When the swirling cultural debates are kicking up dust around us, we don’t answer the question from the standpoint of what the experts (even the religious experts) are saying. We are not thinking about sexuality, gender, marriage, and issues of life based upon what the editorial pages or headlines news says. Instead, we follow Jesus’s pattern and direct our attention back to the Word of God. This is our authority as Christians. It’s the ultimate authority.

When the whirlwind of questions come to you about various hot-button social issues, where do you turn?

If we’re honest, we’re often tempted to strike a deal, blending our biblical conviction with what’s culturally palatable. It’s tempting to try to salute the contemporary zeitgeist while also standing firm on the Bible. But this is a difficult pose for faithful Christians to hold for long.

But there’s another response. The gasps, sneers, and eye-rolls may tempt us to soft-pedal the Bible’s teaching, but they can also strengthen our resolve. Instead of temptation, it could be a call to faithfulness by reminding us of the vast gap between what the Scripture teaches and what people often want to hear. I was reminded of this afresh the other day when reading the Scriptures and considering how Jesus responded to a pressure-packed question. 

In Matthew 18:3 the Pharisees come to Jesus to ask him some questions. “And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, ‘Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?’”

Sometimes it’s difficult to understand how the question was asked, because we are unable to hear the inflection or observe the body language of the inquirer. But Matthew includes some keys so that we can understand. We read that they came up to him and tested him. When we think of testing we might think that they are playing a game of Bible trivia or innocent inquiries into theological ethics. The Pharisees, after all, love to read and quote the Bible, and Jesus obviously really likes the Bible. Is this innocent testing of one’s understanding and application of the Word? 

I don’t think so. The word translated test here also conveys the concepts of scrutinizing and tempting. One lexicon describes it being used to try and trap someone in a mistake. It’s used in Matthew 16:1 in this sense as well. I think we are on solid ground to conclude, in light of the Pharisee’s relentless anger, bitter, and calculated malevolence towards Jesus, that this question has ill motives. They are trying to catch him saying something wrong in front of the crowd.

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