With certain Country Clerks still holding out against issuing Marriage Licenses, the battle over the right of homosexual couples to marry isn't precisely over, but in the United States, in general, it is. The Supreme Court has ruled, a majority of Americans approve, and over time the holdouts against it will become more and more marginalized.
It's over. Marriage in the United States, as a matter of law, is no longer uniquely an institution between a Man and a Woman.
It's no secret that I consider this a victory, both from the civic and the religious perspectives. I am supremely grateful that my denomination, the PC(USA), managed to get there before my nation, if only by a matter of months, and I am also grateful to all the pioneers who worked so hard, and sacrificed so much, to bring us to this point.But as many people are making clear, both on social media and in the news, there are still a sizeable number of people who do not agree with this change of events, and most of them at least claim to do so for religious regions. And so it is to these Christians I now turn.
Hey there, guys. Pastor Dan, here.
Over the past couple of weeks I have heard numerous sermons, on the radio or online, with Pastors urging their congregations to fight the good fight, to "courageously stand up for the Bible." That is a sentiment that I agree with. Their intention, of course, is that you did your heels in on the marriage issue, refusing to acknowledge gay unions with loud voices. That intention I do not echo.
This is not the first time that a group of Christians has found themselves on this side of history in the United States. There were powerful groups of Christians who defended slavery until the Civil War ended the matter. Others opposed interracial marriage. Still others opposed divorce, and women's rights. All did so with Biblical arguments, all thinking that they were upholding the will of God.
Here is the kicker... most were, essentially, good people, trying to do the right thing, the Biblical thing, even when the world told them they were wrong. A laudable goal to be sure. The fact that they were completely wrong does not change that... sin affects us all. But what happens after? What do you do when society has rejected the truth you cling to?
There are several routes one can follow. Some never stop fighting, as those radio pastors were urging their congregations, but to what point? To become just another Westboro Baptist, confident, and utterly isolated, in their rightfulness? Or do you continue to recognize the call Christ has given you to the world, and choose a different fight?
The Supreme Court Ruling may be an amazing boon to the Evangelical community, an opportunity to move on. Because even if you still believe that Marriage should be exclusively between a man and a woman, there are, presumably, other things that you believe as well, things that you can work towards and pursue now that the issue of gay marriage is no longer a debatable point in our country.
For instance, for every instance of scripture having anything to do with homosexuality, there are reams and reams of text discussing the needs of the poor, the outsider, the sick. Instead of spending your energy in political forums, you can redirect those energies towards other God-mandated tasks. You can feed hungry people. Visit people in prisons. Provide aid to immigrants. These are all Biblically commanded practices that have been left sadly undeveloped in the light of the much louder, much more expensive, political battle over gay marriage.
No one is saying that you have to believe in Gay Marriage. But fighting against it is a lost cause, unless your intention is to no longer be capable of performing the other ministries the LORD has called you to. Like I mentioned before, this won't be the first time a group of Christians has been forced to do such a thing.
There is more to your faith than sex laws. There is more to your ethics than marriage. There is more to Christianity than opposing equal marriage rights. You could choose to fight this battle forever, to be defined by it and seen by others as hopeless, meaningless anachronisms. If you are loud enough, successful enough, they may even decide that opposition to homosexuality is all there is to you.
Or you could move on, and show the Love God has commanded you to have for others in other ways, ways that help people, that nurture people.
It's your call.
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