A number of years ago I visited in Istanbul, Turkey. I remember sitting by a large downtown market place, watching the traffic. There were fast cars and motorcycles, big buses, donkeys with large bags slung over their backs, horse-drawn carriages, and carts, piled high with produce, being pushed or pulled along by a man on foot. In the midst of this mad
mix there was a very fat traffic cop. I watched as he held back a car for a man to pass with his cart...helped to push a cart so a bus could go...stopped a donkey until a motorcycle could speed by...held back a powerful car until a carriage could go through. There was no speed limit here. One rule could not be made to accommodate all parts of this traffic. The cop had to adjust, and make allowances, so all could go, and no one was run over. I marveled at his dexterity and patience.
I have thought about this scene many times since then. You know, if God made one rule for everyone, what an impossible burden it would be for His imperfect children. Those who believe there is a pattern to which all must conform, always make the pattern something with which they can be comfortable. What an injustice to those who are ignorant and weak, and can't live up to such stringent demands. A wise and loving Father does not treat all of His diverse children by the same rules. A just Father does not ever demand the impossible of any child. Like the Turkish traffic cop, He extends His grace, to all who will trust Him, so that all may survive the trip through this confusing and trouble-filled world.
Paul says, here in the first chapter, that he wants to visit the people in Rome, so that they can be "mutually encouraged by each other's faith". You see, Paul had needs too. He realized the value of being strengthened in his faith by sharing it with other Christians. In this world of doubt and cynicism, we each need a source for building up our faith. It is our power of spiritual survival. When we lean on His grace, by faith, He will forgive our faults, and guide us through, but we must place our trust in Him, and in His will.
As he completes his introduction, Paul says, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel". It is very disturbing to realize that, for the first time in the history of our country, those who believe in the principles of sexual morality, and Christian living...those who consider the violation of these principles to be sinful and wrong...are being accused of hate mongering. Later in this chapter, Paul is to say that those who wished to worship the flesh rejected the righteousness of God. Man has ever wanted to follow his own lusts, rather than the righteousness of God. Since the Garden of Eden it has been so, but, in our country, it has never been so blatantly proclaimed by those in high places. Even church leaders are insisting on changing the rules of God, to serve their own primal lusts and devices. When by simply reading the first chapter of the book of Romans, one can be legally charged, as has been done in some quarters, with preaching a hate message, Christians must realize that it is time to strengthen our faith, as never before, for "the just shall live by faith".
Paul argues, that simply observing the wonderful world of creation, is enough to convince the thinking man that we are created beings, subject to the will of the creator, to whom we should be giving honor and glory. He further argues that man does not need a rule book to tell him the moral difference in right and wrong. Those who ignore this do so because of their evil desires, not because they cannot know. Even the founding fathers of our country proclaimed these "truths to be self-evident." It is sad that the morally good people of our nation are now being ridiculed for believing these truths, and that a powerful movement is underway to eliminate them. We must, like Paul, daily proclaim that "we are not ashamed of the Gospel."
