Taking stock of our pride

A time to remind people who had the rainbow first.

I wish I knew who came up with this originally, but it’s an image I’ve seen shared on social media.

This is the time of year Christians have to gird their loins and remember that, while we are in the world, we are not of the world.

Referring to the LGBTQ crowd, it was a month ago today that Franklin Graham came to Salisbury and told the 6,800 assembled in the outdoor venue:

Now, I want to say something to the LGBTQ community. I don’t preach against you, okay? I want you to know that I love you. And I love you enough to tell you the truth! That we’re all sinners, okay? I’m no greater sinner than you are. You’re no greater sinner than I am. We’re all sinners.

But you have to repent, okay? That means to turn; you can’t continue to live in your sin, you have to turn from your sin.

So I want to warn people – tonight you’ve got an opportunity to turn from your sin, and put your faith and trust in God’s Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.

If you remember - and I surely do because my post discussing it blew up to unprecedented extents for my Substack, thanks in part to my friend and loyal reader Carol - certain members of Salisbury City Council had a cow about the event put on by Franklin Graham but made sure to mention the city would be having a parade to celebrate “Pride Month.”

Before my gentle readers get too frustrated, though, it’s worth mentioning the rainbow is indeed a symbol, but not the one most of the world would have you believe is true. As God Himself said in Genesis 9:12-16:

“This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

Maybe they just thought it was cool, or maybe they knew it would tweak the Christians they dislike because we consider homosexuality a sin, but somehow the rainbow has been co-opted into a symbol for Pride Month, with a later addition of a blue, pink, and white striped triangle on the flag to represent the transgender population. But we had it first.

So perhaps we should remind people of that, in a loving way and not really being overly possessive. When you see something emblazoned with a rainbow logo because we’re now in June, just thank whoever put it out for the reminder of God’s covenant in Genesis. (If you want to cite chapter and verse, the full part of the story is Genesis 9:12-17.)

After all, isn’t every month Scripture Reading Month?

Speaking of pride, my quick little search found a lot of verses from Scripture citing the subject. I’m going to make it my goal this month henceforth to find one each day and share it in my Notes.