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Are you politically correct?

Are you conducting yourself appropriately in a politically correct world? Will one slip of the tongue destroy your career? Will the wrong action or gesture result in an arrest? While it is true we need to measure the impact of our words and actions and speak kindly and lovingly, people are imperfect and will make innocent mistakes.

Political correctness has been around for a while and has grown to the point where anything you think, say, or do can be offensive. Recent examples of political correctness going out of control include military chaplains forced to follow orders and perform gay marriages. Refusing to follow an order means the end of your career. The governor of California passed legislation allowing transgender students to use the bathroom of choice. Rodeo clowns performing at the Missouri State Fair were permanently banned because one of the clowns wore a facial mask that offended someone.

Political correctness began with the English language. A word like "man" used in a prefix or suffix is no longer acceptable because it's offensive to women. Words like "mankind" have been changed to humankind; manhole to maintenance hole; chairman to chairperson; salesman to salesperson; handyman to handyperson and on infinitum.

A few years ago another more troubling example of political correctness was cited by Rhian Hughes who wrote:

"The BBC has dropped the use of the terms Before Christ (BC) and Anno Domini (AD) on one of their programs and decided that the terms 'Before Common Era' and 'Common Era' are more appropriate." The idea that Christ should be the measure of cataloging historical events on a time chart was obviously offensive to some people. (Source)

An even more ominous example of political correctness out of control occurred when Brendan Eich was forced to resign as CEO from Mozilla. A politically correct group on social media learned Eich had donated money to Proposition 8 (a ban on gay marriage in California) six years earlier. The group launched a social media campaign against Mozilla ending in Brendan's resignation. From what I've been able to glean, Eich was exercising his constitutional right to donate to a political cause, but then found himself judged (by a social media group as) evil and a danger to society.

Another disturbing example of political correctness is its power to isolate and demonize anyone who does not agree with a group's faith values. During Pope Francis' 2014 New Year address he said, "We belong to the same human family and we share a common destiny. This brings a responsibility for each to work so that the world becomes a community of brothers" (Minneapolis Star Tribune; January 2, 2014)

On unity and the need for inclusiveness, the Pope talked about his hope for a gospel of brotherhood to break down the barriers of division...that there is indeed the need for everyone to join in commitment to build a global society that is fair, equal, and united. While I agree we all need to get along, I sense this new gospel of brotherhood, based on love, will not look kindly upon those who cling to the exclusive claims by Jesus:

The most popular apostasy in Christendom today is the teaching that God has revealed Himself in many different ways to different cultures and that, therefore, all religions worship the same god, but just use different names. From this viewpoint, the Allah of Islam is the same as the Yahweh of Judaism and both are the same as the Krishna of Hinduism. The natural conclusion that is drawn from this apostate idea is that there are many different paths to God, Jesus being only one of them. (Source)

But Jesus steadfastly rebuked this viewpoint when he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me" (John 14:6).

Hal Lindsey writes:

The real goal of political correctness is to convince us that all ideas and beliefs are of equal validity. No idea or belief is greater or truer than any other idea or belief. And that is the danger. If Satan can convince people that all ideas are equal, then he can convince them that anyone who promotes anything that is "exclusive" or "better" is evil and a menace to society. In that way, Satan can destroy our willingness to accept that there may be some ideas and beliefs that really are better than others — because they are true and wholesome and beneficial. (The Hal Lindsey Report; "The PC Monster"; January 18, 2014)

God himself said, "For your thoughts are not My thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8). Without question, God's thoughtful ways are higher and better than our ways; but, the world will not hear of it! God's way of living goes against the grain of political correctness and herein the disquieting irony of living in a world where biblical truth is no longer tolerated (1 Corinthians 2:14):

The mention of God's name and anything remotely religious has become taboo in government, the courts, and education. Anything remotely religious in nature is subject to being removed from public property — anything remotely Christian, that is. The exceptions to this rule are Islamic, far Eastern, Native, and Pagan representations. Not only can God not be credited with creation or intervention in the affairs of man — the very mention of the existence of God is prohibited. (Source)

Of course, none of this should surprise any of us. Charles Darwin never intended for the Theory of Evolution to replace the Bible, but when the seeds of his theory took root in the minds of godless men, it took on a life of its own. Although political correctness may have begun with good intentions, it too has now devolved into a movement without restraint.

What are we to think? First, God is not politically correct. He will have none of it. God is exclusive (Isaiah 6:3). Any believer following the narrow path of morality outlined in the Bible will never find a welcome mat at the doorway of political correctness. Believers will never be accepted by those who hate and rage and seek to silence messengers of the Gospel.

In closing, our life is in Christ and Jesus' exclusive claim to be the great I AM stands eternally unyielding (John 6:51, John 8:12, 23, 58, John 10:9, 11; John 14:6; John 15:1).

Image Credit: mucorales; untitled; Creative Commons

Tags: Biblical-Truth | Christian-Life | Controversial-Issues | Current-Issues | Political-Issues

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Published 11-1-16