Today the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the subject of marriage. Plaintiffs want marriage redefined at the federal level, in order to force legal recognition of same-sex unions as marriages nationwide. Defendants will argue that the Constitution does not authorize such an act by the federal government. They will also defend the definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman, a definition that is the natural practice of all human beings in all places throughout history.
History teaches us that God does not force people to do his will. He reveals it, but when people demand their own way and insist they know better, he often allows them to experience and suffer the consequences of their choices. Pray for the justices to make the right decision. May God’s will be done.
Living On Tilt 
I agree with you. The whole gay marriage and gay clergy issue has me so conflicted. I don’t know how much more clear it could be in the Bible when it says homosexuality is a sin. But then I think of Jesus telling us not to judge and his greatest commandment to love others as ourselves. If the United Methodist church ever admits gay clergy, thdn what do I do? I am not supposed to judge and am supposed to love others, but wouldn’t having gay ministers be tacid agreement of the practice? Jesus entertained sinners such as prostitutes but didn’t they admit their sin and reform? They didn’t keep on sining.
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Carole, I think you state the problem very well. In my observation, Jesus’s command not to judge is the most abused statement in the Bible. Jesus did, indeed, tell us not to “judge,” but this statement was made in the context of a long discourse during which he also said, “until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. 19 Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:18-19. I believe that a common sense interpretation of the discourse as a whole teaches us that we must obey God’s command and not participate in sin, but knowing that we are all sinful, we must not abuse people who are behaving sinfully. Only God is righteous and justified in judging and punishing people who engage in sinful homosexual behavior.
The current problem in our nation arises, because homosexuals want the legal standing of being married. Existing law uses the terms “married” and “marriage” to mean the union of a man and a woman. Homosexuals who commit to each other and live together could be given all the legal benefits of a married couple right today if they signed a few documents. New laws could be written to give them a legal standing with the body of benefits they claim to want. But those benefits are not what they really want. What they really want is to force Christians to abandon the notion that marriage is a union of a man and a woman. The reason the advocacy has gone this direction is that the LGBTQ social/political agenda is to end the concept of family as we know it and to forbid Christians to uphold their own definition based on the Bible. I know this, because I read their blogs and their advocacy websites.
That said, with regard to our situation today, the Bible simultaneously admonishes us to obey God’s law and to be compassionate in our attitude toward people who disobey it. Most Christians believe that they are doing exactly that when they serve and befriend homosexuals while declining to participate in or bless their attempts to hijack the definition of “marriage.” That is my understanding as well.
The activists who brought lawsuits that are now in the hands of the Supreme Court argue that it is discrimination when Christians say that they decline to participate in a gay wedding, because they consider it sinful. They do this on the basis of their argument that a) the definition of the word “marriage” must be revised to include any union that people want to make, b) marriage is a civil right, and c) to deny service to someone who is exercising a civil right is a federal crime. You should know that LGBTQ activists in particular and secular writers in general believe that Christians who tell their children they are born sinful are guilty of child abuse, so you see how warped the whole conversation has become.
The real objective of all this activism is to drive Christians out of the public forum. This campaign proceeds on many prongs, one of which is to redefine words we all use in ways that advance their agenda to shut down our right to speak. The redefinition of “marriage” is only one of many words they are redefining. They press their agenda by using the words according to their new definitions, which everyone struggles to keep up with, and the point of it all is to classify Christian teachings as anti-social, discrimination, destructive and too primitive to be tolerated in this enlightened age.
You said that while Jesus associated with sinners, they were influenced by him to turn away from their sin, and that is exactly right. However, when Jesus associated with tax collectors who were thieves, he did not participate in their thievery. When he associated with prostitutes, he did not engage in the practices. If we act the way he did, we will love homosexuals, sell them flowers, and give them cold water on a hot day. We will not dance at their weddings, or serve cake, either.
Thank you for a thoughtful comment that really sums up the issue.
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I think we need to pray for continued courage and strength to maintain our faith and follow God in a pagan land which is now in the early initial stages of full Christian persecution. I didn’t think I would ever say that in my life. I am a conservative and traditionalist, 70 years old, a former US Marine Sgt and Vietnam veteran. In college many decades ago, I argued with liberal professors and progressives, and saw that the direction of opinions and moral values across the board were moving in a destructive direction. The Supreme Court will, in my view, make same sex marriage the law of the land, as they did the willful murder of unborn children for convenience in Roe vs Wade. As for marriage, many American couples already abandoned it long ago, preferring to cohabitate or merely engage in lifelong periodic hook ups and one night stands. Women are as promiscuous as men these days, with coarse mouths spouting vulgarities as they walk through the mall, their ugly Tatoos on display. The vulgarization of America was accomplished by the radicals and leftists of the sixties, along with Hollywood, and with tons of corrupt politicians to lead us, we are headed for our own destruction. Yes…indeed…America is no longer the same country as your grandparents knew it. I have come to realize that the kingdom I belong to is at the end of the narrow road and Jesus will show the way. Christians here in America must share the persecutions others have felt in the history of God’s people through the ages.
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You and I are of one mind about this situation. I get some pushback on the use of the word “persecution.” Secular thinkers do not want it to be said that they persecute someone by forbidding the free exercise of faith, as long as they don’t actually light him afire. In their minds, Hillary is absolutely right that we cannot permit people of faith to refuse to participate in whatever passes for marriage or morality at the moment. Thank you for a thoughtful comment. I am praying with you and with many others that the Supreme Court does what is right rather than what is expedient.
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