My visiting mother and father-in-law (both life-long Hoosiers) recently allowed me to read Mr. Bedwell’s opinion piece from the March 23 edition of the Tribune-Star. Allow me to respectfully tender my own opinion that Mr. Bedwell doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
I cannot speak authoritatively to Coach Dungy’s “embrace” of the Indiana Family Institute, or to its supposed implications. I can, however, as a former associate pastor of more than a decade, speak to his superficial and conflicting points regarding Tony Dungy’s alleged “lack of following the whole Bible.”
In the first place, while evangelical Christians are bound by the underlying truth of the whole Bible, a vast majority of said group (Coach Dungy included) are Gentiles, not Jews, and therefore not bound to obey Old Testament Jewish Law (including the cited passages in Leviticus).
This point is explicitly made in a passage of the Bible (Acts 15:12-35) where the then-Jewish leaders of the church had been wrestling with this self-same question of how much of the Mosaic law (i.e. Old Testament law) to require of the Gentiles who were coming to believe in Christ. Their answer was, in effect, “very little,” because faith in Christ, not adherence to the Law is the basis of Christian faith. This thought is the essence of Ephesians 2:8-9.
Secondly, although the Bible does specifically elevate the duty to honor God on the Sabbath, it also tells us to “let your light shine before men, so that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)
This is an admonition for believers to use whatever public platform they have as an opportunity to highlight the transformational values of the Christian Way, and of the Heavenly Father who, through Christ, has entrusted them to us.
I can think of fewer, more powerful methods of doing so recently, than by coaching an NFL team — not through cajoling, intimidation, and angry outbursts — but by quiet, fervent trust and belief in the potential of your team members and coaches.
And then, of course, by having that method of coaching prove to be effective in said team going to victory in the Super Bowl, thereby providing an international platform for its overall validity.
Yes, Jesus states next in the very same passage (Matthew 5:17) that he has “not come to abolish [the law], but to fulfill [it].” But the context of that statement is an attack against superficial and self-seeking adherence to the law for personal notoriety; a characteristic of the party of the Pharisees, for which they were well known. It in no way contradicts the fact that Gentiles do not have to live according to Jewish law.
Mr. Bedwell seems to be also alluding to Coach Dungy’s comments on the topic of the current debate over gay marriage. Of that, I will only say that there is plenty of support in the Bible against the idea of gay marriage, and that this in no way makes Tony Dungy’s view inconsistent. This speaks merely to a difference of opinion in the interpretation of the relevant passages.
Finally, about the ridiculous argument that Coach Dungy should, (if, in the opinion of Mr. Bedwell, he wants to be consistent and follow the “whole Bible”) “hire genealogists to identify whom his ancestors worked for,” I have these things to say.
n There is the aforementioned argument against the need for Gentile believers to follow the Mosaic Law, in Mr. Bedwell’s citation of Leviticus 25.
n Please see at least two passages that talk about the right of slaves to gain their freedom. Galatians 5:1, which does so symbolically, and 1 Corinthians 7:21, which does so directly. So there is no reason for Coach Dungy to retire himself and his family to a condition of slavery to be consistent with what the Bible teaches on the subject.
n The idea (even if it is a reducta ad absurdum argument) of Tony Dungy, relegating himself and his family to slavery, in order to “follow the Lord’s Way,” I myself, as an African-American and a Christian, find extremely offensive. The resorting to such a tactic sounds to me like the very kind of “religious bigotry” that Mr. Bedwell believes he is decrying.
However, I find it offensive for the most part not because I am African-American but because Mr. Bedwell’s opinion is just plain incorrect. Yet, he spouts this opinion as if it were well-informed fact, of which any educated person should be aware.
I disagree in the strongest possible (and printable) terms. I refer Mr. Bedwell to the excellent recent film “Amazing Grace,” in which William Wilberforce is acquainted with the idea that his fight for the abolition of slavery in 18th century England is entirely consistent with his deep desire to devote himself to God.
Mr. Bedwell has a constitutional right to state his opinion in a public forum. This is a bedrock principle of our republic, and I firmly believe in it. And I, too, have a constitutional right to tell him that he is sadly misinformed.
— Tony Branch
Cincinnati
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