I have been reflecting on whether or not to say anything regarding same-sex marriage. I am not one to debate in the virtual world as it lacks the personal connection and knowledge of tone and demeanor. But several things I have seen come out of this have been unsettling to me, so I felt I needed to state my feelings.
First and foremost, I believe and serve the One true God, the God of the Bible, the Creator of the world. He is Sovereign over all and all are subject to Him. He is loving, merciful, forgiving and just. With that being said, my viewpoints are based on Him and Him alone. Not my opinion or feelings. Definitely not based on how somehow feels or their opinions. My faith in the God who sent His Son Jesus to die for my sins and the worlds sins trumps any man made issue and its "opinions". With that said, I believe in marriage. I believe in marriage between a man and woman as God, the one I believe in, ordained it to be.
Now whether or not you believe in God really doesn't matter because He exists regardless of your ignorance. I myself was ignorant to His existance at one point too. So, since God ordained marriage, the question I have to ask is, "when did marriage become a legal right given by the government?" At that question, I will have to say I believe that one of the greatest schemes satan has moved us to believe is that marriage is not a God issue and is instead one of legality enforceable by the government. Marriage is God's baby, folks! If you think about it it's a brilliant scheme, though. Look at what is happening because of it. Constant debates going, people fighting with one another, Christians abandoning God's direction for the opinion of the masses so people can be happy and Christians making complete fools of themselves by protesting and slandering others. Marriage is not supposed to be a legal matter. Marriage is supposed to be the joining together and commitment of two people, male and female, to each other before a Holy God. So, lets be clear, my viewpoints from this one are based on God's ordination of what marriage is.
Just a quick note here. I saw this several times and I want to rebuke it right now. Jesus would not ever be ok with same sex marriage. Does Jesus love us? You bet he does, but He loves God the Father more and will obey Him always. Please do not misrepresent the person that Jesus is, because as much as God is just, so is Christ. That doesn't mean He loves any less, but it does mean He expects us to obey the Father as He does.
I also feel like people are taking the term judgement and misusing it a great deal. Now, I won't argue that there are many people out there on both sides of any issue that judge harshly. But I cannot sit back and say that as a believer in Christ and a person who has been commissioned to share the Word with others, that my job is not one to cast judgement from time to time. In our society we have made judgement something that is negative and filled with hate. Well, I serve a just God. One who judges all with love as a catalyst. He judges because He cares, not because He hates everyone. So, to sit back and say, "well you don't support same-sex marriage, so you hate them and you are so judgemental" is the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard. My judgement is based on love, because as I mentioned that marriage is from God and I believe that when you go against the plan of God, that is sin. I do not want anyone to sin, ever. I don't want to sin either. And I always expect to be called out when I do. It lets me know people care. It has nothing to do with negativity and malice as some seem to want to make it.
Since I brought it up, lets talk about love for a moment. Love is something that is very hard to understand because I believe that the Love of God(Agape) is near unfathomable. We have skewed it so much in our culture. I mean, my two year old says he loves cars and movies. We have to keep on point here. This debate has nothing to do with love. You can love who ever you want. That's not the point. The point is about marriage. I love a lot of things that doesn't mean I get to marry them and lets be honest, there are lots of things in life we don't get even though we want them. We have turned into a society of one that demands things just because we have a want. Just because you want something doesn't mean it's good for you. That includes marriage. By the way, that includes marriage for people who are not homosexual aswell.
One thing that is being said that really bothers me is that since I don't believe homosexuals can marry I hate them and I'm wrong. Well, I didn't know that in order to know someone or love someone I had to agree with everything you feel, think, believe...... Just like this article. You don't have to like or believe any of it. That doesn't mean I hate you or think we can't be friends. My personal beliefs aside, we need to stop thinking everyone has to have the same mindset on issues and if not they hate people. That's ludicrous! Furthermore, people must really think I hate people since I not only believe homosexuals shouldn't marry, I don't think they should date either! I also, don't believe that straight couples should live together or have sex before marriage. I must hate them too! I hope you see my point.
This issue is greater than the minimal issues of what we as people want. This issue is truly about God and our relationship to Him. As a true, born-again believer in Christ my obligation is to my God, not to man. It's definitely not to the feelings people have for one another, which is unfortunately what people have made this about. If you are reading this as a person that does not have faith in Jesus and feels I'm wrong, I challenge you to seek Him out and learn more. If you are reading this as a believer and feel I'm wrong, I challenge you to seek Him as well and put your own opinions aside and truly reflect upon what God would want from this.
This has always been about Him and our rejection of His rules when it conflicts with our desires. This is a small issue compared to the greater issue that is following God completely despite our wants. That's what we have to decide as a people. What is more important to us? The things of this world or the eternal things of God. I hope and pray that you choose wisely, because the choices we make now do resound in eternity.
Well said sir.
ReplyDeleteAmen Josh
ReplyDeleteRick Warren said it perfectly...
ReplyDelete"Our culture has accepted 2 huge lies... The first is that if you disagree with someones lifestyle, you must fear of hate them.The second is that to love someone means that you agree with everything that they believe or do. Both are nonsense. You don't have to compromise convictions to be compassionate."
Even Jesus was kind to prostitutes and sinners of all kinds. Does not mean He agreed with them at all... but how are others to see Jesus in us if all we do is hate????
Please take this as a challenge NOT to change your convictions but to change our mindset... change how we treat others. Treat ALL people with love and respect.
I totally agree with Rick Warren, but I don't feel that feeling strongly about something and stating that is not being compassionate. I think we need to be careful as Christians not to be afraid to speak the truth because someone mind get offended or upset. I will be the first to say there is a right way and a wrong way to go about this and sadly, too many have done it the wrong way. I think is an injustice that a Christian can't speak out against things because someone might view it as not being compassionate.
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