The Supreme Court made a decision concerning same-sex marriage. What now? Should we, as Christians, be upset, scared or angry? Yes, feel those things. But before you want to make a case against same-sex marriage, think about a few things:
1. Do heterosexual couples support marriage in a way that gives it honor? Scrap that, do heterosexuals, period, support marriage in an honorable way? My answer is no. For a long time, at least in this nation, it has become widespread that couples should “give it a test drive,” before putting a ring on it. That’s no way to honor marriage. Then, in the 1970’s, marriage became easier to dissolve. That’s no way to honor marriage. All one would have to do is to see the plight of heterosexual couples view towards marriage- if you can’t get along, if you don’t feel happy, if you aren’t satisfied, and on and on… this is trash. Life isn’t always easy. Life isn’t always happy. Life is full of struggle. And if we aren’t going to be engaged in struggle, well we might as well just be offended all the time…oh, wait…we already are. We’ve given up on learning through struggle. We don’t want our kids to struggle, so we just pass them on through the system, right? Until Christians are going to take marriage seriously, and be willing to struggle, no one else will. Jesus has given us the framework: “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast 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 not man separate.” Mark 10:6-9 (ESV) Hold fast- work it out, fight through it, show your kids that your marriage is worth fighting for- but not just the kids, your neighbors, your family, everyone. When heterosexuals get divorced and remarried, over and over again, that’s not traditional marriage. It’s more like monogamous polygamy, many wives (or husbands) just one at a time.
2. We have put all of our fight into “sexuality,” and have spent little time educating the people, Christians, about what does it mean to be human? What does it mean from scripture that God created them “male and female?” Instead we have thrown our hats into the political realm and tried to fight it there. By the various pro-traditional marriage laws, etc, we have spent more time worrying about human sexuality, than we have about humans. We have put our trust into “princes,” and not into Christ. I don’t think that we have listened to Jesus’ instructions to us. Maybe we have been to caught up in worrying about minor details, then pointing people to Christ. As Christians, we Lutherans forget about this part sometimes, we are called to live out our vocations (ie- I am a pastor, husband, father, son, brother, and friend) which means that we are doing something that let’s our faith shine ahead- providing not only for spiritual needs, but material needs as well. Jesus lays it out here.
3. Who do you have your trust in? Where have you put your heart? If you believe for one second that some Republican trying to pimp you out for your vote is going to overturn the SCOTUS decision, you are mistaken. This world, including the USA, is full of sin. There should be no surprise that this is going on. None. But Jesus has called for the world to repent and believe and to trust Him.
Recently according to Time magazine, Christians are now faced to be “exiles” in their own land. This isn’t new! We are but aliens and strangers here. Jesus told us that we would be hated for our faith. This is happening now and has been for ever. Jesus told us that we are in the world, not of it. So, what now? Cling to Christ, proclaim your faith in Christ, show the world how Christ has saved you and your gratitude for what He’s done. And, above all, remember that He’s already overcome the world.