Book overview:
In this book, Rebecca McLaughlin identifies five claims that make up a secular creed or statement of belief. A statement of faith that ‘centres not on God, but on diversity, equality, and everybody’s right to be themselves.’ (p.1) These claims are as follows…
“Black Lives Matter”
“Love Is Love”
“The Gay Rights Movement Is the New Civil Rights Movement”
“Women’s Rights Are Human Rights”
“Transgender Women Are Women”
Christians tend to fall into two camps here; one that is unquestioningly affirming, the other that dismisses such claims outright knowing the Bible rejects some of these things and therefore the whole package must be wrong (pp.1-2). McLaughlin seeks in this work to provide another option; one which examines ‘each claim through the lens of Scripture and in light of culture’ in order to work out which ‘ideas Christians can and must affirm from ideas Christians cannot and must not embrace’ (p.2).
Discussion:
- Why does McLaughlin start her book by recognizing that ‘the tangling of ideas in the secular creed has been drive not only by sin in the world out there, but also by sin in the church in here’ (p.2)?
“Black Lives Matter”
- The Declaration of Independence proclaims, ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’ What issues are there with this statement? (p.7)
- In what ways does the biblical story form the basis for racial and ethnic equality? (pp.8-17)
- What does it mean to be a disciple of Jesus in this area? How should we address the comment that racial justice clashes with the task of ‘just preaching the gospel’?
- What happens if you take away God as the foundation for our ethical framework? What shifts have taken place as society has moved from being ‘Christian’ to being ‘secular’?
“Love Is Love”
- McLaughlin begins this chapter by stating the biblical truth that “God is love” (1 John 4:8) and that marriage isn’t the goal of human existence, rather it’s a signpost. What is marriage a signpost towards and what difference does this make?
- How and why can we be confident that the Bible is clear on this issue and that to take an orthodox position is not to misread Scripture? (pp.34-37)
- McLaughlin warns us against overfocusing on the negatives and reminds us that love is not only sexual love. Rather, ‘the Bible calls us repeatedly to non-erotic same-sex love’ (p.37). What difference would it make, were we to embrace this truth in our churches?
- ‘Some argue that for the church to survive in a love-is-love world, we must become less biblical. I think the opposite is true.’ Why does McLaughlin make this claim? How does this impact the way we think, live, and speak on this topic?
“The Gay Rights Movement Is the New Civil Rights Movement”
- To what extent do you agree with the secular belief that ‘if we’re going to become more just, we must become less biblical’? What problems exist with this perspective? (p.45)
- What issues does Mclaughlin demonstrate with the intersectional claim that the ‘gay rights movement is the new civil rights movement’?
- How have we as the church failed historically and presently in the area of loving those from different ethnic backgrounds? How have we as the church failed historically and presently in the area of loving those who embrace an LGBT+ lifestyle?
- How does Jesus’ treatment of the righteous and the unrighteous challenge our thinking? How does he model a better way forward? (p.59)
“Women’s Rights Are Human Rights”
- Why can we be overwhelmingly confident of the Biblical truth of this statement? How did (and how do) Biblical truths transform the world in this regard? (pp.64-69)
- McLaughlin seeks to provide a critical lens to affirm that which we can affirm biblically and to reject that we must reject biblically. How does this framework play out as she assesses feminism and some of its claims? Think about the following areas…
- Work
- Church
- Sex
- Abortion
“Transgender Women Are Women”
- Why does McLaughlin hold biological sex to be important to this discussion? How does this tie in with the previous chapter about women’s rights and the biblical truths of equality?
- What are some of the other issues that complicate this seemingly ‘straightforward’ statement? On the other hand, how can we fall into believing unbiblical gender stereotypes?
- How do the following Biblical truths help us engage compassionately in this debate? Think about the following… (pp.96-103)
- Creation
- Human Dignity
- God's good creative design
- Goodness of the body
- The Fall
- Destructive impact of sin on relationship
- Destructive impact of sin on identity
- Jesus
- His teaching on marriage
- His design for the church
- Creation
Conclusion
- Why does McLaughlin end the book, not with a call to arms but with a call to repentance? What difference would it make were we to adopt this posture and fight not with aggression but with the ‘self-sacrificing, unrelenting love of the gospel’?
