A CHRISTIAN CARTOON RESOURCE
- by Jeff Larson  

Wrong.. is the new Right (5/24/2013)

Compromise at 4x the speed of traditonal sin is the challenge of our postmodern faith. We can blog, tweet, facebook our opinions, judgments, and core beliefs to those we choose to 'enlighten'.

Don't get me wrong, I am hooked and as many of you have noticed I have plenty of my own opinions.  My prayer is that I honor God with what I post, and kind and respectul to others who do not agree with me.

Now to complicate all this the Christian church is accused of being a house of hypocrites who do not practice what they preach. We point our fingers and judge others with a spec in their eye all while we have a beam in our own.  

So, much like the old saying.. Children are to be seen not heard.  This is how society views those of us traditional church types. If I state my concern that gay marriage is WRONG, our secular society and 'progressive christians' tell me to keep my opinion to myself, and declares me a ignorant and/or hateful bigot... and of course a hypocrite because I am ignoring the sins in my own life.

Wow, fun topic NOT for a Christian cartoonist. Truth be told .. sin is sin, and wrong is wrong.  God's unchanging laws did not evolve based on any illusion that man is now enlightened.

When my son Curtis was around 11 when he was in trouble, he would reply "Ya I know BUT", then would share an excuse why he did not complete a chore.  We joked that was the name of Romanian tennis player Yanna Nobut.  This is how I believe many respond in society when a wrong behavior is called out. We say Yanna Nobut... then explain how God's laws don't apply to us in this instance, or how what others do is no worse, or simply give an excuse. I too am guilty of name dropping this Romanian Tennis Player when I have had sin or mistakes in my life exposed.

Truth is.. Wrong is not the new Right.  I am not wagging my finger at anyone else.  We are all sinners (church speak for someone who makes mistakes) BUT this does not let the church and pastors off the hook to speak out on social and even political issues that are relavent today. Moses, Samuel, Solomon, Paul, and Jesus Christ. None of them IMO we true pacifists. Even Jesus while never going into a literal battle divided the people when he spoke truth and challenged society, and the church to be better.

With this being true we are to be just like Jesus Christ. A friend of sinners without endorsing the sin.

• If a pastor speaks out about GREED in America, I believe many of us should be convicted in this sermon as we are living check to check all while using credit cards in the name of the above mentioned Romanian Tennis Player Yanna Nobut.
• If a pastor preaches on the problem of ANGER, and profanity in the church many may mumble Yanna Nobut and an terse expletive?
• If a pastor preaches on PRIDE or low self worth many of us on both ends of this wrong thinking will be convicted.
• If a pastor preaches about the problem of ALCOHOL IN THE CHURCH I am convicted and sorely hurt as this has been an ongoing struggle in my life. For me to reply Yanna Nobut will result in ME having serious logical consequences to deal with.
• If a pastor preaches on the sin of being GAY and his concern for a country that now embraces gay marriage.. this too should not be met in the name of Yanna Nobut.

Now let me be very clear after listing a small list of sin topics you might hear from the pulpit that THEY ARE ALL COVERED BY GRACE and I am not ranking sins telling which are the bad ones and which ones are just sorta bad.  My point is Wrong is not the new Right. Sin is still sin, and excuses are still excuses.

Years ago I heard a sermon by our pastor that summed up societies view on sin and preaching about sin. He said.. Society tells us Wrong is not wrong anymore.  Calling wrong, wrong, is wrong.  His point was this assumption by society is wrong.. and 

Wrong is NOT the new Right.

So with all this in mind, I desire to hear sermons and blogs, and tweets that share the inspiring and often convicting truths from a God who loves us. I also aspire NOT to speak the name of any Romanian Tennis Player named Yanna Nobut when convicted by God's truth spoken from a pulpit.

May God bless and guide each of us to His truth. May we be inspired by a personal relationship with our Loving God, and obedient to this truth.  

Jeff (sometimes 'wrong' in the Back Pew) Larson

The Back Pew is a collection of Christian cartoons and writings sharing Clean Humor and God's Truth.  
The Back Pew believes you can have a sense of humor and still be allowed in Heaven.