So my world has been shattered. Long time Christian music artist Ray Boltz has come out of the closet embracing his "God created nature." For the whole story read here.
If you follow Pastor Louie's blog you will know that he has already written about this, but I wanted to throw my own thoughts out there as well. In fact, I have refrained from reading Pastor Louie's blog as not to be influenced in any way as I discuss this.
Let me also state that in no way am I judging Ray Boltz. In fact his coming out has made me to some major thinking. I am not saying that I believe homosexuality is okay, for Scripture makes it clear that it isn't, but I am saying it should give us all reason to really stop and think about our own lives and walk with Christ. My heart goes out to Ray Boltz and his family and pray that God will do something miraculous with this.
Now you might be wondering about the title of this blog. Is Ray Boltz a hypocrite? I would say that at this point he is not, but for at least the thirty something years (possibly more) while Ray struggled with his homosexual tendencies he was. You might ask, "Has Ray ever conemned homosexuality?" No, not to my knowledge which means you are now asking the question "How can he be a hypocrite then?"
Hyprocrisy is not necessarily saying one thing and doing another. As far as I know Ray has never participated in homosexuality for the 30 years he was married to his wife. I know this goes against all reasoning concerning homosexuality. If he didn't speak against and didn't particpate in it then how was he a hypocrite? He was a hypocrite because he "acted" like nothing was wrong.
The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word for actor. It doesn't just apply to those who say one thing and do another but to everyone who acts like there is nothing wrong with their life. In fact most Christians are hypocrites. The Church has done a fantastic job of helping to develope hypocrites!
Okay, so that last statement probably made some of you a little angry, but give it some thought before you go making some knee jerk reaction. The Church has done a fantastic job of helping the world see that there is a difference between the two so much so that Christians can feel pressured to pretend like they have it all together. Where in Scripture does it say to pretend like you've got it all together? NOWHERE!!!!
Jesus came because man doesn't have it together. He didn't come just so that man could find a Savior, but he came because man is in CONSTANT need of a Savior even after his initial accepting of Jesus' gift of salvation through the cross. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that once man has accepted Jesus' gift he will no longer struggle with temptation and sin and yet the Church has given us this impression.
I look at Ray Boltz and I have to wonder what went wrong. Here is a man who has spent a majority of his life encouraging others through powerful, theologically sound music only to turn around and dismiss all that he ever believed in. Okay, I may be making some assumptions here. I mean, the only thing I ever really knew about him was what he put into his music. I really know nothing about Ray's personal relationship with Christ. Did he spend time with God every day? Was in God's word on a regular basis? Did he have close Christian friends who encouraged him and challenged him in his walk?
Like I said, I don't know the answer to these questions, but I have a hunch that the answer is no. I admit, I could be completely wrong, but when I read about how he has hidden this part of his life for so long from even the ones he truly loved...I have to wonder.
Ray, to some extent (for he is responsible for the decisions he makes), is a victim of, perhaps, an unintentional expectation concerning Christian holiness taught by the church. Because of this, Ray felt like he needed to hide the temptation he was struggling with and became one of the biggest publically viewed hypocrites of Christian history. The truth is, he is no bigger hypocrite then most Christians in the church today.
The church is the one place where people should be able to freely express their struggles. The Scriptures tell us to "bear one another's burdens" and "confess one to another" and yet very little of this takes place. Instead we hear things like..."You don't have enough faith brother!!!" "You haven't allowed God's grace to completely cleanse you of all temptation and sin!!!" "Christians shouldn't behave like that!!!" "How can you be so carnal after experiencing the saving grace of Jesus Christ!!!" WE HEAR CONDEMNATION INSTEAD OF LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT!!!!!
Am I saying that we shouldn't confront sin? By no means!!!! Sin should always be confronted, but there is a difference between confronting sin and condeming the sinner. I think we have confused the two. God will have the final say over sin because he is the only being without sin. We on the other hand, every human being alive, struggles with sin. We may see some sin as being worse then other sin, i.e. homosexuality compared to lieing, but sin is sin no matter how you look at it.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I have to wonder if Ray Boltz was taught by the Church that all sin can be confessed without condemnation...I have to wonder if he would be where he is today?
I also have to wonder about his own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm not saying I know anything about his relationship with Jesus, but I do know that the power to deal with sin and temptation only comes through him. Jesus said "Abide in me and I will abide in you." If we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus that is characterized by daily fellowship with him (reading Scripture and praying) and fellowship with other believers how can we ever expect to overcome our temptations and sins? Jesus paid the debt owed on sin. His death didn't stop the desire to sin within us. The stopping of that desire comes through a personal relationship with Him.
I can empathize with Ray Boltz. I pray to God that his eyes are opened to the truth of his decisions. More importantly, I pray for every Christian who is in the position he was. I pray that they can find peace through understanding that the church is the one place they should be able to go and get the support, help, encouragement and accountability they need to overcome that which they so desperately try to hide by being a hypocrite.
If a church is causing you to be a hypocrite, an actor, then you need to find a new church where you can be real about your struggles and expect others to come along side of you and help you deal with them.
If you follow Pastor Louie's blog you will know that he has already written about this, but I wanted to throw my own thoughts out there as well. In fact, I have refrained from reading Pastor Louie's blog as not to be influenced in any way as I discuss this.
Let me also state that in no way am I judging Ray Boltz. In fact his coming out has made me to some major thinking. I am not saying that I believe homosexuality is okay, for Scripture makes it clear that it isn't, but I am saying it should give us all reason to really stop and think about our own lives and walk with Christ. My heart goes out to Ray Boltz and his family and pray that God will do something miraculous with this.
Now you might be wondering about the title of this blog. Is Ray Boltz a hypocrite? I would say that at this point he is not, but for at least the thirty something years (possibly more) while Ray struggled with his homosexual tendencies he was. You might ask, "Has Ray ever conemned homosexuality?" No, not to my knowledge which means you are now asking the question "How can he be a hypocrite then?"
Hyprocrisy is not necessarily saying one thing and doing another. As far as I know Ray has never participated in homosexuality for the 30 years he was married to his wife. I know this goes against all reasoning concerning homosexuality. If he didn't speak against and didn't particpate in it then how was he a hypocrite? He was a hypocrite because he "acted" like nothing was wrong.
The word hypocrite comes from the Greek word for actor. It doesn't just apply to those who say one thing and do another but to everyone who acts like there is nothing wrong with their life. In fact most Christians are hypocrites. The Church has done a fantastic job of helping to develope hypocrites!
Okay, so that last statement probably made some of you a little angry, but give it some thought before you go making some knee jerk reaction. The Church has done a fantastic job of helping the world see that there is a difference between the two so much so that Christians can feel pressured to pretend like they have it all together. Where in Scripture does it say to pretend like you've got it all together? NOWHERE!!!!
Jesus came because man doesn't have it together. He didn't come just so that man could find a Savior, but he came because man is in CONSTANT need of a Savior even after his initial accepting of Jesus' gift of salvation through the cross. Nowhere in Scripture does it say that once man has accepted Jesus' gift he will no longer struggle with temptation and sin and yet the Church has given us this impression.
I look at Ray Boltz and I have to wonder what went wrong. Here is a man who has spent a majority of his life encouraging others through powerful, theologically sound music only to turn around and dismiss all that he ever believed in. Okay, I may be making some assumptions here. I mean, the only thing I ever really knew about him was what he put into his music. I really know nothing about Ray's personal relationship with Christ. Did he spend time with God every day? Was in God's word on a regular basis? Did he have close Christian friends who encouraged him and challenged him in his walk?
Like I said, I don't know the answer to these questions, but I have a hunch that the answer is no. I admit, I could be completely wrong, but when I read about how he has hidden this part of his life for so long from even the ones he truly loved...I have to wonder.
Ray, to some extent (for he is responsible for the decisions he makes), is a victim of, perhaps, an unintentional expectation concerning Christian holiness taught by the church. Because of this, Ray felt like he needed to hide the temptation he was struggling with and became one of the biggest publically viewed hypocrites of Christian history. The truth is, he is no bigger hypocrite then most Christians in the church today.
The church is the one place where people should be able to freely express their struggles. The Scriptures tell us to "bear one another's burdens" and "confess one to another" and yet very little of this takes place. Instead we hear things like..."You don't have enough faith brother!!!" "You haven't allowed God's grace to completely cleanse you of all temptation and sin!!!" "Christians shouldn't behave like that!!!" "How can you be so carnal after experiencing the saving grace of Jesus Christ!!!" WE HEAR CONDEMNATION INSTEAD OF LOVE AND ENCOURAGEMENT!!!!!
Am I saying that we shouldn't confront sin? By no means!!!! Sin should always be confronted, but there is a difference between confronting sin and condeming the sinner. I think we have confused the two. God will have the final say over sin because he is the only being without sin. We on the other hand, every human being alive, struggles with sin. We may see some sin as being worse then other sin, i.e. homosexuality compared to lieing, but sin is sin no matter how you look at it.
Brothers and sisters in Christ, I have to wonder if Ray Boltz was taught by the Church that all sin can be confessed without condemnation...I have to wonder if he would be where he is today?
I also have to wonder about his own personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I'm not saying I know anything about his relationship with Jesus, but I do know that the power to deal with sin and temptation only comes through him. Jesus said "Abide in me and I will abide in you." If we do not have a personal relationship with Jesus that is characterized by daily fellowship with him (reading Scripture and praying) and fellowship with other believers how can we ever expect to overcome our temptations and sins? Jesus paid the debt owed on sin. His death didn't stop the desire to sin within us. The stopping of that desire comes through a personal relationship with Him.
I can empathize with Ray Boltz. I pray to God that his eyes are opened to the truth of his decisions. More importantly, I pray for every Christian who is in the position he was. I pray that they can find peace through understanding that the church is the one place they should be able to go and get the support, help, encouragement and accountability they need to overcome that which they so desperately try to hide by being a hypocrite.
If a church is causing you to be a hypocrite, an actor, then you need to find a new church where you can be real about your struggles and expect others to come along side of you and help you deal with them.
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