedly proclaimed the Gospel, it fell under the ill-will of its culture. There was animosity and overt hostility, until it came to the point that the leaders in Jerusalem issued an edict specifically ordering the church “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (Acts 4:18). In short, preaching and evangelism were forbidden by governmental decree.
How did the church respond? With a petition drive calling for a restoration of their rights? No. They had a prayer meeting, and here’s what they prayed: “Lord, look upon their threats and grant to Your servants to continue to speak Your word with all boldness, while You stretch out Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders are performed through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus” (Acts 4:29-30).
In other words, Lord we don’t care what the culture says and how they oppose us. All we’re asking is that You make us even more bold to speak the truth, and that You continue to do miracles.
Is that how we respond to Maher and his ilk? When the culture or the government opposes us, do we pray and get bolder? Do we increase our efforts to share the Gospel and proclaim the truth? Do we devote more money and time to reaching the lost and serving the truly needy?
Or do we whine and wish for the privileged good old days?
If the church ever regains its godly influence in our culture, it will be because you and I quit complaining about the loss of our rights, shed our entitlement attitudes, and go share the Gospel with a humanity gone mad: even Bill Maher. Because, like everyone else, Bill Maher needs Jesus!
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