Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice. Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. (Phil 4:4-6)In that context, "moderation" is equitable - "dealing fairly and equally with all concerned" (Merriam-Webster Dictionary.) Thus, spiritual moderation is the Golden Rule - "as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise." (Luke 6:31).
Physical moderation is another case. God, according to the prophet Joel, provides rain in moderation for the best and most bountiful crops. Drought or deluge are extreme and hazardous conditions. An overabundance of a good thing - rain - destroyed the earth, and people are often starved to death because of drought. That was what Joel was writing about (Joel 22:22-24).
It seems that moderation in some things is an attribute. On the other hand, God picked zealots for prophets and the Lord selected zealots for apostles. For instance, they all left their lives behind, picked up their crosses and followed Jesus (Mat 16:24), and doing that made them worthy of Jesus's grace (Mat 10:38).
Paul, then called Saul, was a zealot for the Law. He actively pursued Christians to have them killed. The Lord appreciated his misguided enthusiasm for justice, and needed only to show him what justice and truth were all about. The zealot Saul - "questioning" (Jesus) - was renamed Paul - "humbled" (by Jesus), but he was still the same zealot for God. A zealot is fanatically uncompromising. In modern times, Paul would be called a "right-wing Christian." That is principled to the extent that it is the Lord's way or no way! Indeed, few will walk the way of Jesus (Mat 7:14).
The Way of Jesus is right doctrine. (2 John 1:9). Some of the Doctrine of Christ is moderate, for instance gentleness, kindness, and perseverance. President Bush called that "compassionate conservatism." On the other hand, there is no moderate penalty for sin; it's either Heaven or Hell. People wish there was an in-between, but that's not what scripture says.
We think of Jesus as loving, and he is. His love is bountiful; he does not love moderately. "He so loves the world" (John 3:16). His love is so great that he even desires that no one perish for eternity (ibid). Think on that: What if Jesus's love was only moderate? He would be just as unprincipled and apathetic as we are!
The other day I was listening to a conversation: Meaning well, two women were discussing the travesty of third-trimester abortions. The first woman said, "The problem is that there are two extremes on that issue." The second lady proudly said, "I am a moderate on abortion." I could not remain quiet; my response was, "My morals are not my own, as a Christian, my standards are God's." With that said, silence ensued. I had revealed my principles! They understood with no further discussion that I am a right-wing Christian; I am a zealot for God's authority!
On the issue of abortion, "moderation" does consider the taking of a life as serious business, but taking the life early is less serious. Consider God's doctrine: "Thou shalt not kill" (Exod 20:13). Hopefully, everyone understands "not." It should need no further discussion. On the other hand, neither Adam nor Eve understood the concept of death. They thought, right this moment, and when they didn't die right then, God seemed to be the liar. God meant after they had aged. We find out later that Adam died after 930 years and Eve before him. Thus, killing is time dependent but is wrong this instant or later.
What does "kill" even mean? Paraphrased, it is pre-meditated assassination or accidentally causing one to die (Strong's Lexicon). In order to understand "kill," life and death must be understood. "Life" is becoming a "living soul." The "breath" God breathes to make a living soul is the Holy Spirit (Gen 2:7). The soul is immortal; it always did and will continue to exist forever. God planned us, "before the foundation of the world" (1 Pet 1:20). Ultimately, "killing" is putting asunder what God has joined together (Mat 19:6). That was referring to marriage, but it says, "what," meaning whatsoever.
When the ovum is penetrated by the spermatozoa, that is a type of marriage, and coitus in ancient Jewish culture commenced Holy Matrimony, if and only if the object was to be and create a family. I believe that in God's doctrine, abortion is akin to divorce; and both are unholy. If that is the case, the sanctity of life is a holy precept just as Holy Matrimony. Life and marriage are holy divine regulations.
Before a Christian argues that divorce is recognized by God, admit that it was never ordained by Him. We find from scripture that divorce is a grievous offense, and Christians take it too lightly. Likewise, abortion has become insignificant to most and praiseworthy by many! Christians must review the outcomes: divorce ends a marriage, but abortion ends a life. Both are pardonable, but murder is a cardinal (greater) sin because it has been equivocated with hatred (1 John 3:15).
Spiritually "killing," then, is putting asunder the body from the soul. Abortion does just that! Doing that early in time is the same as later in time. Early, or first-trimester abortion, is not moderation, it is assassinating early on and is no less significant than the third trimester. Abortion, in all cases, tears the body from the soul; it rips it asunder.
Zealots are uncompromising, and moderates compromising. We have been trained to believe that compromise is a good thing. "Compromise" is two parties agreeing to do non-optimal activities. Both sides, having opposite ideologies, agree to do something both consider wrong! Moderation is foolishness. Barry Goldwater said during the 1964 presidential campaign, "“I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue!” I believe that God would agree with that for Christian liberty.
Goldwater also despised religious zealotry: "Christians believe they are acting in the name of God, so they can't and won't compromise. I know, I've tried to deal with them." The hallmark of Christianity is that Christians, if they truly are, will not compromise on moral issues! Abortion is not a political, or even a social issue; it is a moral issue. The difference between barbarian and civility is the sanctity of life. Moderation is semi-barbarian. The Bible even has something to say about moderate Christians:
I know thy works, that thou art neither cold nor hot: I would thou wert cold or hot. So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth. (Rev 3:15-16).Luke-warmness is moderation. God has no use for a moderate Christian.
So far, the synopsis has been on aborting with moderation - assassinating only the most innocent. Christians are also becoming moderate on homosexuality. They do it out of fear of reprisal. The argument against Holy Matrimony and normalcy in sexual activity is tolerance. The most "tolerant" call everyone who disagrees names! Name-calling is not a logical and reasonable thing to do but it sure is intimidating. Christians have been all but silenced. Even conservative churches hesitate to preach against sin, and liberal churches have been bullied into praising sinners!
In modern times, the moderate position on homosexuality is, what they do in the confines of their bedroom is no business of mine. That response is cowardly. God's Word is to teach, correct, reprove, and even instruction in righteousness (2 Tim3:16). Why would Christians even have a desire to reprove and correct homosexuals? So that neither will they perish because God loves them so (John 3:16), and Christians are expected to love them in the same manner. As for myself, I will not tolerate hiding the truth from homosexuals to protect their feelings, when by doing so, they are destined for Hell. Love is cherishing the soul of another to protect it from dying forever. Those politically correct damn those they claim to love by tolerating what God condemns!
Moderate people kill homosexuals as well by fearing to offend their behavior. Extremism in the defense of righteousness is no vice, and moderation in the pursuit of saving is no virtue! Christians must be zealots, or they are not in the defense of rightness. Moderate Christians are Christians with compromised principles. God would have had no use for moderate prophets, apostles, nor teachers. If He had, Christianity would have died as soon as Jesus was put in the tomb. Moderates would have thought the audacity to defeat death was arrogance. Somehow, the left would have twisted grace to be hatred, and the moderates would have became part of their herd if not mob!
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