If you follow cultural issues in Alabama, you probably know who pastor Travis Johnson is and have heard about the current controversy he is embroiled in. Johnson has publicly spoken against Mobile’s promotion of Pride events at taxpayer expense.
This Mobile battle is a microcosm of what has been happening across our state and our nation.
Politics is downstream from culture. Culture is downstream from the home. And the home is shaped by the pulpit, media and the classroom. As such, the home is ground zero for our time and will be defined either by our historical Christian values or by modern, secular, humanistic thought.
But while Alabama politics and culture are impacted by the condition of Alabama homes, it’s also true that law is pedagogical in nature – it teaches us by what it proscribes and what it forbids. When legislators pass laws reinforcing Christian values, our lawmakers have a good impact on everything upstream.
As a state representative, I am delighted to help pass laws reinforcing our historical, Christian, grassroots way of life bequeathed to us by our ancestors. Such laws include those which place the 10 Commandments, prayer, and the Pledge of Allegiance in our schools, as well as those which maximize school choice, provide for release-time religious instruction, and remove DEI and other woke nonsense from our classrooms.
At every level, the battle we are engaged in is one over definitions. We are asked to define what is good or bad, what is right or wrong, and what is true, beautiful, and worthy of pursuit. How we answer these questions determines our identity and how we will act out that identity.
The battle raging in Mobile specifically centers around the definition of “love.” Just one example of this is the “love wins” statement, which was commonly uttered when the Supreme Court thought it could overturn and rebuke Almighty God regarding the definition of marriage.
But according to Romans 13:10, “[L]ove is the fulfilling of the law.” It is not a feeling, nor a sexual desire as those who promote Pride seem to think it is. It is not a subjective swimming pool of self-gratification.
Love is an action tied to a standard. That’s why the immediate context of Romans 13:10 is filled with the 10 Commandments and the profound statement that he "who loves another has fulfilled the law.”
When a man loves his wife, he doesn’t cheat on her.
When a politician loves his country, he doesn’t vote away its sovereignty and safety.
When parents love their children, they don’t abuse them; instead, they raise them in the nurture and admonition of God.
When pastors love their congregation, they don’t fleece the flock – they feed them with the Word of God and the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s Supper.
We know this is love, because we are made in the image of God and we inherently have a sense that what the Apostle Paul said is true – that love is the fulfilling of the law. By God’s grace, love is the concrete and objective ordering of our lives according the 10 Commandments, which teach us how to properly relate to God and to each other. And when we know this, the American concept of “liberty and justice for all” becomes real.
When it comes to the battle raging in Mobile – a battle symbolic of our time – we must remember that only God establishes what love is, because only God establishes the objective standard that must be met to show love. And that objective standard is ultimately Himself – His wisdom, being, power, holiness, justice, goodness and truth. These are the standards by which human happiness alone can be obtained. These are the safeguards by which Alabama’s freedom and flourishing alone can thrive.
Emotions and desire are a tremendous gift from God. They are like wind in the sails to hasten the ship on its way. But they are not the compass. The true north of love must always be the objective standard of God’s law.
If Mobile wants an answer that won’t hurt them anymore, they would be wise to heed Johnson’s advice and remember the wise words of Romans 13:10.
State Rep. Ernie Yarbrough serves in Alabama's Seventh District.
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