Misplaced Militance: Proposition 8

I Cor 7: 15But if the unbeliever leaves, let him do so. A believing man or woman is not bound in such circumstances; God has called us to live in peace. 16How do you know, wife, whether you will save your husband? Or, how do you know, husband, whether you will save your wife? (NIV)

I Corinthians 7 is entirely about heterogeneous relationships, so it may seem a stretch to talk about gay marriage, but I believe there is an underlying lesson we can learn from these verses regarding this subject.

Recently, America had an election. One of the issues at stake in the election was voting for or against Proposition 8--gay marriage. The Bible is extremely clear on this whole issue. God intends for one man and one woman marriages. The Bible covers thousands of years of history, and within that history there are a couple things that change (or rather: seem to change) over time (sacrificing, God's methods of revelation, government, etc.) but Biblical marriage remains constant. The patriarchs and kings who had multiple wives could have stopped a lot of their pain if they would have just stuck with one woman, ya know? (Hagar, Bathsheba, Rachel, Leah, etc.)

So, when I start making my point here in a few sentences, I want you to realize that I believe the Bible and so I agree with IT'S point of view. I don't agree, however, with the going "Christian" point of view.

Do you know what I mean? It's that point of view that says it is our duty to make unsaved people conform to our faith. First of all, I don't understand how we are supposed to expect Non-Christians to behave like Christians. Isn't that entirely backwards? Doesn't the Bible say we are saved "unto good works" not by hoping that a "clean" life will eventually clue us into salvation?

Secondly, can someone please show me where it is written that our main duty is to fight for the "inerrancy" of Scripture? The Bible is already God's Word. It's Truth. . .Being ready to give an answer is an entirely different thing. We put on the armor of God to protect ourselves and those we witness to, not the Bible. To act like the Bible will somehow fall apart without our help of maintaining it is completely self-serving. It's the Spirit who works; we are only commanded to be willing to be used. We don't go around expecting Non-Christians to live like Christians! I mean, the verse doesn't read, "all Scripture is given by inspiration of God, but needs our help if anyone wants to reprove it or correct it." It speaks for itself. Our main goal is to glorify God, and we glorify ourselves when we get arrogant and act like the Bible will die if we don't uphold it. The God-sanctioned wars and fighting in the Bible weren't over protecting the fundamentals of faith, they were either over opposition to Israel's rightful claim to Canaan or after Israel was attacked first.

[*Note* I am not referring to people who have either died for their faith or died fighting to keep the Bible in tact. Those people actually had a cause. I'm talking about the mindset that says "The Bible is under attack by (insert your favorite left-wing forum) and it's up to us to protect it!" No. You aren't part of the Godhead. I'm sorry to break it to you.]

Said another way: Nothing we say makes the Bible any more or less inerrant. We can add stupid things to it or take things away from it when we talk about it, but anyone with half a brain can find out the truth of the matter if they just crack it open for themselves. So when we start spreading this paranoia in the name of Christ ("Our faith is in jeopardy! Gay s are stealing our churches!") we are actually showing that we have zero faith in God and have 100% of our faith in ourselves. The only reason the church is "being stolen" is because we are letting it. We are spending too much time promoting our Christian patriotism and no time at all in strengthening our minds with God's Word. The best defense is not a good offense. We are called to peace.

I mean, I suppose you could say that militant Constantine did a lot of good to save the cannon of Scripture, but . . . he also did a LOT of really bad things. Was that really Constantine being a shining light for the cause of Christ, or was it simply God working through a bad situation? I'm pretty sure there was a better way of going about preserving God's Word than persecuting Jews and putting Non-Christians to death. Ya know?

Okay, so how are we supposed to handle gay marriage? Well, how would you handle a child, with no knowledge of the monetary system? He swipes a candy bar from a drug store counter simply b/c he sees something he wants and sees other people walking out of the store with what they wanted. How do we treat this child? Do we call the police and throw him into jail? No. You just explain to him how to get the candy properly. I'm not calling gay people childish by any means, I'm simply using this analogy because like the child, they want a desire fulfilled and don't understand why Christians punish them so heavily for it. Christ realized how blinded people get of their sins while He was in the very act of paying for the sins of mankind: "Father! Forgive them! They don't know what they are doing!" Why do we do anything different if we are supposed to be like Christ? He suffered for the sin of homosexuality, but He also bled for the sin of being disgusted with another human being. Just because you've accepted the payment for your sin, doesn't mean it's a lesser sin.

I'll tell you why we act hateful. It's because we don't see the unsaved as unknowing. We see them as rejecting something they MUST know about, because we know about it. Now . . . this could be. These Non-Christians might have rejected Christ. But look at why. Why would a person have reason to reject their own Creator, Life-Sustainer, and Savior? Well, just look at the Christians around them. Every atheist conversation I have ever witnessed or found myself in starts out with truth being determined by observation and natural causes. However, talk to an atheist for a few minutes, especially asking him WHY he believes this and you will invariably learn that it was because of "the Crusades," or "the Church against Copernicus" or "Mrs. Smith next door who told me I was going to hell." They don't believe b/c of the people who do.

(People also reject God because of uncontrollably bad circumstances. A mother gets cancer. A family dies in an earthquake. Still, these things are a result of the fall of man. God does not stop them because the moment we chose death, we asked for them to happen in the first place--even after the warning. The fact that He now has to give us an alternative method to live in Perfection with Him one day, is because He loves us. This is a message that the unsaved needs to have explained to them, instead of having religious dogma forced down their throats.)

However, when discussing persecution, we Christians can easily turn it back around and talk about being thrown to lions and being used as human torches. But that doesn't really prove anything either. People suck. People victimize and are victims of just about anything. Some are choices; some are uncontrollable. It does no good to play the victim is what I'm saying, because as soon as it happens, someone else is victimized. This is because humans are not actually made to fight. We are supposed to live peaceably. And that brings me back to the passage in question.

Paul is talking in I Corinthians 7:15-16 about having peaceful relationships. Notice in verse 15 where he says that "God has called us to live in peace." My point is that if God has called us to peace and has given us guidelines on how we may avoid fights in our marriage without sinning, then we should probably live like that in all areas of our lives. The rest of chapter 7 explains that very point.

Voting on gay marriage became a political move when Republicans and Democrats found out they could get voting leverage from it. If you can get people angry and divided about a subject, then you can gain power from them and get elected. It's exploitation.

So what am I suggesting? Well, consider this: if we vote "yes" on gay marriage, then we act in agreement with something the Bible calls sin, right? However, realize that if we vote "no" on gay marriage, then we use our faith to attack people who need God. If the Truth is really Truth, it will stand up without our holding signs on the freeway. Does it sound like I'm a flaming liberal? Well, just think about it. When was the last time a gay rights poster made you go, "Oh! You know what! Homosexuality isn't a sin! That poster just proved it to me!" It didn't; it infuriated you, right? So, if we are supposed to be witnessing...then how is holding up an opposing sign helping the situation either? Is a "down with gays" poster spreading the cause of Christ or just making you feel good about yourself?

So what do we do? How do we vote next time? Well, I think this is part of our sanctification that every Christian needs to figure out with "fear and trembling" and not just take the easy way out. We need to realize that although America was originally a place of religious freedom for the Pilgrims, by the time our government was constituted, it was Deist at best with Greco-Roman democratic-republic ideals--not the Bible (otherwise we'd be a theocracy!).

Yes, America is going down. Yes, it's because we turn on God. Yes, we should be aware of this. But guess what! According to my Bible, the end is going to come no matter what! So . . . shouldn't our focus be on redeeming the time by spreading the Gospel? Focusing on America returning to a "Christian Nation" is wasting valuable witnessing time. America will only be a "Christian Nation" if all her people agree that Christ is the only way to heaven--not by voting Republican. Otherwise we are just fighting for America to be a moral place to raise children so we don't have to actually deal with teaching our kids right from wrong. If we can't handle raising our kids in a sinful world, then we shouldn't have kids. They are going to find out sooner or later and it would be best if they learned from parents who are honest about sin and righteousness rather than parents who hate that they actually have to explain what "gay" means.

If God thinks that a Christian brother should stay with his Non-Christian wife in order that the wife may possibly be saved, then He probably wants a similar reaction for Christians who come in contact with homosexuals. Isn't it God's desire that all people come to know Him? It's not that we tolerate sin, it's that we live as examples of Christ. Okay, so Christ overturned the tables of an institution that was corrupting the Synagogue, but those were people who should have known better. He ate at the tables of prostitutes and thieves--people who needed to know better. If we can't discern that "table" difference, then we are not following His example.

What I'm suggesting is that rather than keeping non-believers "under the thumb of what's right" by voting on something that gives us a good feeling, we actually school ourselves in the message of God's Word so that we can take it to those who are choosing to suffer. But that's so much harder, right? It's way easier just to yell and scream in the safe confines of our congregations, preaching to the choir, and getting souls all riled up against the evil people of this world. I am in no way suggesting the pendulum swing alternative of gnostic "Christian hedonism." Why is it so hard instead just to ask them questions, hear what they have to say, listen to how they are hurting, and finally show them how they don't have to hurt themselves anymore? Imagine the actual work that could get done if we could stop being so militant for a cause and actually be Christ-like. Maybe they will reject it . . . but they are less likely to reject a listening ear then they are an "anti-gay" poster. Can't we just care about them a little bit? Please? They are dying and don't know why.

If you think that sounds hard or uncomfortable, think about the Christian husband who converted after marriage and has to stay in a relationship with someone who has destined herself to a completely different eternity. Think of the struggles he has to deal with. Think of the agony he has to go through on a day to day basis knowing that his wife is not going to spend eternity with him. Think of how he'd rather have an easier life with a partner who at the very least has the same goals as he does. Think of how unfair it must seem to him that he actually desires to live for God, yet reaps no benefit from this life's marriage. . . Yet think of how much easier it is for the wife to accept Christ if the husband stays rather than walks out on her. Also notice how she isn't held responsible for the relationship staying together. Only the Christian partner is. That is because God expects more out of Christians. We have the Truth, so we have our eyes open. If we can't handle the expectations, then why did we sign up? Where is it written that Christians are supposed to have it easy?

Now think of what must have happened to a person for them to reject God's "standard" of marriage. How are they supposed to change their mind? By driving them farther away? Rather, like the Christian spouse, offer them what you have--even if it's hard to do. If you choose to vote against gay rights, make sure you are voting for the right reason and not because you hate gay people and want them to burn. We are called to peace.