Gay and Lesbian Marriage and the Church

2008-06-17

I came across an interesting article after listening to NPR and the recent developments with the approval of same-sex marriage in California:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=91486340

I believe the Bible is very clear on homosexuality; it is not a part of God’s plan for humankind. Marriage was designed and defined by God in Genesis 2:24. Since then, homosexuality was forbidden in the Mosaic Law and judged harshly by God such as in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah. This being said, this is not the purpose of this article, but I assume this is the position of the Church Proper.

It is without a doubt that the church will be affected by the growing acceptance of gay and lesbian marriage. This is only the beginning. More states will eventually jump on the bandwagon that California and Massachusetts have initiated. The church will be placed in a rather awkward position and will need to make a choice: reject the authority of the Bible as God’s authoritative word, or suffer consequences. Will the church need to go underground? Who knows what the outcome will be.

Nonetheless, the church does have an opportunity to be a witness to the Living God of the Bible. It will not be done by protests crying for “repentance” when the word carries no meaning to non-Christians other than religious jargon used by fanatics. Whatever the government allows or does not allow, we need to be able to give a response as to why we believe what we believe. We also need to love all people without necessarily agreeing with their viewpoints on issues such as this. Let’s be tactful about this for a change; there is no place for being militant. Whatever happens, we have an opportunity to be that witness God wants us to be. How can we love people without sacrificing our convictions on Biblical principles?