ESTABLISH HIS WAYS:
Kingdom Clarity In An Unclear World
Our world is beautifully created and loved by God. It is also a fallen place that is in the process of being transformed as the knowledge of the glory of the LORD drives out darkness and covers the earth (Habakkuk 2:14). Creation is eagerly awaiting the revealing of His sons and daughters- and the transformation of the world in their revealing (Romans 8:19). In our process of walking out the establishing of His ways, it felt right and urgent to make clear our belief and stance on some of the major moral issues that we all face in modern America.
Transgender and Gender Affirming Care
The transgender movement and the question of gender affirming care has become a deep issue of our time. We affirm that God is the creator, and that in the beginning He made man and woman. Any other distinction is at best confusion and at worst deception. No human being is born in the wrong body. Genetic disorders do, in rare cases, cause people to be born with complex issues involving their gender, but this is different than gender dysphoria.
The cultural practice of gender affirming care is medically sanctioned abuse of some of the most vulnerable among us, and especially heinous when perpetrated against children.
His ways look like helping people to grasp their true identity in Christ and helping them live accountable to the way Heaven sees them- fearfully and wonderfully made according to Psalm 139:14. Training up children in the truth of the Gospel and allowing them to experience natural puberty is the best medicine against this issue in our youth.
The God that binds up the broken hearted can heal and restore those that are suffering from gender dysphoria and have been taken in by the lies of this dangerous ideology. The same God holds these hurting families in His hands as they suffer and grieve the destruction of their loved ones.
Genesis 1-2, Genesis 5:2, Colossians 1:16, Mark 10:6-9, Psalm 147:3
Immigration
Immigration has been an ongoing conversation for all of human history. We affirm that God is for all people and is intimately interested in the care of those in need. To ignore the suffering of His beloved Image-bearers is to ignore the words of Jesus. Each nation has the right and authority to determine their own national policy regarding allowing the foreigner and alien into their land. Our nation has established laws regarding immigration that must be upheld (or changed), not ignored for political gain. Those in power have not been following their own legal structure for immigration and seem to even intentionally allow a greater influx of foreign nationals in than the current helps systems can handle. This is short sighted and will lead to more suffering of His beloved children, not less.
The Kingdom solution looks like an ordered system for allowing people to come into our country in a way that doesn’t negatively affect the safety, culture, and capacity for care in
this nation. The Bride must have compassion for those who are seeking refuge from dangers in their own country.
Deuteronomy 27:19, Exodus 22:21, Galatians 3:28, Exodus 22:21
Marriage
The issue of marriage rights has been a deeply emotional topic, but only in recent history in our nation. We affirm that God made man and woman in His image and likeness, and that their union is a prophetic picture of our relationship with Him. Our culture has continually eroded the sanctity and significance of the marriage covenant. Marriage is a religious rite, not a governmental institution. Plainly put, the government should not be involved in marriage in the first place.
The only tenable expression of marriage is between one man and one woman. This is defined in the Scripture and reinforced in the early writings of the Church.
The heart of Jesus is the honoring of all persons, while refusing to compromise on the truth of the Christian definition of marriage. We don’t hate those that disagree, on the contrary we believe that those within the LGBTQ community deserve love and respect along with all Image-bearers.
The Kingdom solution is to invite all peoples to be united and transformed by the Gospel. Christ and His Kingdom come before every human desire, be that sexual or related to marriage and family life. The opportunity to resist what doesn’t align with the Word of God is a gift in itself, and an offering that most never get to lay on the altar out of love for Christ.
Genesis 2:24, Genesis 5:2, Mark 10:6-9, 1 Corinthians 7:2, Hebrews 13:4
Capital Punishment
A consistent moral question in our nation is that of capital punishment. We affirm that God is the author of life and His way is the way of life. We also recognize that governments have the authority to enact the death penalty for certain, especially heinous acts.
That said, the early Church consistently points us to this ideal; Christ’s death means that no one ever has to die again to make things right. Vengeance belongs to God alone, and the death penalty is a form of vengeance. We intercede and implore our own government to abstain from using the authority they carry to take the life of His image-bearers.
The Kingdom solution looks like transformation and protecting the personhood of all people, even those that have done the unspeakable. Prisons should be places of restoration and transformation, first and foremost.
Ezekiel 33:11, John 8:3-11, Matthew 5:38-39, Romans 12:19
Abortion
Abortion is a straightforward issue that has been perverted by pernicious forces creeping into the Church. We affirm that God is the author of life and that life begins at conception. Abortion for reason of convenience is abhorrent, and our nation is culpable in a genocide against His beloved Image-bearers. The earliest Christian documents condemn the practice of taking the life of young children and abortion (they were seen as the same practice). The Gospel says, at its very core, “I will die for you”. On demand abortion clearly mirrors this into “you will die for me”.
Medical necessity for the health of the mother is, for the most part, a clever distraction from what the evil of our culture wants: unlimited and unaccountable freedom to take the life of the unborn. There are rare instances when a life-saving procedure for the mother would terminate her pregnancy, and these are deeply distinct from the targeted removal of a human child.
Our culture is also pressuring mothers to abort children that may be born with physical or developmental limitations. This is eugenics in practice and stands counter to the Gospel.
Every abortion creates a minimum of two victims; an innocent child and a woman who’s been deceived by trusted medical providers.
The Kingdom solution is to foster a culture that values life above convenience and personal advancement. We must be willing to support mothers that face difficult situations and show them love, care, and support.
Exodus 20:13, Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13-16, Matthew 18:14, Luke 1:41
Israel
The nation of Israel has always been an important topic, since it’s very establishment in the Old Covenant era (around 1100 BC). We affirm that Israel is important to God and His plans for the world. We hold that the Church has been grafted in to the greater story of God’s chosen people (Romans 11). Our culture is becoming more anti-Israel and antisemitic by the day. We must understand two distinct realities: 1. Supporting Israel doesn’t mean we agree with every single thing the Israeli government does (every worldly institution is open to criticism when they create systems and structures that don’t resemble His Kingdom) and 2. as goes Israel, so will go the Christian world. Israel, like all nations, has the right to defend themselves from attack and establish security in their land. We actively pray for peace in the land of Israel.
The Kingdom never celebrates death. The Kingdom solution to all issues of war and fighting on a global scale is the advance of the Knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord. That glorious promise is the solution to the deepest issues facing our world.
Genesis 12:2-3, Romans 9:1-11:36, Galatians 3:7-9
Parents Rights
The relationship between parent and child is sacred and deeply significant to the health of individuals and nations. We affirm that God is Father and His best plan for humans is to be stewarded and raised up by loving, protecting, providing parents. Our culture has begun to erode the rights of parents in the lives of their children at every level, from forced vaccinations to providing damaging therapies (see Transgender and Gender Affirming Care) without parental consent or knowledge.
This strategy of fracturing families and empowering minors to make major life-altering decisions devoid of parental guidance is a vile evil. The community is needed in the raising of healthy children, but those children are not owned by the community. Parents must have the first and most important voice in all decisions that affect the lives of their children. Anything less is an open door to the grooming and deception of a generation. Any exclusion of parents from this process is an attack on the family unit and finds its roots in the kingdom of darkness (not withstanding cases of real abuse).
The Kingdom solution is for parents to be empowered, and for the government to simply recognize that power (as they have always done until recently). Parental rights belong to all parents, Christian or not. Parents that put God first and gently guide and raise their children in His grace and love will impact the world more than any government could.
Deuteronomy 11:19, Psalm 127:3, Proverbs 31:8, Matthew 18:6, Mark 10:13-16
We understand that these topics are deeply emotional and impact the lives of everyone to a varying degree.
If you’d like further discussion and support with anything addressed in this statement, please reach out to info@elevationchurchwi.com and one of our pastors will follow up with you.
Transgender and Gender Affirming Care
The transgender movement and the question of gender affirming care has become a deep issue of our time. We affirm that God is the creator, and that in the beginning He made man and woman. Any other distinction is at best confusion and at worst deception. No human being is born in the wrong body. Genetic disorders do, in rare cases, cause people to be born with complex issues involving their gender, but this is different than gender dysphoria.
The cultural practice of gender affirming care is medically sanctioned abuse of some of the most vulnerable among us, and especially heinous when perpetrated against children.
His ways look like helping people to grasp their true identity in Christ and helping them live accountable to the way Heaven sees them- fearfully and wonderfully made according to Psalm 139:14. Training up children in the truth of the Gospel and allowing them to experience natural puberty is the best medicine against this issue in our youth.
The God that binds up the broken hearted can heal and restore those that are suffering from gender dysphoria and have been taken in by the lies of this dangerous ideology. The same God holds these hurting families in His hands as they suffer and grieve the destruction of their loved ones.
Genesis 1-2, Genesis 5:2, Colossians 1:16, Mark 10:6-9, Psalm 147:3
Immigration
Immigration has been an ongoing conversation for all of human history. We affirm that God is for all people and is intimately interested in the care of those in need. To ignore the suffering of His beloved Image-bearers is to ignore the words of Jesus. Each nation has the right and authority to determine their own national policy regarding allowing the foreigner and alien into their land. Our nation has established laws regarding immigration that must be upheld (or changed), not ignored for political gain. Those in power have not been following their own legal structure for immigration and seem to even intentionally allow a greater influx of foreign nationals in than the current helps systems can handle. This is short sighted and will lead to more suffering of His beloved children, not less.
The Kingdom solution looks like an ordered system for allowing people to come into our country in a way that doesn’t negatively affect the safety, culture, and capacity for care in
this nation. The Bride must have compassion for those who are seeking refuge from dangers in their own country.
Deuteronomy 27:19, Exodus 22:21, Galatians 3:28, Exodus 22:21
Marriage
The issue of marriage rights has been a deeply emotional topic, but only in recent history in our nation. We affirm that God made man and woman in His image and likeness, and that their union is a prophetic picture of our relationship with Him. Our culture has continually eroded the sanctity and significance of the marriage covenant. Marriage is a religious rite, not a governmental institution. Plainly put, the government should not be involved in marriage in the first place.
The only tenable expression of marriage is between one man and one woman. This is defined in the Scripture and reinforced in the early writings of the Church.
The heart of Jesus is the honoring of all persons, while refusing to compromise on the truth of the Christian definition of marriage. We don’t hate those that disagree, on the contrary we believe that those within the LGBTQ community deserve love and respect along with all Image-bearers.
The Kingdom solution is to invite all peoples to be united and transformed by the Gospel. Christ and His Kingdom come before every human desire, be that sexual or related to marriage and family life. The opportunity to resist what doesn’t align with the Word of God is a gift in itself, and an offering that most never get to lay on the altar out of love for Christ.
Genesis 2:24, Genesis 5:2, Mark 10:6-9, 1 Corinthians 7:2, Hebrews 13:4
Capital Punishment
A consistent moral question in our nation is that of capital punishment. We affirm that God is the author of life and His way is the way of life. We also recognize that governments have the authority to enact the death penalty for certain, especially heinous acts.
That said, the early Church consistently points us to this ideal; Christ’s death means that no one ever has to die again to make things right. Vengeance belongs to God alone, and the death penalty is a form of vengeance. We intercede and implore our own government to abstain from using the authority they carry to take the life of His image-bearers.
The Kingdom solution looks like transformation and protecting the personhood of all people, even those that have done the unspeakable. Prisons should be places of restoration and transformation, first and foremost.
Ezekiel 33:11, John 8:3-11, Matthew 5:38-39, Romans 12:19
Abortion
Abortion is a straightforward issue that has been perverted by pernicious forces creeping into the Church. We affirm that God is the author of life and that life begins at conception. Abortion for reason of convenience is abhorrent, and our nation is culpable in a genocide against His beloved Image-bearers. The earliest Christian documents condemn the practice of taking the life of young children and abortion (they were seen as the same practice). The Gospel says, at its very core, “I will die for you”. On demand abortion clearly mirrors this into “you will die for me”.
Medical necessity for the health of the mother is, for the most part, a clever distraction from what the evil of our culture wants: unlimited and unaccountable freedom to take the life of the unborn. There are rare instances when a life-saving procedure for the mother would terminate her pregnancy, and these are deeply distinct from the targeted removal of a human child.
Our culture is also pressuring mothers to abort children that may be born with physical or developmental limitations. This is eugenics in practice and stands counter to the Gospel.
Every abortion creates a minimum of two victims; an innocent child and a woman who’s been deceived by trusted medical providers.
The Kingdom solution is to foster a culture that values life above convenience and personal advancement. We must be willing to support mothers that face difficult situations and show them love, care, and support.
Exodus 20:13, Jeremiah 1:5, Psalm 139:13-16, Matthew 18:14, Luke 1:41
Israel
The nation of Israel has always been an important topic, since it’s very establishment in the Old Covenant era (around 1100 BC). We affirm that Israel is important to God and His plans for the world. We hold that the Church has been grafted in to the greater story of God’s chosen people (Romans 11). Our culture is becoming more anti-Israel and antisemitic by the day. We must understand two distinct realities: 1. Supporting Israel doesn’t mean we agree with every single thing the Israeli government does (every worldly institution is open to criticism when they create systems and structures that don’t resemble His Kingdom) and 2. as goes Israel, so will go the Christian world. Israel, like all nations, has the right to defend themselves from attack and establish security in their land. We actively pray for peace in the land of Israel.
The Kingdom never celebrates death. The Kingdom solution to all issues of war and fighting on a global scale is the advance of the Knowledge of the glory of the Lord. Every knee will bow, and every tongue confess that Christ is Lord. That glorious promise is the solution to the deepest issues facing our world.
Genesis 12:2-3, Romans 9:1-11:36, Galatians 3:7-9
Parents Rights
The relationship between parent and child is sacred and deeply significant to the health of individuals and nations. We affirm that God is Father and His best plan for humans is to be stewarded and raised up by loving, protecting, providing parents. Our culture has begun to erode the rights of parents in the lives of their children at every level, from forced vaccinations to providing damaging therapies (see Transgender and Gender Affirming Care) without parental consent or knowledge.
This strategy of fracturing families and empowering minors to make major life-altering decisions devoid of parental guidance is a vile evil. The community is needed in the raising of healthy children, but those children are not owned by the community. Parents must have the first and most important voice in all decisions that affect the lives of their children. Anything less is an open door to the grooming and deception of a generation. Any exclusion of parents from this process is an attack on the family unit and finds its roots in the kingdom of darkness (not withstanding cases of real abuse).
The Kingdom solution is for parents to be empowered, and for the government to simply recognize that power (as they have always done until recently). Parental rights belong to all parents, Christian or not. Parents that put God first and gently guide and raise their children in His grace and love will impact the world more than any government could.
Deuteronomy 11:19, Psalm 127:3, Proverbs 31:8, Matthew 18:6, Mark 10:13-16
We understand that these topics are deeply emotional and impact the lives of everyone to a varying degree.
If you’d like further discussion and support with anything addressed in this statement, please reach out to info@elevationchurchwi.com and one of our pastors will follow up with you.