"Same sex" marriage has always been a poor meme, to me, because my brain goes into dialogue mode:
"Yes, Reverend, we each plan to remain the same sex."
Or the old saw about the old married guy saying, "That's the whole problem...The same old sex!"
"Same" is a close translation of the prefix "homo" and doesn't require any explanation to a child, so I suppose it's practical; but it's a scriptural oxymoron. And I don't think it is only "the religious right" who are uncomfortable about this. (There are cultures, and religions, in other parts of the world that will never accept this who make that guy with the rude signs seem pretty reasonable.)
To express anything other than complete approval and actual encouragement of homosexuality (and a group of other practices and conditions grouped in an acronym) is social and political suicide. You will be branded, first, a "homophobe"--a term invented to imply that anyone who doesn't care for homosexuality is simply "afraid" of their true desires. Second, you will be called a "bigot" and a "hater" even though you have never discriminated, never said or done anything threatening in any way.
A lot of believers chafe under this simply because of how frustrating it is to be misrepresented by assumptions, called names, and not heard. "Now you know how we feel!" they cry, and around it goes.
Here's the thing. The vast majority of Americans want, and believe in, a separation of church and state. I do, too, now that the state has made ungodly intentions clear, and much of the church is sounding like a political action committee.
"Marriage" is an institution controversial to the carnal mind because it was invented by God.
It's recorded right there in the Bible as His pattern for the relationship that anchors a family; nonetheless, sociologists, psychologists, anthropologists, philosophers and humorists have been confounded by it for centuries on end, insisting it can't work, is obsolete, and unreasonable. That's because, "except the Lord build the house, they who build it labor in vain," and "the carnal mind can not comprehend the things of God."
Soooo, at some point, someone decided that, for legal reasons (related to divorces and estates), the state would offer a legally binding "civil" union for those folks who didn't grok the whole "sacred" union deal. And, so bureaucrats proceeded, without a peep of protest from the Body of Christ, to "marry" people in a revocable legal contract that has nothing to do with the covenant God had in mind--sort of an imitation of Biblical marriage.
Now, they want to broaden eligibility for this arrangement--expand the market--and "Christians" are outraged, claiming the "definition" of marriage has been violated. Well, that ship sailed long ago when we let them call it "marriage" in the first place. They have their own definition, just as they have their own ideas about the Book on which ours is based.
I recall that Someone told us our "kingdom is not of this world," that "our weapons are not carnal;" that, though we are in the world, we are not to be "of it."
Some people want to outlaw sin.
Been done. Doesn't help.
Paul tells us clearly what the Law is for. Until conviction and repentance occur, it's all the same to God, and should be to us. Sin is all the same, in spite of how certain types affect different ones among us emotionally.
As is often the case, "Christians" thought they would prevail in a public argument (it's hardly worthy of being called a "debate") through indignation and an insistence on some sort of "morality." None of those things makes sense or matters in the culltour we're in.
"He said the world would hate us!"
Yes, but it better be for the right reasons. If you get yourself persecuted for some cause other than the gospel of salvation--which is NOT the Law--will that glorify or please Him?
"Conviction of sin is the ministry of the Holy Spirit," not ours.
Stick to the message we were given to pass on: "Be reconciled to God."
If you can't speak the truth in love, please be still.
And let the lost play house under whatever rules they make up.
Without the law, who would need the salvation Jesus provided for us?
ReplyDeleteEveryone. They just wouldn't know it. (Paul makes this crystal clear.)
DeleteWhich are we called to testify of, the law, or the Savior?
Weren't the epistles full of highlighting sin?
ReplyDeleteActually, they were (and still are) full of encouragements and instruction regarding the overcoming of sin through the power of the indwelling Spirit of God.
DeleteEvery believer is warned of the pitfalls, and what to "put on" and "put off."
Nevertheless, the overwhelming focus of the Epistles is adapting to a transformed life and living in a new dimension.
If it's warnings about sin and hell you seek in the Scriptures, learn the teachings of The One who purchased our freedom.
If the Epistles make one focus on sins, it may be the Holy Spirit performing the exclusive ministry of conviction.
As usual, this is not an "argument" that Christians chose to have. Anyone who thinks they can avoid the brainwashing of their children or the legal brunt of forced "inclusion" in their businesses and churches by staying silent is wrong. When we are legally forced to take part in things against our faith we have a choice to make. If someone forces you to commit sin you will not go to hell, but as Yarkov Smirnov would say "Whudda Cuhntry!"
ReplyDeleteIf you are in a church trying to sanctify unscriptural anything, there is a biblical approach to addressing that. Failing that, "come out from among them."
DeleteI maintain, entering the political arena objecting to how states modify their attempts to "legalize" ungodly relationships (fornication of any kind) is like jumping into a debate among heroin users about snorting versus shooting.
No one is forcing, or even asking, believers to "take part in" any of it; in fact, our input is unwanted. "If they do not hear us, they are not of us." Address that, if you're upset about sin, and do what The Master said. Stick to the assignment of the gospel.