Gay Marriage, Political Expediency, and What is a Church To Do

Yesterday, the President of the United States says that his thinking has evolved to the place where he now approves of "gay marriage."  Am I surprised, no.  He has already had his justice department refuse to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, so this move is not surprising.  Was this a case of political expediency.  Some would say no, because North Carolina just became the 31st state in the union to define marriage as between a man and a woman through passing an amendment to their state constitution.  The vote was 61% of the electorate in favor of the amendment, meaning in North Carolina and most of the states, the majority of the people are against gay marriage.

So why come out (no pun intended) in favor of gay marriage.  The president knows he will not win over social conservatives, but the move does seal his liberal base and the news says that his decision gained him a lot of money.  So was it political expedience or conviction, I don't know.  But I do know that the President says that he leaned on his Christian beliefs to make his decision.  Quoting the Golden Rule, do unto others as you would have them do unto you, he justified his position.  He wants everyone to recognize his marriage, so he must recognize everyone else's relationship as marriage.

So as a church are we failing to keep the golden rule if we oppose gay marriage?   Of course the answer is no.  My Christian conviction is that the Bible teaches that homosexuality is a sin.  Before you accuse me of being judgmental, I also believe that gluttony, pride, jealousy, lying, cheating, stealing, adultery, and a host of other acts are sins as well.  I am a sinner.  It would be nice if someone told me that my jealousy was not sinful, but a normal behavior.  Jealousy is justified because of my circumstances.  It would be wonderful if someone would tell me that my temper was not sinful, after all I was born with it.  I just can't help it therefore I cannot be accountable for it.  As much as I would think that telling my sin was normal would be helpful, ultimately it would be hurtful.  If I am not a sinner, I do not need a savior.  To love someone is to tell them the truth, not tell them a lie.

Now I recognize that this issue is controversial and to stand for what we believe to be biblical truth will cause people to look upon the church as an enemy.  So what should we do.  Jesus said, “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.”  Luke 6:35  Jesus explains what it means to love our enemies.  We have to put our love in action, we must do good to those who disagree with us.  Our good deeds should cost us for we should lend expecting nothing in return.  We do good by giving of our time, energy, hearts, ears, comfort, whatever they need, we give out of love and concern.  We ask our friends, how can I pray for you, do we ask that of those who see us as enemies.  We show concern for our friends who are hurting, can we not do the same for those who see us as enemies.  We would give a cup of cold water to our friend, can we not do the same for those who see us as enemies.  So what is a church to do.  The church if we stand for the truth will have people who will see us as enemies, but we should never see them as an enemy.  Think about it.