
Justice Kennedy in his majority opinion argued
that marriage is a fundamental right. Therefore based on the 14th
amendment equal protection clause, gays cannot be denied the same fundamental
marital rights as heterosexuals. The government, he concluded, has no compelling
interest in infringing on that fundamental right. He argued that attempts to do
so attack the dignity of gay couples. Therefore the liberty and equality of gay
Americans guarantees them under the constitution the fundamental right to marry.
Hence no state legislative process can deny gays the right to marry or refuse
to recognize their marriages.
So in response to the legalization of gay
marriage, what is a Bible believing Christian to do? Let me offer several admonitions
from the Bible.
1. Keep
speaking the truth in love, the Bible commands you to (Eph 4:15). You are not a hatemongering, backwards, insensitive bigot just because you still
support the biblical definition of marriage. In fact, you are in good company. Even in homosexuality-affirming cultures like the Greeks, no great thinker, no great
moral leader in all of history has ever advocated changing the definition of
marriage. Advocates of gay marriage would have you think that theirs is the
enlightened moral high ground, but it is a position they alone hold, indicting
all cultures and moral leaders in all of history. Jesus—the one whom the
Bible declares and history confirms—loved greater than all and especially the
outcast, and upheld the traditional timeless universal definition of marriage. God
bestowed dignity upon all by making us in His image and likeness. Dignity isn’t
gained or lost by one’s marital status.
2. Know
that God is wiser than 5 judges. No disrespect intended, but the Bible
says, “Rather, let God be found true, though every man be found a liar,
as it is written,” Rom 3:4. Judges are fallible. God is not. Only those who
will love the truth of God’s Word (not man’s) about marriage will in the end see
through the lie that gay unions are marriages.
3. Keep
affirming that God made a world of complementary opposites to make a whole. The
world is comprised of land and water. A day consists of hours of light and hours
of darkness. A person has a body and soul. A marriage by God’s design is between
a male and a female so that they can become one flesh (multiply and fill the
earth). Although the Bible states that from the beginning God made us male and
female for marriage and Jesus affirms that in Matthew 19:4-5, postmodernists
wrongly assert that there is no difference between same sex unions and traditional
marriages. How obviously wrong is that? Try screwing two screws together rather
than a screw and a nut. Why can’t we simply tell the truth that the Emperor’s
new clothes of gender relativity are no clothes at all? I’m not tall because I
feel tall and a person is not black because they feel connected to black causes.
Neither is an anorexic woman, who is dangerously thin, too big because she feels
fat. The ancients all knew this. Why are we rejecting it? Aristotle said eons
ago:
“To say of what is that it is not, or of what is not that it
is,
is false,
while to say of what is that it is, and of what is not that
it is not,
is true.”
4. Stand
on the truth that God made sex for marriage between one male and one female
for life. Five judges can ignore and even reject that, but they can’t change
that truth. Look at the consequences our nation is suffering as a result of
throwing off God’s sexual restraints. How many more children will be born
without a father and mother bound in marriage, and how many more STIs and STDs
must we suffer through to learn that? The Bible warns in Romans 1:27, “Men committed shameless acts with men and received in
themselves the due penalty for their error.” Decisions, especially
rejecting God’s ways, have consequences! Sex outside of a traditional marriage
is sinful and often perverted whether it be heterosexual or homosexual, extra
marital or premarital. Jesus died to save and change sinners who by His grace
acknowledge that they are sinners in need of His grace (1 Cor 6:9-12). Many
former gays are saved and changed. Some get married; others live in celibacy.
But no sinner can reject God’s call for holy living and continue to live in his/her
sin and expect to be saved. This ruling will embolden many to believe that lie,
but it will not change the consequences for rejecting God’s ways. The Bible
warns, “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of
death,” Proverbs 14:12.
5. Humbly
remember who we are and what our mission is. The church is a community of
repentant sinners who are saved by grace and who win our ongoing battles with
temptation by grace. Self-righteous pharisees, who deny that they were once lost
and who believe everybody else’s sins are unimaginably worst than theirs, can
never have a place in Christ’s church. Our mission is to preach the good news!
Jesus’ mission is to transform the nations (Dan 7:13-14). We must preach that in His
great love Jesus died, satisfying the wrath of God against all our sins. He rose as the sovereign Lord over all. And He will
save any and all regardless of their sin, who turn from their sins to trust in Him
in sincere faith. And His-story doesn’t end with the Supreme Court’s rejection
of God’s definition of marriage. This same Jesus will come again as King of
all Kings. He will reject all who reject Him, and will bring an end to sin
and rule all the nations in righteousness.
In
the meanwhile, if we follow His ways then those who reject Jesus’ command to repent and believe will
reject us. The Supreme Court’s decision assures that
perhaps many will. When gays began
to battle for legal acceptance, they pleaded
for tolerance and understanding. Now one wonders if they will show the same tolerance
and acceptance for which they once asked. Either way, we must preach the
Gospel, which is our mission and our reason for being. When the laws of man
contradict the laws of God, “We must obey God rather than man.”

So how can churches respond to the Supreme Court's
ruling to redefine marriage? Resist the temptation to panic. Refuse to act as a
political enemy of the state (Rom 13). Recognize that we need to do a better
job being better Christians. Love all
of our neighbors more. Unwaveringly recommit to following Christ—no matter the
cost. And never compromise on the Gospel because truth doesn't compromise. It
doesn't bow. It doesn't bend. It just stands (1 Pet 1:25). And believe Jesus'
promise that He will build His church and that nothing will prevail against it
(Matt 16:18).
4 comments:
Thank you for your post. I was speechless when I heard the courts ruling, but I find comfort in what you have said. I pray the church will stand firm on the Word of God and be willing to suffer for the truth.
Nora, you are welcome. Even though I knew it was coming. It is still nevertheless surreal. Christians have had it pretty easy in America, and we haven't been the best stewards of God's blessings.
Things will certainly change now. The storm clouds of persecution are already growing dark. But our hope is in God. As He has promised, may we believe that He works all things together for good for those who love Him and who are called according to His purposes. Grace and peace to you.
Romans 1:16-32 speaks so much about the condition in which we are all in...but praise God in His grace that He didn't leave us there. He gave us His one and only Son so that we might have peace with Him Romans 5:1-8... May we ever proclaim that everlasting an eternal gospel which has only the power to save such wretched souls like us...
Thank you for the labor of love Pastor Scott
Grace and peace
Josh
-Ephesians 6:19
God bless you Josh and amen brother.
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