I’m not sure what a rainbow has to do with anything really.
Yes. I am a Christian and I do not oppose gay marriage. I’m not only a Christian, you see. I am also an American who believes in America and the beliefs upon which the United Sates was founded. One piece of this is the fundamental right to the pursuit of happiness. So if two men or two women think they need an official document that says that they are married, then so be it. It does nothing to alter the state of my marriage or my beliefs concerning the meaning of marriage.
However, this does not mean that a person who has strong feelings against homosexual marriage ought to be required to participate in any manner they do not wish. A pastor should not be required to marry a homosexual couple simply because it is legal. Nor should a business be required to provide service to anyone if it means acting contrary to a fundamental belief of its proprietors. This is a highly charged issue no matter which side one stands on. Rational discussion about whether gay marriage is right or wrong is almost impossible. There’s too much emotion attached and competing moral, religious and political ideals all mixed into the issue. I have simply come to the conclusion that, hey if that will make you happy, go for it.
Now, before any one brands me as some kind of crazed apostate or neo-liberal or even congratulates me on my new found pc tolerance on this issue I am not saying that I support homosexual marriage. If one asks me if I am for or against gay marriage, I will have to say that I am against it. I am just not going to actively oppose it.
I have simply come to the conclusion that, hey, if that will make you happy, go for it.
I recognize that this is a complicated issue. On the one hand I have searched Scripture for any positive mention of homosexuality whatsoever to no avail. On the contrary, any mention of it is negative and more often than not it is extremely negative. Also, there is the Biblical meaning of marriage as a representation of the Church (the Bride) and Christ Jesus (the Bridegroom). The Church is meaningless apart from Christ and Jesus sacrificed everything for the Church. One without the other is unthinkable. Two such Brides and no Bridegroom is incomprehensible. Two Grooms is just as inconceivable. Throughout the Bible, marriage is analogous with Christ’s relationship with his people. Therefore, marriage is intended for a man and a woman.
Throughout the Bible, marriage is analogous with Christ’s relationship with his people.
Yet, I do not oppose gay marriage. Like I said in the beginning, if a piece of paper will make someone happy, let them have it. Be happy. ” But homosexuality is a sin! How can you not be against it?” you might ask. Again. Like I said. I am not encouraging homosexuality in anyway. Scripture is clearly opposed to homosexuality and so every Christian including myself must refrain from it.
Receiving Jesus Christ is necessary to reaching God.
I realize that I am a sinner saved purely by grace.
When I think about my salvation, however, I realize that I am a sinner saved purely by grace. I do not say that I used to be a sinner and now that I am saved, I no longer sin. That would be foolish and a lie. Jesus died for all the sins I have committed and every sin that I will commit. I like to say that I sin less than I used to, but if the only one that it matters to compare one’s self to is the Almighty God, then I can make no claim to holiness. Only God is holy. The only difference between an unbeliever and a believer is salvation. Nothing else really. We could converse about the work of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer of course, but that’s a different discussion and even then, we would be left with the fact that believers are still sinners saved by grace. We are no better than anyone else. My message to any believer who thinks that he or she is better than anyone else is this: It’s time to get over yourself. Only God is good and you are not He.
It’s time to get over yourself. Only God is good and you are not He.
It’s time to pull all this together. For the sake of argument, let’s assume that Scripture is correct and that faith in Jesus Christ is the only Way to eternal life and anyone who does not believe in Him is doomed to Hell once their time in this life is over. I can only hope that someone who does not believe in Jesus can find happiness in this life then, because their afterlife is literally going to be hell. That’s my first point.
My second point is that I don’t think it is the Church’s job to spend inordinate amounts of time condemning anyone or any group. Nor should it lie and say that something is ok when Scripture clearly demonstrates that it is not. It should call sin a sin. The Church needs preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is its primary job. This is also exactly what it is not doing. I have previously written about the pieces of John 3:16. This is Jesus’s summation of the Gospel (the Bible really) as only He could present it.
John 3:16
Recently, I have posted concerning two dominant heresies confronting the true Church today, Oneness and the Prosperity Gospel. I am not sure that dispensationalism is much better. In fact, it strikes me to be potentially as damaging to evangelistic churches in the 21st century as Tillichian panentheism was for mainline churches in the 20th century. I have also attempted to define the Essentials of the Christian Faith. The Apostle’s Creed is a major player in defining the Christian Faith, for instance. That is its purpose, after all. Belief matters, and let’s face it, what is widely held to be the Church is in reality an apostate farce and we wonder why society is as messed up as it is.
The Church needs preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This is its primary job.
I am not ashamed of the Gospel.
What’s the answer? Get over yourself. You are no better than anyone else in the world. What you have going for you, if you are a believer in Jesus and therefore saved by grace, is that you have the advantage of the Holy Spirit to guide and empower you to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ so that others may be saved as well. That same Holy Spirit will encourage you and give you the ability to not sin (you will never be perfect at this, but with the Holy Spirit, you can get better at it). The Holy Spirit can empower and guide those who you reach with the Gospel just as He does you. The honest, Christ centered, Holy Spirit driven preaching of the Gospel is the only way the world will be effectively changed. So I choose to stand for Christ by preaching His Gospel found in the Bible and by loving my neighbors even if (or especially if) they are gay and married.
The honest, Christ centered, Holy Spirit driven preaching of the Gospel is the only way the world will be effectively changed.
Feel free to agree or disagree in the comment section below.
God Bless,
Christopher
