Every Friday we’ll take a break from topical posts and will post some random personal thoughts.
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The Gay Marriage Debate: Winning, Losing or Dropping Out?
(Links to all four parts at the end of the article)
Three questions are raised when we discuss a Christian response to same sex marriage: Do we have a mandate to influence the culture? Is change an indicator of progress? Where do we go from here? Last week we looked at the first of these questions. Today let’s look at the second question: Is change progress, and is all progress good?
No one can deny the country is shifting towards solid, widespread approval of a redefinition of marriage to include same sex unions. (See the post here from Friday June 29) Simultaneously, those resisting this redefinition are, more and more, seen as bigots who resist equality, similar to the racists of the 60’s who resisted civil rights. That is the direction we’re taking, a direction proving change. Those celebrating this change no doubt see it as the progress of an enlightened, evolving society, leaving those of us resisting the change wondering if change is, in all cases, a measure of progress.
Well, sure it is, at least technically. A change in direction does mean progress. It means we’re progressing towards something, but since we’ve changed direction, it also means we’re going towards something different than before, or we’re going towards the same goal, but in a different way. And there’s the rub. Progress can be made, but towards the wrong goal. Or we can have the right goal in mind, but choose the wrong way of getting there. Either way, change in itself is not proof of healthy progress. When I take the wrong freeway turn-off I’m definitely progressing, changing, moving on from where I’ve been. Whether or not that “moving on” is going to get me where I really want to go is arguable.
Nowhere is this more clearly seen than in American sexual morality. Ask the average person on the street if our standards of decency have changed, and I’ll wager six figure amounts you’ll get a Yes. Ask if the changes are for the better, and I’ll plunk down the same amount betting you’ll get a Nay. We’ve inarguably progressed from modesty to brazenness; from emphasis on self-control to self-expression. Do a little channel surfing (especially after 10pm) and ask yourself if the results indicate desirable or undesirable progress, and I think that’ll make the point. Change means progress; progress proves change. Whether we party or weep over it is determined by what we wanted, and whether or not the progress in question has gotten us closer to, or further from, our goal.
But talking about desired-versus-undesired goals get trickier when we shift from questions about public decency or reckless promiscuity towards questions of justice for couples of the same sex. Most people, Christian and non, will agree that promiscuity is unhealthy and even dangerous; most will likewise lament our decline in modesty. (While still tuning into the aforementioned television shows, but hypocrisy’s a subject for another post.) We’re divided, though, when it comes to homosexuality. Many believe that homosexual partnering does no harm, so homosexual couples should be afforded marital status if they want it. Others of us, despite believing that same sex couples can live responsible lives and care deeply for each other, still cannot view homosexuality as being on par with heterosexuality. We believe we have a Creator; that our Creator had specific intentions when designing the sexual union; that those intentions are only fulfilled in a monogamous heterosexual covenant; and thereby we could never support a redefinition of what He Himself called good.
The culture is saying something else, but risking charges of arrogance let me say plainly that our principles weren’t based on the culture’s definition of right versus wrong to begin with, so why should its shift be expected to influence us? We care, sure, what those around us believe. Their opinions matter, even if we don’t share them. But I’d like to submit my weariness with people saying, “Hey, times are changing, the clock moves forward not backwards, everybody else gets it, so why don’t you?” The implication that a majority shift in opinion is proof your opinion should also change sounds pretty silly, given what we know about cults, group-think and the Holocaust.
History and common sense tell us the majority can be wrong, and that all change is not necessarily good. But a Biblically-based view of truth, the world and the future settles the question. Truth is found and expressed in the Scripture, which is inspired by God and profitable for guidance in virtually all matters of life. (I Timothy 3:16) Truth does not amend itself, morphing to fit comfortably into new settings. On the contrary, it bids us conform ourselves to it, neither forcing the conformity nor yielding itself to be conformed. The world runs a different course according to Paul (Ephesians 2:2) going instead in directions truth forbids and thereby cannot celebrate.
And it gets worse, which is something believers in 2012 need to keep in mind. Our eternal future is secure and indescribably good. The immediate future of this world we’re in but not of is another matter. Paul described the last days as being perilous (II Timothy 3:1-5) during which truth and sound doctrine would become intolerable. Jesus said the end times would be marked by deception (Matthew 24:24) and the churches address in the Revelation, churches existing at the time of John’s writing but also widely believed to represent the Church through the ages, are riddled with errors and wrongdoing. (Revelation chapters 2-3)The immediate future, in short, looks lousy, especially in contrast to the ultimate, permanent future of the Saints.
No surprise, then, to see cultural decay. On the one hand, we cannot join it simply because it’s the way those around us are progressing. We’ve never as Christians been called to fit snugly with the world, which will, as Jesus said, hate us as it hated Him. (John 15:18) On the other, there’s no need to fear it either, remembering that the cliché about it being darkest before the dawn holds surprisingly true in this sense when we remember what Jesus said about changes in the end:
And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh. (Luke 21:28)
Check Out the Entire Series, “The Gay Marriage Debate: Winning, Losing or Dropping Out?”
Comments
Darla Meeks | Jul 16, 2012
Brother, people don't see why homosexuality is so wrong. This is why we're having the debate in the first place. Our discussion is about what goes on in the bedroom. Most people don't see what goes on there, and therefore don't care. We let people do what they want behind closed doors.
St. Paul had a lot to say about homosexual involvements. He suggested that this particular sin is so egregious, not because of what goes on in the bedroom, but because of what goes on outside the bedroom:
Romans 1:29 They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy. 32 Although they know God’s righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things but also approve of those who practice them.
The basic inability to form healthy human bonds gives rise to these behaviors that are, in my view, bestial survival techniques. Anyone who has spent much time in the so-called "gay community" (as I have) knows that it is a harsh way of life. It is, in fact, harshest on its practitioners. Those who are the best at these sinful activities will have the very best that gay life has to offer...it is money in the bank. In fact, NPR sites that households with two white males and no children are known to be some of the wealthiest households in America.
As Jesus said, the love of money is always at the root of all evil.
It seems that they care for each other...it really does. But the Bible says they're not in a caring relationship...they are instead raging with the use of these very non-sexual addictive activities that are so effective for amassing worldly gain. In the company of practicing homosexuals, I have heard cutting remarks, misogynist and racist jokes, deeply offensive slanders and tall tales about neighbors that are told simply to make oneself more interesting to the audience. As a bi-sexual among homosexuals, I have heard discussions about the occult and I have watched deep involvement with drugs and alcohol.
I do not see homosexuality so much as a sexual sin. It is instead a sin of speech and a sin of deceptive conduct and addictive behaviors.
Let's backtrack a little....Romans 1:24 Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. 25 They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.
In modern terms, just like alcoholics, homosexuals have their enablers. Male homosexuals have their groupies who are dubbed (please excuse my language) "f*g hags", and these women, like the Manson family, would throw themselves in front of a bus to protect their "mate" and his homosexual lifestyle. The only explorations I have seen about the male homosexual's intimate female friends come from those who wish to "celebrate" those relationships. I see those relationships as sado-masochistic enslavements.
Jesus said that we are only in violation of the law and prophets if we fail to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, minds, souls and strength, and to love our neighbors as ourselves. We cannot tell gay people that they are doing wrong if they are simply expressing love for another person. They are not expressing love for a person...they are expressing love for a person's value. There is no way for homosexuals to bond in the same way that heterosexual bond through holy matrimony. They can slap a civil law on it if they want, but this mystical union will never happen. They will only be more frustrated, more angry, and more involved with blaming all the rest of society for their lack of inner peace. They call on society to make everyone accept their sin so they will feel better about what the shameful things they do in the bedroom.
Society has a right to ask what it is that homosexuals do outside the bedroom. These things that St. Paul is important about must be discussed in the open, or we will be involved in endless debates that go nowhere.
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