The song is beautiful, but the song is a lie.

You know the song. It’s the signature ballad from the “The Wizard of Oz,” hauntingly sung by Judy Garland in 1939. The Academy Award-winning song, “Over the Rainbow” is now a national treasure. But its lyrics are a lie.

The lyrics take the hearer through Garland longing for something that’s out of sight, somewhere over the rainbow, where dreams really do come true. The song’s central lyric includes this stanza:

“Someday I’ll wish upon a star
And wake up where the clouds are far behind me
Where troubles melt like lemon drops
Away above the chimney tops
That’s where you’ll find me”

It’s poetic license, of course. The longing of Garland’s character Dorothy — and for the listener — is that somewhere over the rainbow, we will leave behind all our troubles.

The Offer

Sometime around mid-May, the streets of Washington, D.C. were adorned by the current iteration of the rainbow, a newer version of the Pride flag that’s supposedly even more inclusive. According to the flag’s designer, the look features horizontal stripes “representing life (red), healing (orange), sunlight (yellow), nature (green), harmony/peace (blue), and spirit (purple/violet),” along with five half-sized stripes “representing trans individuals (light blue, light pink, white), marginalized POC communities (brown, black), as well as those living with AIDS, those no longer living, and the stigma surrounding them (black).”

This newly expanded rainbow reaches far beyond any natural color spectrum in an attempt to broaden an already wide tent of sexual expression. How long will it be before another self-identified sexual grouping cries foul that they weren’t represented? It certainly isn’t the rainbow of “The Wizard of Oz’s” whimsical song, but it does symbolize a likewise empty offer.

However many colors the flag might offer, the promise of the rainbow of Pride is representation and community. The promise is a mainstreaming of the marginalized, and Pride Month is not only about flags, but flagrancy. Strength in numbers, and celebration of sexual license and liberation. With Pride, troubles melt like lemon drops, and the shame of sin is put away. Come out of the closet, there’s a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow.

The Reality

But the frivolity seen in public expressions of Pride isn’t the complete story. Whether it’s homosexuality, same-sex marriage, transgenderism, polygamy, heterosexual promiscuity, pornography, sex trafficking, or any letter of the alphabet soup, the dark side may not show itself immediately, but the darkness will arrive.

Solomon observed long ago:

“There is a way that seems right to a man,
but its end is the way to death.
Even in laughter the heart may ache,
and the end of joy may be grief.” (Proverbs 14:12–13 ESV)

Deviation from God’s design may indeed offer temporal rewards and may even feel good. But for every person who finds temporary freedom and fulfillment in sexual anarchy, there are also victims reaping the not-so-fabulous rewards of going the way that seems right but isn’t. Somewhere, someone is finding out that the promised fullness of giving in to every sexual desire only brings emptiness. Somewhere, someone is finding out that the “true self” promised to them by Pride is a little less true than what they were sold. Somewhere, someone who thought that all their troubles would melt like lemon drops has only received lemons from the deal. Somewhere over the rainbow bluebirds fly, but somewhere the rainbow is over.

For that person, there is no pot of gold. There is no fulfillment, only pain.

Captives, Not Enemies

This is where Christians who have rightly had enough of Pride Month, Pride flags, and pronoun posturing should take stock. Yes, there is a culture war. Yes, there have been some battles that have been won in recent years. But we should not forget that those who oppose us in the culture wars are themselves captives before they are enemies. We should always be asking ourselves: Are we seeking their removal, or are we seeking their redemption? Few would say the former, but we must come to terms that the latter requires effort.

The grace of God in the gospel of Jesus Christ is powerful, and it can bring new, colorful life even to a person at the end of a junk rainbow. The good news is that God saves sinners not by any work that they could do, but by the work of Jesus, who knew no sin and died on the cross in our place so that God’s wrath against sin might be satisfied. A culture war victory without that offer of redemption for the sinner is a counterfeit victory.

Somewhere, for someone, the rainbow is over, and the only hope that the LGBTQIA+ crowd can offer them is a wish upon a star. Pride Month is indeed a sham of every color. Christians should lament its presence and seek a better way. But to do that, we must show the captives a better person. Not ourselves, but the person of Christ, who once said:

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,
because he has anointed me
to proclaim good news to the poor.
He has sent me to proclaim liberty to the captives
and recovering of sight to the blind,
to set at liberty those who are oppressed,
to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” (Luke 4:18-19 ESV)

Let’s do good for the culture, but let’s not forget the captives. Only he can set them free. Pride Month is passing, but the year of the Lord’s favor is eternal.