How will homosexual marriage affect Christians and the church?
What
does the future hold?
Obama was correct when he said the Supreme Court's gay marriage decision landed like a thunderbolt. The decision in Obergefell v. Hodges. which legalized gay
marriage nationwide, is indeed a watershed in our national life. Although a majority of Americans now support gay marriage, many of us regard this decision as
amoral and judicial tragedy From a legal standpoint, it represents five un-elected justices' imposing on
the nation anew definition of marriage.
The judgment is not rooted in sound leg principle but in the opinions of five
lawyers arrogating to themselves the right to enact social policy. The Supreme Court
has no right to redefine marriage for
all fifty states, but that is exactly what
it did. From a moral standpoint, the decision is a complete subversion of the good,
the right, and the true with respect to marriage. Marriage is the covenant union of one man and one woman for
life. Its connection to procreation
and children has been revealed to us in nature,
reason, and common sense.
The Bible further reveals that
marriage is an icon of the gospel-a symbol of Christ's covenant love for His church (Eph. 5:31-32). The court's decision attempts to turn all of that upside down. As a result, it stands against reason and common sense. More importantly, it stands against the purposes of the One who created marriage to begin with.
A NEW REALITY - WILL I LOOSE MY JOB?
Although I am disappointed with this decision, I remain confident that Christians will continue to bear
witness to the truth about marriage-even if
the law of our land is now arrayed against
us. Still, many Christians are left wondering how to move forward into this new reality. I am a pastor, and this question is exactly what I have heard from the people in my church. Our members by and large don't have questions about the Bible's teaching on homosexuality and marriage. They get that. Nor do they have questions about their obligation
to love their neighbors, to seek their
good, and to be at peace with everyone (Mark 12:29-31; Luke 6:33; Rom.12:1). They get all of that as well.
Their question is how to live out what Jesus has called them to be when
people treat them with hostility. I recently
talked to one church member whose boss is gay. About half of her coworkers are
also gay. They are her friends, and she
loves them. She wants to keep a relationship with
them, and she hopes to remain a part of their lives. But she's concerned
that her Christian beliefs on marriage and sexuality will alienate them once they become known. The last thing on her mind is waging a culture war or winning a debate with them.
She just wants space to be their friend, even if they
ultimately disagree about these judgmental
issues. I could tell other stories of brothers and sisters in Christ who are not only
concerned about maintaining
relationships with friends at work, they are also concerned that they will face
professional suicide if their Christian views
become known among their coworkers.
Again, they don't want to pick a culture war fight with anyone. But neither do they want
to face losing their job or a
reprimand in their HR file when they fail to show
up for the office party for their
coworker who just married his same-sex partner. They are trying to figure out how to
be faithful to Jesus, a faithful friend,
and a faithful employee when those
obligations
seem to be in tension. That is the challenge that I'm seeing among our members. What they are wondering is whether their Christian faith will be tolerated in the public
space.
And I'm pot talking about any
desire on their part to engage in aggressive and obnoxious proselytizing. They are
wondering if a genuine pluralism will exist in post -Obergefell
America, or if Christian views on sexuality and marriage are
now being excluded from our national life.
I am so grateful for these dear
brother and sisters in my church. None of them have expressed any thoughts
of forsaking Jesus' teaching because of these difficulties. They are going to walk
with Christ no matter what the cost. I
praise God for that. But still, I am
concerned for them, and I am praying for them. They are silent casualties on the front line
of a culture war they don't want to be in.
They just want to follow Jesus in peace.
And as the implications of Obergefell trickle down into their lives, I
pray that they will be able to do just that (1 Tim. 2:2).
INCREASED OPPOSITION
Christians are beginning to realize
that their place in American life is now
being adjudicated in the court of public
opinion. And it is not at all clear whether this will end well for the Christian
church.
Earlier this year, we saw the
governors of Indiana and Arkansas abandon Religious Freedom Restoration Acts (RFRA) in their states. It was a
signal moment in our national life that
revealed how profoundly America has changed in its attitudes about homosexuality, how out of step evangelicals are with the
new sexual orthodoxy, and how willing many
Americans are to punish evangelicals for their transgressive beliefs.
We saw two Republican governors back away from state RFRAs that would have been completely uncontroversial
just ten years ago. We saw a national media snarkily dismiss our first freedom in
the Bill of Rights with scare quotes or as
"so called" religious liberty. We saw politician after politician either unwilling or
unable to make a coherent case for religious
liberty. And we saw countless talking heads denigrate religious liberty as
a euphemism
for bigotry and discrimination.
New
York Times columnist Frank Bruni
wrote that Christians should be "made to
take homosexuality off of its sin list." It is no
wonder that Nicholas Kristof has said that
"evangelicals constitute one of the few groups that it's safe to mock openly." Religious liberty has taken an epic beating in American life, and it feels
like we're just getting started. And the focus of the attack seems to be on evangelicals. Evangelicals are beginning to feel open disdain from our cultured despisers, who find our ancient faith to be freakish and discordant with post-sexual-revolution America.
There is no "silent majority"
for Christians to appeal to for succor. Evangelicals are a bona fide minority when it comes to our commitment to Jesus' teaching about sexuality. It's not merely that people don't like our views. It's
also that people don't like us because of our
views. In fact, a recent poll has found that
there are more people who view gay people
favorably than there are that view
evangelicals favorably.
