1. We must teach by precept and practice, God's definition of marriage. Our children and our children's children have and will continue to grow up in a society where the definition of marriage is radically opposed to God's definition. God's definition of marriage is that our marital unions should picture the union between Christ and the Church. That is marriage is to picture Chris,t the groom, loving his bride, the church, so much that he sacrificed everything for her, and his bride, the church, responding to that love. Obviously we cannot model perfect marriages, but we can model marriages of love, respect, forgiveness, and patience, where a man and woman work through their differences and struggles to forge a life long marriage.
2. We must recognize that even though we may hold up God's standard for marriage, we fall short of holding up all of God's standards. As Jesus said, "He who is without sin, cast the first stone." It is not my job to condemn those who support or live in a same sex union. It is my job not to agree but to love. I realize that often times is a hard position to take in our culture. Too often, people believe tolerance is not simply agreeing to disagree, but having to support and condone their behavior. While we cannot condone, we can in humility and love genuinely care about people.
3. We must recognize that in the end same-sex marriage leads to brokenness and hurt. This is true not because it is "same-sex" but because it is a violation of God's standard. My sins, which are many" lead to brokenness. My brokenness was healed by a God who says, you don't have to meet all my standards because I know you can't. So I have met them for you in my son Jesus. Believe, trust and find healing now and complete restoration one day. The Bible says, there is a way that seems right to men, but in the end it leads to destruction. The more our society condones sinful behavior, the more people will be hurt by it. The good news, there is a healing balm for our wounds, and we as followers of Christ must put ourselves in a position to bring that healing to hurting people.
