A large part of the work of good government is to codify these notions of right and wrong into laws that protect its citizenry. We make murder and stealing punishable offenses. This is known as the "Criminal Code." Other matters regarding citizen's obligations to each other and our government are covered in the "Civil Code." Rules governing marriage and divorce, business relationships or the amount of taxes a citizen is obligated to pay are not nearly as cut and dried issues of right and wrong as points of the Criminal Code. Still, both sets of laws are rooted in a nation's collective notion of morality.
Over the past decade there has been a seismic shift in the popular view of morality regarding homosexuality and the Civil Code. More specifically whether people of the same sex should be allowed to enter into state sanctioned marriage. Popular media has even gone to the extent of comparing it to African American's struggle for civil rights. The "struggle for marriage equality," as it has been labeled, is now ubiquitous in our culture and a reality that every Christian must confront.
Disdain and Perversion
One aspect of this new push for "gay rights" is the disdain its proponents are willing to heap on all who disagree with their views. They have unilaterally seized the "moral high ground" and all who oppose them are essentially "moral idiots." Christians don't need to sit still for this, but unfortunately, most immediately resort to Biblical standards of morality, which bear little weight with gay rights advocates and can even make matters worse.
Rather, I think the first response should be a question, "Is there such a thing a sexual perversion?" In other words, can it be said that becoming sexually aroused by some things should be considered wrong? For most people, even gay rights advocates, the thoughtful answer will be, "Yes." We have now agreed that, when it comes to sexual arousal, a moral line does exist that defines right from wrong. What remains is to agree on where exactly to draw this line and why.
At this point the typical fall-back position involves the word, "Love." If two people love each other, then they should be able to have sex. Who are we to stand in the way of love? Putting aside a poorly conceived notion of love, this "love rule" allows them to place many repulsive sexual perversions (pedophilia & bestiality, in particular) squarely below the line while keeping gay sex above it. However, there are some problems to the"love rule." "Love" cannot be ruled out in every obvious sexual perversion. There are cases of incest where both parties claim to love each other. The "love rule" is clearly problematic. Still it is hard to reject any rule with the word "love" in it.
The important point here is for our opponents to realize that both parties are drawing a moral line when it comes to sex. Christians, using a decidedly less nebulous source of justification for their line than their gay counterparts, are not "moral idiots" and the moral conclusions drawn by the "love rule" are not necessarily obvious or entirely workable.
I Don't Owe You Anything
Although the Biblical standard is taken at face value by Christians and dismissed out-of-hand by others, it bears up under a more rational moral discussion, especially considering the basis of any obligation to obey a set of rules or standards. For example, is tax evasion immoral? Most people would respond in the affirmative, but why? Because, as citizens we enjoy certain rights, protections and government services for which we should be obligated to pay. We owe the government our allegiance and support because of what the government has given us.
This same simple moral concept lies at the heart of a Christian's obligation to follow Biblical morality. It is the notion that we are created and supported by a superior being. Morally, we are in debt to that being and they possess the moral right to set reasonable boundaries on our behavior. Just as a parent has the right to regulate their children. And this is precisely the problem. Non-Christians do not recognize the existence of a creator God nor His right to regulate their behavior. Christians need to recognize that God created man with free will and this is a part of God's plan. It is both sad and fruitless for Christians to try to impose Biblical morality on non-Christians. Instead we should spend our time convincing them of God's existence and love, not trying to impose His rules for us, His children.
The Divorce Exception
As the nation struggles with whether its laws should allow and support gay marriage, Christians should step back and consider the case of divorce and Biblical morality. Divorce in various forms has been legal since the founding of our nation. It is also allowed in Biblical law. However, divorce is decidedly not something God considers right behavior.
"For I hate divorce,” says the Lord, the God of Israel - Malachi 2:16 (NASB)And yet it is specifically allowed in Jewish Law. A conundrum which was brought to the attention of Jesus.
Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adultery.” - Mathew 19:3-9 (NASB)Here Jesus is giving us God's reasoning behind the Jewish divorce rules. It is interesting to note that even by following the rule you could be guilty of another violation (adultery), and yet still the rule exists. It was "permitted" because God understood that we are deeply flawed. It was a sad plan B for those for whom plan A was simply intolerable. Christians would be wise to consider the example of divorce when formulating their response to the push for gay marriage. Gay marriage is a sad and unfortunate plan B. The United States is not a religious institution and its laws must govern people of all faiths and philosophies. If God can compromise as a response to man's frailty, shouldn't our government?
Denial of Service Attacks
For Christians, the current front line in the gay marriage debate seems centered around our obligations to provide services to support gay people and in particular gay weddings. The media is more than happy to sensationalize Christian bakers and wedding planners who feel understandably uncomfortable with providing services to gay weddings and decide to refuse them. A Christian needs to take a hard look at their stand in this regard. We've already discussed how God hates divorce. Does that mean a Christian should deny services to divorcees? How about "sinners" in general? All of a sudden you client base is pretty small (i.e., zero).
The vocations of Christians present them with unique opportunities to interface with non-Christians. These points of intersection (cross-ing) provide us the opportunity to witness to non-Christians regarding the love of our God. To scatter seeds. This does not occur when we sit in judgement and refuse to serve those we deem unworthy. As Jesus said of Himself,
"For God did not send the Son into the world to judge the world, but that the world might be saved through Him." - John 3:16-18 (NASB)
It's God's Job
Christians who know their Bible realize that the push for gay marriage and the rise of homosexuality in general, is actually predicted by the apostle Paul. In Romans 1:18-25 he delivers a condemning description that bears an undeniable resemblance to the attitudes of modern atheists/evolutionists and then tells of the consequences of these philosophies.
For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. - Romans 1:26-27 (NASB)This passage frames homosexual urges as both a consequence and a judgement. This is just one more reminder that it is God's job to judge and He is on it. He never asked for our help in judging or condemning. Our job is to point people to Him, not to condemn them or convince them to follow rules that make no sense to them. Much of the vitriol and disdain we endure is a deserved response to our abandoning job number one: spreading the GOOD NEWS. Let's stop trying to pull weeds in other peoples gardens and get busy planting seeds.
