Why I Can’t Remain Silent

 

I believe I have not kept my Christian faith a secret, nor do I think it would come as a shock to anyone if I said I am a Christ follower.  Up until now my message has been, and will continue to be one of Christ’s love for us all, a message of hope, of God’s grace, love and mercy. 

 

Because of this, I have not voiced any opinion on marriage.  I have people that I truly love and respect on both sides of this issue and I did not want to offend anyone, but rather, I want very much to display God’s love.  Today, I have been reading many articles, posts, blogs, etc. with way too many displays of hate filled speech from both sides, so much so, that I almost feel sick to my stomach. 

 

I am working toward publishing a bible study that I have written, and I am working toward a speaking and teaching ministry, and will be asked my opinion on this subject, probably sooner, rather than later.  I also work for an organization that has strongly expressed its opinions on the subject, so I find I can no longer remain silent.

 

First let me say that I know I will offend some people who I love dearly love, some who have been lifelong friends, some who are family, this is not my intention, and my feelings for you have not changed.  I have no hate in my heart toward anyone.  Someone said in a post I read earlier today that disagreement is not hate, and that is where I am at this moment in time.  So in a long post, that I hope and pray you will read to the end, this is how I come to believe as I do…

 

As someone who believes the Bible to be the word of God, who believes it to be true, active and alive, I went to the source. I wanted to try to find what Jesus would say if He were sitting here today and asked His opinion. 

 

First let me say, I am NOT an expert, and there is a lot that I do not know.  What I do know is, how to actively study the word, how to let it teach me, and how to break things down properly, while preserving context and intent.

 

Let me also say, that I have no desire to “shove my ideas down anyone’s throat.”  What I am writing is what I have found in the bible, you can choose to believe it or not.  I also have no desire, nor do I judge anyone’s behavior, that is between you and God.  Ok with that said, what would Jesus say if He were asked the question today?

 

In Matthew 19 the Jewish leaders of the day came to Jesus and asked him a question that they thought would trap him, thinking that there could be no correct answer.  They asked him about divorce.  They knew what the law said, that a man could divorce his wife for any reason and send her away.  Jesus knew their hearts, and He knows our hearts today.  This is how He responded…

 

Matthew 19:3-9

³ The Pharisees also came to Him, testing Him, and saying to Him, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for just any reason?”

⁴ And He answered and said to them, “Have you not read that He who made^[a] them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’^{[b] 5} 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’?^{[c] 6} So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.”

⁷ They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?”

⁸ He said to them, “Moses, because of the hardness of your hearts, permitted you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. ⁹ And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality,^[d] and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries her who is divorced commits adultery.”

            So Jesus said, “in the beginning God created male and female and the two are to be united”.  He also said,” because of the hardness of your hearts Moses (emphasis added) permitted you to divorce, but in the beginning it was not so.” 

So using this example, if I were to ask Jesus the question today if marriage was to be for same sex couples, the same as opposite sex couples, this is how I interpret His answer…

            “In the beginning, God created male and female and the two are to be united, but because of the hardness of your heart, the Supreme Court has permitted you to marry whoever you wish, but in the beginning it was not so….”

            Next, I want to address a question that always seems to come up during this debate, and that is sin.  Why is it bad, and why do Christians seem to fixate on this particular sin?

            The bible says in Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

Paul explains in 1 Corinthians 6 a couple of things, first, that all sin is an abomination to God, he then names several in verses 9-10  

⁹ Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals,^[a] nor sodomites, ¹⁰ nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners (swindlers) will inherit the kingdom of God.”

That is the bad news. I will talk about the good news in just a minute, so please stay with me.

He then explains in verses 12-19 why sexual sin is so destructive, and this is why Christians are so upset about this issue.

¹² All things are lawful for me, but all things are not helpful…. Now the body is not for sexual immorality but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. ¹⁴ And God both raised up the Lord and will also raise us up by His power.

¹⁵ Do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ? Shall I then take the members of Christ and make them members of a harlot? Certainly not! ¹⁶ Or do you not know that he who is joined to a harlot is one body with her? For “the two,” He says, “shall become one flesh.”^{[b] 17} But he who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him.

¹⁸ Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. ¹⁹ Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? ²⁰ For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body^[c] and in your spirit, which are God’s.

            Ok I talked about the bad news of sin, I would be doing a disservice if I did not talk about the good news.  It is true, all have sinned, there is sin in this world, no one is without fault, and I am including me in this, there have been many things I have done that I am not proud of. 

BUT, and this is a huge BUT, Jesus Christ took all of our sin on Himself when he died on the Cross, all we have to do to receive eternal life with God is admit that we are a sinner, thank Jesus for dying on the Cross for our sin, turning from what we are doing wrong, and let Him do the rest.  If you do that, He will do the rest, and we will have eternal life in Heaven with God!

Now I have given you my biblical reason for my opinion. Please, please do not interpret my belief as hate, or bigotry, I do not hold hate in my heart, I do not judge one sin over another sin, and I will always support and cheer for you my friends and family, because I truly to do love you.

let me also quickly state, that I, as someone who is putting myself out there as a speaker, in Christian ministry, this new law scares me.  For what if I am speaking somewhere, exactly what I wrote here today, and am told I cannot voice my opinion because it goes against the law?