The Westside Podcast—featuring Jonathan Hansen

Questions from some listeners:

“Loving the new podcasts. I think it would be super helpful if you gave some ideas on how to discuss these issues with your kids. As a mom of 4 teenagers my kids are co scantly faced with issues related to transgender, sex before marriage, socialism, other religions. I think preparing them to be able to defend their faith while have a rational response to these issues is very important. I have had my older kids listen to the podcasts as well to give us a starting point for conversations. I appreciate your ability to talk about these issues and educate the church.”

· How to navigate gender fluidity in the world with truth and love?

· How to live in peace in a world of chaos?

Hope and clarity on the midst of confusion:

· The enemy always brings confusion. Jesus brings clarity.

· The enemy always brings chaos. Jesus brings order.

· The enemy always brings lies. Jesus brings truth.

· The enemy brings division. Jesus brings unity.

· The enemy brings hostility. Jesus brings peace.

· The enemy brings hate. Jesus brings love.

Our hope is always grounded in the character of God as revealed in Jesus.

Jesus is the clearest view of who God is and has always been.

· Hebrews 1:1-3a – In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.

· John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made…

14 – The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth….

18 – No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

· Colossians 1:15-20 – The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church; he is the beginning and the firstborn from among the dead, so that in everything he might have the supremacy. For God was pleased to have all his fullness dwell in him, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross.

So we need to see everything through a Christocentric lens. That is, Jesus is the central lens through which we interpret scripture and the world around us.

If that is our starting point, practically, how do we address the issues we face today?

1. An interpretative principle. You don't interpret what is clear by what is unclear. You interpret what is unclear by what is clear.

2. All people are souls made in the image of God, loved by God, and worthy of love, respect and human dignity.

Socialism:

There’s a difference between socialized programs (public education, social security) and socialism as an economic philosophy.

What is socialism? Summarized as “government owns and operates the means of production.” (Venezuela, previously in Israel, India, Great Britain, etc).

Socialism is the stepping stone to communism. Centralizing power, Vladimir Lenin explained, “The goal of socialism is communism.”

They attack every principle of existing society. Hence, they are full of the most valuable materials for the enlightenment of the working class. The practical measures proposed in them -- such as the abolition of the distinction between town and country, of the family, of the carrying on of industries for the account of private individuals, and of the wage system, the proclamation of social harmony, the conversion of the functions of the State into a mere superintendence of production, all these proposals point solely to the disappearance of class antagonisms which were, at that time, only just cropping up, and which, in these publications, are recognized in their earliest, indistinct and undefined forms only. These proposals, therefore, are of a purely Utopian character. In short, the communists everywhere support every revolutionary movement against the existing social and political order of things. - The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx

Communism summarized is “the abolition of private property.”

What is its net effect spiritually?

· "Communism begins from the outset with atheism…” -Karl Marx

· "A Marxist must be a materialist, i.e., an enemy of religion…” -Vladimir Lenin

· "There are, besides, eternal truths, such as freedom, justice, etc. that are common to all states of society. But communism abolishes eternal truths, it abolishes all religion, and all morality, instead of constituting them on a new basis; it therefore acts in contradiction to all past historical experience." -The Communist Manifesto, Karl Marx

Other religions:

· All religions are not just paths to the same destination. They are not all basically saying the same thing.

· All other religions are man reaching out to find God. (Legalism)

· Christianity is God reaching out to find man. (Grace)

Transgenderism and gender fluidity:

· Regarding gender: Genesis 1:27-28 – So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it.”

· Genesis 2:24 – That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

· God’s design for human flourishing is a biological binary. Male and female.

Trans:

· Gender dysphoria is a real psychological condition which some people suffer from. - Gender dysphoria is a diagnosis listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) as the feeling of discomfort or distress that might occur in people whose gender identity differs from their sex assigned at birth or sex-related physical characteristics.

· Not all trans people have dysphoria. Some are very comfortable in their bodies.

· Some people are born as intersex. That is, they have sexually ambiguous characteristics at birth to varying degrees. Most are assigned a gender based on medical criteria at that time and some undergo some degree of surgery to physically align with that assignment. About 0.018% births have some ambiguity in genitalia.

· The number of people, especially adolescent girls, who identity as trans has skyrocketed recently.

· Rapid Onset Gender Dysphoria (ROGD) is what primarily impacts young girls. Just a short time ago, only .002% to .003% of girls in the U.S. identified as transgender. Now it’s up to 2%, so the rate has spiked by thousands of percentage points (in the UK, the number of girls identifying as trans has risen by over 4000%). Most trans-identified youth used to be males—that has reversed. In 2016, for example, girls accounted for 46% of sex reassignment surgeries in the U.S. One year later, that number had spiked to 70%.

· In a 2018 study “Parent reports of adolescents and young adults perceived to show signs of a rapid onset of gender dysphoria,” discovered that a full 70% of trans teens belonged to a peer group in which one had already come out as trans, and according to parents, a third of these had shown no sign of being dysphoric previously. Despite the insistence of trans activists that this is simply “transphobia” on the part of the parents, 85% of the parents surveyed were LGBT-supportive.

· Much of this phenomenon has resulted in many thousands of teens receiving puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and in many instances radical surgery.

· Book - Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze is Seducing Our Daughters by Abigail Shrier

How do Christ followers respond?

1 Corinthians 13:6 – Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

· Walk in love, truth and common sense (wisdom).

· We have to separate disagreement from love.

· I can love you and disagree with you. I can respect your dignity as a human without condoning your behavior. Jesus calls us to love people who are different from us. Even as far as to love one’s enemies. So our goal is to be full of grace and truth. Clarity and love.

· Ephesians 4:14-15 – Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

1. We can lovingly disagree, pointing to God's plan for human flourishing as his best for everyone when appropriate.

2. We live in a broken world where people are often born with physical circumstances they must navigate.

3. The Christ follower is called to love and serve those God puts in their path, including the trans and gender fluid identifying people.

4. We must constantly ask ourselves, “What does love require of me?”

5. Does this person have ears to hear? In other words, have I earned the right to speak into their life?

6. When confronted with hostility, we respond in the opposite spirit.

7. We are to speak the truth in love with gentleness and respect. Not with condescension, or arrogance from some moral high ground. The posture of one beggar showing another beggar where to find bread.

8. We may not be trans affirming, but we are always people affirming.

· 1 Peter 3:15-16 – But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a

clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.

In other words, live in such a way that though the world disagrees with what you believe to be true, they should want it to be true based on the love of Christ they see in you.

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Marriage is woven throughout the entirety of scripture. It’s always more than a man and wife. It’s a picture of God’s covenant love for His people: Christ and the Church. A picture of the gospel.

God’s original design for human flourishing:

Genesis 1:27-28: "So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.'"

Genesis 2:24 - That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.

Throughout scripture marriage is a picture of God and His people:

Isaiah 54:5 - "For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called."

Jesus begins his public ministry/first miracle at a wedding:

John 2:1-2, 10-11 - On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there; and both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding…and said to him, “Every man serves the good wine first, and when the people have drunk freely, then he serves the poorer wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.” This beginning of His signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him.

Jesus is asked about marriage and he refers to Genesis 2:

Matthew 19:3-6 - Some Pharisees came to him to test him. They asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any and every reason?”

“Haven’t you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

The culmination of the Biblical narrative is a marriage supper between the groom and bride, Christ and the Church:

Revelation 16:6-9 - Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure,” for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” And he said to me, “These are the true words of God.”

Marriage was intended for man and woman in lifelong covenant with one another in submission to God as a reflection of God’s covenant with His people and His design for human flourishing.

The unconditional commitment and love of marriage is a picture of the Gospel promise of God.

It is a loving covenant of complete vulnerability; physical, spiritual, emotional, relational, financial, and legal vulnerability.

A husband is to love his wife as Christ loves the church by serving her and sacrificially giving his life for her: 

Ephesians 5:25-33 - Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. In the same way husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one ever hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, just as Christ does the church, because we are members of his body. “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.

Wives submit to their husbands in mutual service as the husband loves the way Jesus loves:

Ephesians 5:23-24 - For the husband is the head of the wife even as Christ is the head of the church, his body, and is himself its Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit in everything to their husbands.

God hates divorce as it is a breaking of the covenant relationship and picture of His love for His people:

Malachi 2:16 - “The man who hates and divorces his wife,” says the Lord, the God of Israel, “does violence to the one he should protect,” says the Lord Almighty.

Matthew 19:3-6 - And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

Jesus tells us that divorce is permissible when one breaks the marriage covenant by infidelity. He permitted it under these circumstances. He did not command it:

Matthew 19:8-9 - Jesus replied, “Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. I tell you that anyone who divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.”

Mark 10:10-12 - When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

The goal is always reconciliation. Reconciliation is the goal—a spirit of, "How can we work through this serious breach in our relationship?" not, "How can I get out of it?":

Galatians 6:1 - Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer* is overcome by some sin, you who are godly* should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself.

Additional Resources:

• The Meaning of Marriage by Tim Keller

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The problem: Racism is real. People have real experiences with it in 2020.

Two foundational truths:

1. That we are all made in the image of God.

2. That the church should reflect the reality that all nations will be gathered together in heaven.

SOLUTION for the Christ Follower: It’s about having the unity of Spirit in the name of Jesus. Unity is God’s idea and can only be achieved by the Holy Spirit’s transformation of our hearts. A Kingdom perspective on the subject.

Revelation 7:9 - After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb.

· The goal of racial reconciliation is not sameness. It is Oneness. Unity under the banner of Jesus.

· We embrace and celebrate the differences.

· Unity is Oneness of purpose not sameness of being.

Jesus’ high priestly prayer: John 17:20-23, “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one—I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.

Ephesians 2:13-15 - But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ. For he himself is our peace, who has made the two groups one and has destroyed the barrier, the dividing wall of hostility, by setting aside in his flesh the law with its commands and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new humanity out of the two, thus making peace.

The Church must follow Jesus into healing and unity out of submission to the Father, love for the Savior and the empowerment of the Holy Spirit to see the continuing fruition of the here and not yet here Kingdom of God.

Recommended Resources:

Tony Evans’ book “OneNess Embraced” Video Teaching on Right Now Media: https://www.rightnowmedia.org/Content/Series/196905

Miles McPherson’s book “The Third Way”

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Sanctity of Life

There are four major issues facing the church today. Two of them are owned by the political left, and two of them are typically owned by the political right. 

• The sanctity of life

As Christ followers, we are called to own all of them. It’s not about partisanship or any political agenda. It’s about following Jesus and allowing him to inform the way we respond to the world we’re in today.

What is abortion? The deliberate termination of a human pregnancy most often during the first 28 weeks of pregnancy but not restricted to that (a mother can feel the child moving by 20 weeks).

From Planned Parenthood: “In the first trimester. In clinic. A doctor or nurse uses medical instruments and gentle suction to remove the pregnancy from your uterus.”

Abortion pill: “You take pills that end your pregnancy and make your uterus expel the pregnancy tissue.”

The question is not whether it is a human. The question is whether it is a person or not. And a person, by law, is ascribed basic human rights.

If you are pregnant and wondering where to get help, there are many Christian organizations who are there to help not just children inside the womb but children who are outside of the womb. These organizations are there to support these mothers in crisis and help them through the entirety of the journey. There are also countless people waiting to adopt an infant at any given time. 

Help for women in Kansas City - https://adviceandaid.com 

For more information and support go to https://www.focusonthefamily.com/pro-life/ 

Watch “Unplanned” film on Amazon Prime 

You can go to optionline.org and they can help you find support for your pregnancy locally.

Call 1-800-712-4357

Text “HELPLINE” to 313131

Psalm 139:13-16

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

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Allie Beth Stuckey interview with Neil Shenvi on Critical Theory.

Neil Shenvi - from a Christian perspective.

James Lindsay - secular academic.

Christopher Rufo - secular cultural researcher whose research prompted the federal ban on teaching critical theory in government institutions and organizations contracted by the government.

Book - secular perspective, “Cynical Theories: How Activist Scholarship Made Everything about Race, Gender, and Identity—and Why This Harms Everybody” by Helen Pluckrose and James A. Lindsay.

Article: How to Talk to Your Employer about Anti-Racism.

Critical Theory reduces all relationships to power. Who has it and who doesn’t. Oppressor vs. oppressed. White people vs BIPOC.

Response: Jesus teaches us to love because he first loved us. And you exercise influence through loving service wrapped in grace and truth.

Matthew 20:25 - Jesus called them together and said, “You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their high officials exercise authority over them. Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first must be your slave—just as the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Critical Theory reduces all people to their skin color, or identity group, as their primary identity (the most definitive thing to know about you).

Response: Jesus tells us our primary identity is that we are made in the image of God, of infinite value and unconditionally loved by our Creator.

Galatians 3:26 - So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.

Federal ban on teaching critical theory in government institutions and contracted organizations. Summary: You shall not demean, stereotype or scapegoat people based on their race or sex.

This provision then lists “divisive concepts” that cannot be included in workplace training, including DEI training:  

• one race or sex is inherently superior to another race or sex. 

Tenets of Critical Theory:

1. Critical theory emphasizes group identity over individualism. Individual identity is inseparable from group identity as ‘oppressed’ or ‘oppressor.’

“My schooling gave me no training in seeing myself as an oppressor… I was taught to see myself as an individual whose moral state depended on her individual moral will.” – Peggy McIntosh, “White Privilege and Male Privilege,” in Andersen and Collins, Race, Class, and Gender: An Anthology, p. 72.

1. Critical theory defines oppression as the exercise of hegemonic power—the ability of a group to impose its values, norms and expectations of society. Oppressor groups subjugate oppressed groups through the exercise of hegemonic power.

“Concepts of hegemony enable us to appreciate how dominant groups manipulate symbols and images to construct ‘common sense’ and thereby maintain their power.” – Jacob P. K. Gross, “Education and Hegemony: The Influence of Antonio Gramsci” in Beyond Critique: Exploring Critical and Social Theories in Education, p. 57, 65.

Smithsonian Infographic—the National Museum of African American history and culture which is a component of the Smithsonian Institute a federally funded organization 

1. Critical theory dismisses ‘reason’ and ‘evidence’ as self-serving justifications for oppression. Scientific method, evidence, statistics, etc. are tools of the oppressor.

A quote from Delgado’s “Critical Race Theory: An Introduction” says, “critical race theory questions the very foundations of the liberal order, including equality theory, legal reasoning, Enlightenment rationalism, and neutral principles of constitutional law.”

1. Critical theory sees intersectional ‘lived experience’ as an epistemic advantage. ‘Lived experience’ is more important than objective evidence in understanding oppression— i.e.,the lower one is on the intersectional hierarchy of the higher one’s perspective on truth. To question the oppressed persons lived experience is evidence of racism.

“The idea that objectivity is best reached only through rational thought is a specifically Western and masculine way of thinking – one that we will challenge throughout this book.” – Margaret L. Andersen and Patricia Hill Collins, “Reconstructing Knowledge,” in Anderson and Collins, Race, Class, and Gender, p. 4-5.

1. Our fundamental moral duty is freeing groups from oppression.

• Cancel culture or call out culture - make oppression visible.

The goal is not to “win” the argument through civil discourse. It is to overpower or silence the argument by any means necessary.

A posture for us from scripture: Romans 12:9-21:

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary:

If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

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