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What About Gay Marriage?
Introduction
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A weary traveler is looking for shelter on a dark stormy night. Off in the distance he can see lights coming from a city.Since it is the only place of refuge the traveler can see he sets off towards that city to see if he can find shelter there. As he comes to a clearing where he can see the city more clearly he stops to study it and consider his options. He can see signs of life and the comforts he longs for in the city. This seems like the refuge he is looking for, yet he has heard such strange and conflicting things about this city from other travelers. Should he enter the city hoping for a warm welcome or stay where he is taking his chances alone in the darkness of the storm?Sound familiar? If we’re honest, we have all had times in life when we have felt some of the same things this traveler is feeling.Life is full of difficult choices. Choosing to do what is right isn’t always easy or popular. Sometimes making those difficult decisions takes us on a journey away from the safety of the familiar and into the stormy darkness. It takes a lot of courage to enter an unknown city or situation asking for refuge when we are not sure of the welcome we will receive.
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In Matthew 5:14 Jesus uses the image of a city to describe the church. He says, “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.”Since we are the city on the hill we need to decide what kind of a welcome we will offer travelers seeking refuge from us. In many ways we already do an excellent job of offering the hope and grace of Christ Himself to our communities. The issue of gay marriage seems to be so emotionally charged that our ability to minister to others who seek truth and refuge from us might be hindered. What do the weary travelers see when they look at the church? Do they see a warm inviting place to talk about truth and the deceptiveness of sexual sin or do they see our confusion and fears?
In anticipation of writing this article on gay marriage I conducted a number of impromptu interviews with people impacted by this issue. Just mentioning the issue brought about a variety of impassioned responses. I was able to talk with several pastors who are dealing with their congregation’s concerns and questions. I spoke with parents and family members of men and women who are struggling with the issues of homosexuality, some of whom are already “married” in the gay lifestyle. I also interviewed a number of believers who shared their concern about how God expects them to respond to the gay community in light of the current political debate.
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While everyone I talked to had an opinion about gay marriage few people agreed on what defines gay marriage. It seems that gay marriage means different things to different people. Gay marriage also means different things in different states across the country.All of the people I spoke with agreed that homosexuality is contrary to God’s plan for mankind. Their other thoughts on gay marriage seemed to fall into 3 general categories: (1) Some responses reflected a concern that the gay community is trying to force acceptance of their beliefs and lifestyle on the rest of our society. (2) Other people feel that the sanctity of marriage is threatened by the labeling of homosexual unions as marriage. (3) Lastly, a group of people believe that the gay community is justified in seeking some forms of social change but most of these people were not sure exactly what should change or in what ways.
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