Our teaching pastors began a series at our church last week called “Beginnings“, in which they’re teaching through the opening chapters of Genesis. The message yesterday was delivered by Tim Lundy on the beginnings of man, woman and marriage.

Today, as I scanned through some news sites, I found this article regarding President Bush’s remarks in favor of a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage. I have to admit, I’m still not quite sure what to make of the gay marriage issue. I understand why some want to “protect marriage” and define it only as one man and one woman. I would agree that it is what is best for society, as Bush and others are quoted as saying in the article. And, most importantly, I believe that is the way the Bible defines it, the way God intended it to be.

I just finished reading Gregory Boyd’s book The Myth of a Christian Nation, and he talks a lot about “kingdom of God” versus “kingdom of the world”. As I read this article, many of his thoughts came to mind, and I wondered, what exactly are God’s people expecting from our government, a “kingdom of the world”? Do they expect it to function in the same way that the kingdom of God does? Do they expect it to pass laws and govern in a way that will always align itself with the kingdom of God? And what about those being governed? Many have not submitted to Christ as Lord. Are they expecting such people to live, behave, vote, and, in general, view the world just as they do?

I find it hard to expect too much of an earthly goverment or from the ones electing those who govern. When it comes to looking like Jesus, there’s not exaclty a great track record for either, in this country or anywhere else. They will do what they think is best, and it is not always (probably not even often) going to line up with what God would have us do. Because of that, I am not surprised that some want to legalize same-sex marriages. They see it as good, and therefore they want to make it happen.

In the message yesterday, Tim made the following statement: “If you want to fight for marriage, fight for your own home.” I don’t know where Tim might stand on the whole gay marriage issue since he did not discuss it (and it’s not really relevant here.) I don’t know if he was thinking about such issues when he made the statement. But some would argue that Christians in this country have little room to talk when it comes to marriage. And the fact is, there is practically no difference in the success of marriages of Christians compared to the marriages of non-Christians. In fact, it seems I read not too long ago that the success rate for Christians is now lower than that of non-Christians (I have no source, and I could be wrong, but that’s what I think I read.) So if our marital success is no better than anyone else’s, who are we to talk?

I know that most Christians still believe lasting marriages are extremely important and that we should stand up and say so. I agree - we should always stand up for what we believe. But I also believe that Tim’s statement is extremely important as well. We must first stand up and say so among ourselves, in our own homes, then in our own churches. If we want to preach to the world about issues of marriage, we should make sure our own are in order first. If we want others to have God-honoring marriages, we need to show them what they look like. If not, nobody’s going to listen. I’m not suggesting we should remain silent until we live in perfection in a given area of our lives (in this case, marriage), but rather that if we don’t look any different from “the world” when it comes to certain issues, then our credibility suffers and they aren’t going to be as inclined to listen to what we say about it. 

They may be equally uninterested because of how we say it. If we speak with an attitude of superiority or arrogance, chances are the message will be ignored. If we merely seek to pass laws to change behavior (while not necessarily a bad thing), they will see it as an attempt to “tell others how to live” and reject it as well. And certainly, hateful or degrading comments are not going to be effective, either. (In my opinion, carrying around “God made Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” signs is not likely to have a positive impact.) The change in people’s lives must come from within - a heart change. Laws cannot do that. Only Jesus can. And that’s why we’re here - to introduce them to Him, not drive them away from Him.

I don’t know if this ammendment will ever make it. I tend to doubt it. In fact, I lean toward believing that, eventually, gay marriage will be legalized despite the objections of Christians and others. But I believe we, without a doubt, have one thing correct - God defines marriage. No matter what a “kingdom of the world” recognizes as marriage, God defines true marriage. Laws of this land or any other will not change that. I personally believe God defines it as one man and one woman. And, no matter what laws a nation, state, city, etc. may put into place, they do not change the fact that we as Christians are to live according to what God says, and we must continue to do that regardless of the laws of any “kingdom of the world.” Hopefully, we will do so with humility, grace and love.

Some will say the sky is falling. This is just one more step down the “slippery slope.” Soon, it will be illegal to speak negatively of homosexuality at all (calling it sin, for example.) Even worse, others say, it may someday be illegal in this country to be a Christian at all. Will such a thing happen? I have no idea. I personally doubt it, but maybe it will. So, what then? We continue to obey God, not man. We continue to be Jesus to the world, no matter how difficult it might be. After all, when did He ever say it was going to be easy?