After the disheartening experience reading a Newsweek article today explaining to me that the Bible actually embraces gay marriage and hearing that Iowa of all places is next to consider judicially mandated gay marriage, I thought it might be useful to step back and examine the ethical question of whether we are really doing the right thing in fighting gay marriage. This may seem like an easy question to answer, but I hope to raise some issues you may not have considered and at least try to clarify our objectives in this discussion.
Links
Is gay marriage really unbiblical? By Newsweek
Iowa latest state to hear gay marriage case by Fox News
What God hath not joined by Christianity Today
Up for debate, the debate is good by Christianity Today
Special section on gay marriage by Christianity Today
Iowa latest state to hear gay marriage case by Fox News
What God hath not joined by Christianity Today
Up for debate, the debate is good by Christianity Today
Special section on gay marriage by Christianity Today
2 comments:
Listened to your broadcast the other night and found it interesting. I find it interesting that when Jesus walked the earth, he never begged anyone to follow him. He was clear on what he stood for but he never hounded anyone to follow him. I think we make the mistake of "hounding" the gay community. Why? Of course we have every right to disagree with the gay community and to hold fast to what the Bible says about homosexuality. We have the right to vote on issues like whether or not marriage is between one man and one woman, etc. And the gay community has the same right to disagree with conservative Christians, vote on issues, etc. But ... I do not think we Christians need to try and "convince" homosexuals to "convert". By and large the gay community knows where conservative Christians stand on the issue. We should have a quiet confidence in our faith and in our God. People (gay or straight) have a choice to make - to accept the gift of Christ or not and all that goes with accepting that gift. If they choose not to accept the gift, no amount of begging or convincing on our part is going to change their mind, and it actually could drive them farther away. I say we do what Jesus did: we hold fast to our position but we walk through life in love. We speak the truth. But we don't need to try and arm wrestle the gay community into Christianity. I don't believe that Jesus ever used that technique.
L Nelson - Phoenix, AZ
I would go just one step further in the direction you propose. I don't think we even have the luxury of "leaving well enough alone," so to speak. Had Jesus done that with regards to us, He would have stayed in heaven and left us to rot here and for all eternity. Instead, He came here to pour out His life for us in service and sacrifice in order to win us, His precious Bride, to Him. I think the only way we can properly honor that example (and show our appreciation for it) is to invest ourselves in the lives of gay people and even in the prosperity of the gay community even as we are lovingly clear that what they are doing is completely unacceptable to God. In short, we must show them the full love of Christ, not merely the partial love of Christ which manifests in merely preaching condemnation of sin.
Christians, properly practicing our faith, will always be a paradox to the world, partially offensive in our claims and lifestyle and partially awe-inspiring in our generosity and our love. We go seriously astray if we choose to withhold the latter in response to sin or rejection, which causes the only face we show to become the former.
Post a Comment