You have been greatly honored. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has asked you to be a member. This is an honor because they only ask people of influence. You can use that influence (along with over 100 members of the IOC) to show that nations can be brought together in unity around sports. And the committee exists to make sure nothing goes wrong.
The games must be a success, so every display in the opening ceremony will be gone over with a fine-tooth comb. You’ve even had to swear an oath to make sure this happens: “I will always act independently of commercial and political interests as well as of any racial or religious consideration. I will fully comply with the IOC Code of Ethics.”
There can be no commercialism, no political statements, no mocking of climate change—nothing racist and nothing mocking religion, nations, presidents, or kings.
As you are going over the proposed displays for the opening ceremony, you are horrified to see a homosexual parody of The Last Supper. Obviously, this is going to offend millions around the world and can’t be allowed to be in the opening ceremony. You must object and object loudly and strongly.
But then you begin to think about repercussions. You know that if someone simply declines to bake a cake for a homosexual wedding, they will be taken to court and have their business at risk. What then could happen if your objection was leaked to the media? There would no doubt be an immediate spotlight put on you, and you would be painted as a homophobic bigot—cancelled, blacklisted, blocked. You would be accused not only of being hateful and intolerant but of being out of touch with modern values. You may even get death threats and protestors chanting outside of your house and business. That could likely happen if you objected. Best to keep quiet along with the other members of the IOC.
And this leads us to another question. Why would anyone want to use this massive platform to mock, of all things, The Last Supper? The answer, of course, is in the Scriptures. The Bible tells us that one of the signs of the last days is that people will give themselves to the sin of lust and, consequently, mock the Christian faith (2 Peter 3:3).
So it shouldn’t come as a surprise when evil men use the world stage to mock not Hinduism, Buddhism, or Islam, but the Christian faith—particularly Jesus. This is because He is the one who condemned lust as adultery (Matthew 5:27-38) and said that the world’s deeds are evil (John 7:7). The Bible makes it clear that the sexually immoral will not inherit the kingdom of God: “Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals…will inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 6:9-10).
How should we then respond as Christians? Our agenda is to preach the gospel to every creature (see Mark 16:15). It’s not primarily to change the culture but to change the heart. When someone comes to Jesus, not only do they find everlasting life, but they suddenly love righteousness. That’s the miracle of the new birth, and that’s the uniqueness of the glorious gospel of Jesus Christ that we’ve been commanded to preach.
In a culture of fear and intimidation, we will ignore our fears. Instead, we look to the heavens and say, “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Psalm 118:6).
