Why Biblical Christians Will Never Give in on Gay Marriage

Why Biblical Christians Will Never Give in on Gay Marriage

           Recently in the Washington Post an editorial asked Christians like myself, Why can’t you just accept gay marriage and move on? The writer claims to be a Christian. He says we accept adultery and divorce, why get bent out of shape over gay marriage? For his information, we do not accept adultery and divorce. We condemn sex outside marriage and we get our view of divorce from Jesus. It is the result of tragic failures in marriage and should never be a matter of routine practice.

           But gay marriage asks us to go further. We are being asked to change an ancient institution, one ordained by God, and enlist it in the cause of gay rights. We are being asked to make marriage another way of validating the gay lifestyle. This I will never do and neither will anyone else who takes the Bible and the Christian faith seriously. Let me give seven reasons why.

1.    We believe the Bible is Word of God. God clearly condemns homosexual behavior. In Romans 1:26,27 Paul says: For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; ²⁷ and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” There are other passages as well. God condemns the practice of homosexuality.  

2.    We define marriage the way the Bible does. In Matthew 19:3-9 Jesus states unequivocally that marriage is between a man and a woman and is ordained by God. Over the years students have asked me a hundred times what I think about gay marriage. And every time I asked the students, “What is marriage?” And never once have any of them given the slightest indication they ever thought about my question. Historically, marriage is the union of a man and woman for the purpose of raising the next generation. That’s why governments codify and protect it. The ancient Romans and Greeks had no problem with homosexual behavior but would have thought gay marriage madness. Which leads me to my next point.

3.    Gay marriage is not about marriage. The advocates of gay marriage see it as an affirmation of equal worth. Or, even as a means of building self-esteem. I agree with Brendan O’Neills’ observation, linked below, that gay marriage is about a whole lot of things but marriage isn’t one of them. It’s basically about the state playing the role of therapist. I recently googled this question, How many men get married? The answers were pretty consistent. Of men over 75, 95% of them are or have been married. I asked the same question about gay men. According to Gallup, 10% of male homosexuals are or have been married. Obviously marriage is not nearly as important to gay men. I won’t even go into the question of the differences between gay and heterosexual marriage. Suffice it to say, marriage is not an option very many homosexuals choose.  Let me say this again: the purpose of gay marriage is to validate an alternative lifestyle, not raise the next generation.

4.    The legalization of gay marriage harms traditional marriage. The Progressive elite in America’s upper classes can’t imagine that gay marriage harms anyone, but out where our working classes live it’s a different story. Gay marriage trivializes the institution. And the great marriage problem in America is not homosexual unions, but the increasing absence of marriage among heterosexual men and women, especially in the working classes. Illegitimacy is our chief domestic crisis and the primary cause of every other social pathology. It increases, crime, violence, drug use, poverty, and further illegitimacy. The Left will generally acknowledge that this is a problem but they refuse to admit or even consider that gay marriage harms society.

5.    Consider the divine design. God made men and women to complement each other. Two men or two women do not do this in the way a man and woman do. Men and women need each other. In Ephesians 5 and in 1 Corinthians 11 Paul draws a clear distinction between men and women as do the first three chapters of Genesis. Christians are committed to validating and building upon those distinctions.

6.    The writer of the Washington Post suggests we cave in on this issue. He intimates that we cave on everything else. No we don’t. Have we caved on abortion? Did we just give in and go along to get along? Or Cohabitation—living together outside marriage? We haven’t caved on that although it is widely accepted in Western culture. How about euthanasia? Are Christians going to capitulate on that?    I am sure Christians in the Roman Empire were pressured to approve or at least tolerate gladiatorial contests. Did we? It took four hundred years but we got them abolished and they have never reappeared. What about the ancient practice of exposing unwanted infants to the elements and to death? Did we cave in on that? Oh no. We walked through the hills and garbage dumps looking for them, then we took them home and raised them as our own. Christians do not give in on social evil. We fully take it on.

7.    Christians in Western culture cannot give in on gay marriage if for no other reason than this: Our brothers and sisters in the worldwide Christian church would be appalled. Do you think the 80 million Christians in Nigeria approve of gay marriage? How about the 100 million in China?

Do not be discouraged. We have faced this sort of thing before. Did Roman and Greek culture enthusiastically embrace Christian morality? No they did not. But we triumphed anyway.

What about churches that have approved of gay marriage? Many of our old, mainline denominations now approve of it. What does that say? That they are ceasing to be Christian and are nothing more than museums of past Christian glory.

And don’t forget: There is a Holy Spirit. He is at work powerfully in the world, changing hearts, lives, families, churches, communities, and ultimately civilizations. God is not holding committee meetings trying to decide how to handle the latest outrage from Western elitist culture. He will bide his time then destroy it from the face of the earth. We have one task: Be faithful to him no matter what the cost.

Thanks for listening. May our God bless you this day in a mighty way.

More: Why has gay marriage become such a big issue? I explain why in this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ggE_qI85WA&list=PLkHlTST983Sr5XkW6ii7IXMIpkkKbEMz6&index=8

My video on the negative effects of gay marriage: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M3iGiKKvs0&t=7s

Dennis Prager’s brilliant critique of homosexuality and gay marriage: https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/marriage-and-family/sexuality/judaism-s-sexual-revolution-why-judaism-rejected-homosexuality.html

Al Mohler responds to Dionne’s column: https://wng.org/opinions/why-draw-the-line-here-1670938019?mkt_tok=NzEwLVFSUi0yMDkAAAGIq2223amJmLT1GQlTCGnKZlBRqve2ll-_CfgJ2uvTAAYJMMJuKtr1jzYsaC9cRA4xcR5G32Gku5qly_AM8rFbW4NvaaYjhUbkZkOP4DFci9A

Russell Moore’s essay, Why Evangelicals Won’t Cave: https://www.firstthings.com/article/2015/10/evangelicals-wont-cave

Brendan O’Neill, on why gay marriage is not really about marriage: https://www.spiked-online.com/2015/05/27/the-trouble-with-gay-marriage/#.Viei_WSrQdX