What does the pornography problem in the Bible belt, and the appalling lack of generosity among democrats have to do with a burnt/raw pancake? Plenty….
“Ephraim is a cake not turned…”. Hosea 7:8. That’s Hosea’s description of a nation gone wrong, and it’s terribly applicable today.
a cake not turned: Burnt to a coal at the bottom, raw dough at the top: an apt emblem of a character full of inconsistencies (Bishop Horsley).
The prophets were good at painting word pictures, and word pictures are good because, rather than listing specific problems unique to a time and place, they portray a principle. The principle then becomes widely applicable to other cultures, eras, and situations. This is part of what makes the Bible so incredibly relevant, if only we’d take the time to read and ponder.
Today I’m pondering the “cake not turned”. You’ve no doubt eaten a pancake that was burnt on the bottom but raw on the top. It’s wrong; imbalanced; filled with overemphasis and a commensurate underemphasis. God’s complaint with Israel was that they’d lost their devotion to God as their source and their lover, choosing loyalty to surrounding pagan ideals instead.
Israel was, in other words, selective in her loyalty to God, alternately embracing and denying the values of Jehovah based on what they wanted, what they considered to be best for them moment to moment. The result of this was a mixture of bribery, white-collar robbery, neglect of the Sabbath, woven together with lip service given to God, and outward forms of worship often continuing in spite of glaring disobedience to God’s revelation. Light and dark. Burnt and raw. Idolatry wrapped in religion.
Sound familiar? It should! The mixture of political loyalties with faith has long been an example of this burnt pancake phenomenon. Consider mainline churches, which are often largely aligned with left leaning politics and more socialist policies. Their views are, rightly, intent on seeing to it that the poor aren’t left hungry, cold, or naked. It’s hard to argue with those priorities if you take the Bible seriously.
But two complaints arise immediately regarding this seemingly holy affiliation. First, if the left is so intent on caring for the poor, why are they themselves so greedy? The problem of meager charitable giving among liberals is well-known, as seen in this article, which posits that conservatives give 30% more to charity than democrats.
My second complaint is that liberals are selective in their adherence to the Bible, being quick to appeal to verses on caring for the poor, but silent on Jesus’ sexual ethics, including his stringent view of divorce. And by the way, nobody on this planet is more vulnerable than the unborn, who the left seem to regard as nothing more than tissue until they’re born.
Conservative (and many evangelical) churches, provide an opposite, though equally alarming snapshot. They’re all about the sexual ethics, with vocal views on premarital sex, same-sex behavior, masturbation, abortion, and in some places, divorce and remarriage too. Most of these values are derived from the same Bible the left uses to address systemic economic sin.
My complaint is that in the same manner the left is stingy while preaching generosity, the right is sexually dysfunctional while preaching family values. They crucify Bill Clinton for his sexual sins, and then elect a president who is in his third marriage and whose language and behavior would get him fired in most work environments, including FOX NEWS. They even go to some lengths to call him a Christian in spite of the appalling lack of any compelling life evidence.
Further, the right suffers from the same hypocrisy problem as the left. Regarding our nation’s porn addiction, the 4 out of the top 5 states are in the Bible belt (Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Louisiana, Georgia), the very places where God’s sexual ethic thunders from the pulpit weekly. Tennessee, Louisiana, and Texas, are three of top four states in per capita abortion rates. Pro Life indeed. Similarly, these same states, so pro-life, seem intent on protecting life in the womb, but once you’re born, you’re on your own. Policies regarding family leave and access to health care and social services for those in poverty are weak.
Let’s summarize. You have a party that preaches generosity, but is stingy, and they elect a man with an exemplary marriage. You have a party that preaches sexual ethics, but elects a womanizer, and whose states are most stridently red also happen to be national leaders in porn use and abortion.
This is the cake not turned problem, and until we see the problem and acknowledge it, we’ll continue talking past each other, advocating that “my partial view of reality is better than your partial view of reality” We can do better.
Why am writing this?
1. So that we can stop wedding political parties with our faith, and begin to recognize that no party has the faith
2. So that we can recognize, all of us, that preaching values does not equal living them.
3. So that we can recognize that it’s in the human heart to view God’s values and directives as a buffet line, where we pick what we want, and leave the rest.
4. So that we can repent of the buffet line mentality, our divisions into self referential and self-righteous little communities, and our arrogance – instead asking God to give us ears to hear what the spirit is saying, especially through those with whom we disagree, and so move toward the unity of the faith that will better represent God’s heart.
In a world filled with burnt/raw pancakes, it would be refreshing to find a few that are properly cooked. Perhaps you can help cook one!
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