Sinful homosexual marriage and God's response

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Stained glass at St John the Baptist's Anglica...
If we have placed our trust in the God who does not change, we need not fear shifts in culture or law. In the beginning, God ordained marriage to be a lifelong, loving covenant between one man and one woman. We need to tell this truth with conviction, regardless of politics. If we are secure in God's love, people who reject what we believe pose no real threat to us. We are set free to love those who oppose us and to listen to their stories. It should be Christian business as usual.

Telling the truth is not a one-size-fits-all endeavor. Pastors must ask God for the wisdom to respond truthfully to gay marriage in general and compassionately to gay couples in particular. Some people need to hear right up front that homosexual behavior is sinful. Others need to hear that no sin is too big for God to forgive. Still others need the assurance that Father God wants only the best for his children before sin is ever mentioned. We must choose to love the ones God puts in our path and trust the Holy Spirit along the way.

My only formulae are that God must be allowed to dictate which of these approaches we employ and that he always has a new plan A. No plan A will skirt the issue that we are all sinners in need of a savior. We are on a level playing field with gays and lesbians who, in my experience, can detect condescension and hypocrisy a mile away.

Repentance needs to begin with the household of God. The evangelical church has a massive pornography problem and unacceptably high adultery and divorce rates. Church leaders should humbly acknowledge this reality. With God's help, pastors and leaders can create winsome communities that repent of corporate sin and so establish a climate in which it is safe to wrestle with individual sins. We can begin by telling the truth about our own stories and promoting small groups in which others may do the same.

The Supreme Court cannot dictate what marriages pastors perform, but it might offer us unprecedented opportunities to minister to a population in desperate need of hearing Christians speak the truth in love. I could not in good conscience perform gay marriages. But I would be honored to spend time in dialogue with gay couples. As a fallen race, we have exchanged the truth of God for the lie that we can worship whatever we like and express our sexuality however we like. Paul in Romans points us back to Genesis 1 to determine what we were made for.

Jesus told the truth, the hardcore, "you're a rotten sinner" truth, in love. So must we. To use C. S. Lewis's metaphor, we were created for a holiday at the sea, but we settle for mud puddles. People are unlikely to abandon their puddles unless they are given a clear and compelling idea of the alternative. Effective pastors point to the joy-giving sea.

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