"Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but instead even expose them;" (Ephesians 5: 11)
Today’s mailing is going to be a little different subject matter than normal. Many of our subscribers from outside the USA won’t be interested in this particular E-mailing. The principle of joining organizations may be of interest, but AARP is more of a "USA question" about Bible application… sorry.
I keep getting questions about whether a Christian can join AARP with their very liberal social agenda. Many Christians have been infuriated by their ultra-liberal lobbying efforts on social issues but believe that they simply “must” join because of the insurance programs, travel discounts, etc.
The American Family Association has started recommending to followers to cancel their memberships. Here is a link to one such story.
First as a practical matter…. If you feel financially forced to support AARP, the reality is that you are not so construed. There are alternatives. Here is one such alternative. They are (purposely) a much more conservative alternative to AARP that provides similar financial benefits to seniors. Said organization goes by the acronym ASA. Their website is www.americanseniors.org You can check them out to see if they are a good match for you. I am a preacher, not an insurance guy… so I am not recommending such; you’ll need to make your own decisions there.
The obvious reason that this question seems to be regularly coming up, is the direct collision between a Christian’s pocket book and their Bible. Political issues have a way of pitting those two forces against each other don’t they? The Jews used to have a saying that everyone must undergo two conversions… The first is a conversion of the heart and the second is a conversion of the pocket book. There is some truth to that saying I suppose.
Clearly there is also no way for me to give a straight answer to this question without at least noting the political questions. The reality is that your Christian morals should be the basis of your politics. Regardless of your views on the separation of church and state (or in this case Church, state, and the market place), how you define your standard of morality is definitely the turf of Christianity… So I will attempt to provide a balanced answer to this reoccurring question. Christianity is supposed to affect “who” you associate yourself with at many levels.
Now….Here is a quote from AARP’s website: “AARP’s mission is to enhance the quality of life for all as we age, leading positive social change, and delivering value to members through information, advocacy, and service.”
Obviously the “problem” is that many of us don’t appreciate, endorse or support what they define as “positive” social change.
Many espousing Christian values consider AARP’s version of “positive change” as an outright affront to Christianity. Said Christians are Biblically correct. Many view the present scenario as a case of offending us rather than advocating for us… and using our own money to do it!
Some of the Political issues that I have followed with AARP…
These questions (or issues) caused me to discover “The dark side”… I.E. The blatantly immoral side of AARP.
These questions (or issues) caused me to discover “The dark side”… I.E. The blatantly immoral side of AARP.
- Why does an organization representing the elderly, work for Gun control?
- Why would an organization representing the elderly, honor Harry Belafonte as their person of the year? He won their 2006 impact award. (He reportedly called President Bush the world’s greatest terrorist while in Venezuela meeting with Hugo Chavez!)
- Why would an organization representing the elderly oppose the 2004 Arizona proposition 200 to deny welfare to illegal aliens?
- Why does an organization representing the elderly, lobby for universal health care when it will include massive Medicare cuts and a greater burden on the elderly?
Those issues raised are political and clearly involve personal judgments…. What has this to do with Christianity?
Because of the spotlight shown through them I have discovered that AARP takes your membership money (and other various revenues) and promotes Homosexuality in your name! Massively…Period!
I am one of the over 50 crowd that chooses not to participate in AARP on moral grounds. I could (conceivably) purchase something from them based on I Corinthians 10:25-31. Paul clearly freed up the market in that we are able to buy things as Christians without being responsible for what people afterwards do with the money. (An obvious point of common sense as well as a Bible principle)
That being said… being a member of something, contributing to something, etc. is very different from buying from someone. You are a member of (or a partner of) AARP. AARP claims to advocate-speak for you as their member. I am unwilling to be identified as a member of any organization that supports things that I morally cannot support. I base my position on two passages of scripture: I Corinthians 8 (the entire chapter) and II Corinthians 6. I’ll come back to the Biblical basis of this prohibition for Christians below… but first let me give you some documentation for my comments regarding your being snookered into bankrolling Homosexuality as a member of AARP:
June 24, 2009
“WASHINGTON – To commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, a defining moment for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual and Transgender (LGBT) movement, AARP today announced the launch of a multiplatform media campaign consisting of exclusive new online, television, radio and print content that includes contributions from many of the nation’s most prominent and outspoken members of the LGBT communities.”
June 2009
“Wisdom of the Elders: AARP and SAGEIn 2008, AARP sponsored the SAGE (Services & Advocacy for GLBT Elders) National Conference on LGBT Aging, which sent a message to the LGBT community and advocates that AARP is paying attention to LGBT…..”
Is homosexuality immoral? Well… The Bible says in Romans 1:
21. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22. Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23. and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. 24. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them.
(continued below)
From AARP’s article an interesting compilation of facts emerged….
“But as SAGE notes, the current, older LGBT generation differs from its heterosexual counterpart in profound ways. Older LGBT Americans are:Twice as likely to live alone
• Half as likely to have life partners or significant others
• Half as likely to have close relatives to call for help
• Themselves caregivers for older loved ones, but four times less likely to have children to help them
Without the support of formalized family structures, many older gay people don't have the fall-back resources to take care of themselves when they become older.” (Source: AARP website/magazine article).
Note that in practical terms what AARP means here is that… after you have lived a God ordained lifestyle (been faithful to your wife etc.) and then have the God ordained safety net in place for your old age…. You should pay for their ungodly behavior. I.E. Since they have rejected God’s order of things, they do not have said safety net. Therefore, you should pay for (or subsidize) their ungodly behavior with the fruits of our your godly behavior! AARP sees it as part of their mission to take your membership dues, other related revenues, including massive government tax subsidies and to see to it that you financially subsidize their behavior whether you agree with it or not!
Does the Bible say there will be earthly consequences as well as spiritual ones for homosexual behavior?
Romans 1:
25. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen. 26. For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27. and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error.
In the days of the Apostle Paul they didn’t have computers to calculate the odds of you winding up this way or that. They only had faith in God, i.e. when God told them something was sin. Sometimes we overlook the obvious… sin hurts people and has consequences. That is why it is sin! One apparent consequence is that you are 4x more likely to die alone and nobody cares (According to AARP). Maybe, instead of financially rewarding bad behavior… you shouldn’t live that way so that when it is time for you to die there are people to love you around you to support you! There are people that are “alone” all the time. They are not truly alone… they have God and they have family. These people with this lifestyle clearly lose both. It is their choice… why should I have to pay for it?
August 6, 2010...
AARP details with pride their effect in longstanding efforts to promote homosexuality in a timeline on their website, titled “Milestones in Gay History since AARP’s founding in 1958... Particularly after the Stonewall riots, social, political, and cultural changes have improved the standing LGBT people. …” which is available to view HERE.
I’ll reproduce what I believe is the dominite line of reasoning relevant to today’s study here….
II Corinthians 6:
14. Do not be bound together with unbelievers; for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has light with darkness?
15. Or what harmony has Christ with Belial, or what has a believer in common with an unbeliever?
16. Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said, "I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM; AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE.
17. "Therefore, COME OUT FROM THEIR MIDST AND BE SEPARATE," says the Lord. "AND DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN; And I will welcome you.
As a Christian…
I just cannot allow someone to advocate things in my name that I don’t advocate. I just cannot be a partner/member of promoting evil…. Therefore I choose not to participate.
This leaves me in a dilemma relevant to the promise I make in these emailings. I promise to give a straight Bible answer to the questions posed to me. Many have asked this as a Christian’s moral question because of the attention drawn to the group through the political climate. I finally decided I needed to respond to this list generally with the underlying moral issue that demands to be heard. Many Christians are not even aware of how they are being used by this organization….
There is obviously a value judgment to be made here. I have given you the biblical principles by which I concluded that I not only “would not”… but “could not” join them when I turned 50 a few years ago.
Hi I am glad you stopped by our blog. These articles are from an emailing that we did several years ago. Today most of our work is on facebook
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Be well
Jerry Blount
