Can we just skip the formalities and go ahead and hand the Pulitzer Prize to John Bowden at The Hill?  I know that there are probably plenty of other highly qualified candidates, but Bowden’s recent masterpiece of journalistic brilliance is simply unrivaled.  The intrepid reporter for the D.C. based political website managed to unearth what could end up being the story of the century – you might want to make sure you’re seated before reading this.

A minister from North Carolina once preached messages to his congregation from the Bible’s Book of Ephesians.

Can you imagine?  Had Bowden not dug deep into the archives of Minister-turned-congressional candidate Mark Harris’s sermons, we might not have known that a Baptist preacher would base his messages on God’s Word.  Seriously, take a look at this penetrating and breathtaking insight:

A North Carolina Republican running to replace a GOP lawmaker he defeated in a May primary has reportedly preached extensively on the need for married women to submit to their husbands.

Roll Call reports that Mark Harris, the Republican nominee in North Carolina's 9th District, often told worshipers at his Baptist services that women should "submit" unto their husbands as they would to God.

The horror!  Next thing you know, we’re going to find out that he preached that a Jewish man was crucified only to raise from the dead on the third day in the tomb, or that the Holy Spirit dwells within those who have received salvation in Christ.

It’s honestly becoming a legitimate debate for many of us within the church: is it that virtually no one in mainstream media has ever even been to a Christian worship service, or is it that they loathe the faith so much that they sensationalize and distort what they know to be Christian doctrine simply to bring it into cultural disrepute?  I’m honestly torn.

But even if it is the former, that shouldn’t be an excuse for those who at least pretend to be journalists.  If you’re going to write on something with Biblical undertones, shouldn’t it be an expectation that you research and understand what you’re talking about?  For instance, shouldn’t we be able to expect as readers (and shouldn’t the publisher and editors at The Hill demand) that John Bowden at least make an effort to understand the teaching of Ephesians 5 before foolishly writing about it as though it were a scandal?

That passage about submission actually holds one of the most challenging and aggressive commands given to God’s people – and it’s directed not to wives, but to husbands.  Immediately following the admonition of wives submitting to their husbands, Paul writes that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church and gave Himself up for her.  In case you have been to the John Bowden School of Theology, Jesus sacrificed everything for His bride, the church.  Even to the point of a humiliating death on a cross.  Husbands are commanded to be that sacrificial, that selfless, that self-effacing when dealing with their wives.

And guess what?  If you watch those messages of Mark Harris, he preached that too.  Funny how that didn’t make it into The Hill’s headline.  It’s almost as though – and I know this is crazy, but follow me here – this is nothing more than a flagrant and shameless attempt by the media to generate controversy for a conservative Christian without cause or reason.

What a dumb story.