Everyone that is either up-in-arms or ecstatically joyful over a ruling by the Supreme Court last week is missing the point. All of you. Both sides. A group of people deciding legislature means so little in the perspective of eternity. Who cares what a government thinks about marriage? I don't care what the government thinks of my marriage. If it tried to tell me I wasn't married, I wouldn't be un-married.
Marriage is really none of the government's business at all. Marriage was created by God, to bring Him glory, to provide a tangible picture of His relationship with us, and to create offspring to grow up in a family and learn to love God. Something created and maintained by God cannot be altered, in its inherent nature, by human interference. It's just not going to happen.
To those who see this ruling as a victory, a relief and a joy, the government's opinion will not change God's opinion. God still sees homosexuality as sin, and God still must punish sin that is not forgiven by the blood of Christ. That truth has been God's Word since the earliest days of man. It's not going to change, because that's not God's best for anyone. But trying to change our deep-seated sin, especially when it involves relationships, doesn't work on our own. You will never change your desires by "trying hard enough" or following some program or being shamed by people who claim to be speaking for God. I couldn't change my evil desires on my own, and yes, I have struggled with sinful attitudes and actions, even growing up in a Pastor's home and knowing the Lord from my earliest memories. None of us are immune to sin. And none of us can hope to escape our natural bent without the intervention of God and the humility to admit we need it. God loves you as much as he loves me, and it's more than either of us can comprehend being loved. He wants you, and His offer stands, to change your heart and your life and give you more than you imagined you wanted. All you have to do is trust Him. Let go of the life you thought you needed, and watch Him transform everything. He will. It's a promise. Not mine, but His.
To Christians who feel a foreboding, who fear the future, who feel it is their place and their calling to curse and shame other people for whom Christ died, please don't let fear cause you to get in the way of the Gospel. Our job here is not to create a perfect society or escape persecution or live in a bubble separate from the consequences of living in a cursed world. THIS IS NOT HEAVEN. Someday, we will live in a perfect place, but we have to stop expecting that place to be here and now. This country does not belong to us. We are the strangers here. We are the visitors. Let's behave as guests and be gracious, kind and loving to others. Our sin is just as ugly as anyone else's. Jesus loves sinners, and we have no right to act any other way than our perfect example. LOVE. ACCEPT. God meets us just where we are and we are to do no less. And I plead with you, brothers and sisters, not to be lazy in your walk. Expecting the government to eradicate sin and legislate moral standards is a futile way to live out your spiritual calling. It will never work. God does not ask sinners to clean themselves up because he knows they can't. Trying to tell people to live the right way without offering them the Gospel is completely against what God means for us to accomplish in our lives. We have to be willing to shoulder the burdens that others carry on their shoulders every day, since they are simply trying to make the best of it because they know no other way to get that weight off. It is our job to come alongside. Love them, pray for them, encourage them, show them a humble and godly example. It isn't our job to preach, shun, shame or ignore. When we approach another's sin with disgust or condescension, we have ruined our testimony and made ourselves hypocrites.
Words to the wise. All summed up neatly by God in Proverbs 3:5-6. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight."
