Picture this: They laughed their heads off!

I love idioms: using words to create pictures. However, most are not to be taken literally. Think about the dreadful pictures conjured up by these: “You're killing me” or “I almost died laughing” or “you’re beating a dead horse” or “he lost his head” or "I'm bending over backwards."

We’re all familiar with the phrase: "Say what you mean, and mean what you say." Well, idioms are an exception. And if people don’t know that, they can be very confused. Now "hold your horses," I do have a point.

I think Christians must seem idiomatic to nonbelievers. We say we are about love, but our claims to exclusivity in matters of salvation can create a picture of intolerance. We say we are accepting, but our resistance to anything unbiblical can cause people to see us as mean-spirited. And though we can't control how people picture us, we can make every effort to be people who "say what they mean and mean what they say." And even more, to say what they mean without being mean when they say it.  Picture that!

Is Marriage on the Rocks?

I can’t tell you how many people have asked me if I think Glenn Beck (who converted from Catholicism to Mormonism) is a Christian. Most Americans refer to themselves as Christian. But what does that mean to them?  America has produced a plethora of Christianized groups professing a Christian worldview. But if you look close enough, you'll see they don’t have a “Biblical" worldview.

Researcher George Barna reports that while 80% of Americans consider themselves Christian, only 6% have a Biblical worldview. The distance between the two grows greater every day. Those who live by the Bible are seen as disconnected from the culture, and dangerously intolerant of its changes.

A recent poll shows that the institution of marriage is on the decline. A Pew Survey shows that in 1960, 68% of all twenty-something’s were married, but in 2008, just 26% were. Moreover, the survey finds that the millennial generation is inclined to view cohabitation without marriage and other new family forms, such as same-sex marriage, as a normal and acceptable part of the culture. Yet many of these would claim they espouse a Christian worldview, obviously not realizing how much they have been shaped by the culture. That’s why we must promote a Biblical worldview. If so-called Christians aren't firmly established on this Rock, their so-called faith will end up “on the rocks.”

Should Evangelical Christians Vote for a Mormon?

Is Mormonism a cult or is it just idiosyncratic Christianity? The easiest way to recognize a cult is by its interpretation of the Bible and view of Jesus deity. Mormonism claims that Christianity was incomplete without The Book of Mormon, the Latter Day Saint (LDS) Scripture. With its own teachings and traditions, LDS rejects Christian orthodoxy.  And LDS teaches that Jesus was the brother of Satan.  Knowing this, can a faithful Christian vote for a Mormon candidate?

Well, Martin Luther might have voted for a Mormon! Quoted as saying that he would rather be ruled by a competent Turk (Muslim) than an incompetent Christian, his advice may well serve us in 2012. And we would have to admit that there are non-Christian candidates who share far more of our worldview and policy concerns than some others who identify themselves as Christians.

I still remember the opposition faced by John Kennedy in 1960 from evangelical Christians because he was a Roman Catholic. With increasing diversity in America, Evangelicals are facing unprecedented challenges (what about voting for an atheist?). So in answering today’s question, Evangelicals must think carefully and prayerfully. And it is probably best to do so before you arrive at the voting polls. “If you need wisdom, ask our generous God, and He will give it to you” (James 1:5 NLT).