And now for something totally different...
When Brian McLaren was asked about gay marriages, he said, "You know what, the thing that breaks my heart is that there's no way I can answer it without hurting someone on either side." I love that answer. He has wrestled with the issue and he knows the impact his answers will have on us.
But fools rush in where angels fear to tread and I am such a fool.
There are at two concepts of marriage.
Marriage as instituted by God is a reflection of the imago dei, a reflection of Himself. We are made in His image, both male and female, and in marriage, the two become one bonded by Love. In marriage, we create: the love, the children, the life. It is a picture of our Triune God.
The other concept of marriage is the legal one and it is under the province of our governments. They define it and regulate it. And their primary, God given mandate is justice. As Gerald Vandezande is fond of saying, justice is not 'just us'. A society is judged by how she treats the least of her citizens.
A lot of marriages, even Christian marriages, are not good reflections of the imago dei. Some are broken, abusive and/or evil. But this reality does not mar the ideal. Single people and childless couples also bear the image of God especially when they love one another and create something good in this world. Can we truly say that two gay persons who promise to love and honour each other can not reflect God's image?
Jesus said there will be no marriage in heaven so this point will eventually become moot.
I think the greatest difficulty for Christians is the don't ask, don't tell and don't do policy. If gay Christians can not marry, then they can not have sex. This issue forces us to deal with people like Mel White and Bishop Robinson, sincere and mature Christians who have struggled with their identity and concluded that God loves them as they are.
This is where I'm currently stuck. I know some people who can see angels and demons and I want to ask them what they see when they look at a gay person and gay couples. This is where I want to walk by sight and not by faith.
The only impression I get from my heavenly Father is that it's not what others do that matters; it is how I treat them, how I respond that matters most to Him.
When Brian McLaren was asked about gay marriages, he said, "You know what, the thing that breaks my heart is that there's no way I can answer it without hurting someone on either side." I love that answer. He has wrestled with the issue and he knows the impact his answers will have on us.
But fools rush in where angels fear to tread and I am such a fool.
There are at two concepts of marriage.
Marriage as instituted by God is a reflection of the imago dei, a reflection of Himself. We are made in His image, both male and female, and in marriage, the two become one bonded by Love. In marriage, we create: the love, the children, the life. It is a picture of our Triune God.
The other concept of marriage is the legal one and it is under the province of our governments. They define it and regulate it. And their primary, God given mandate is justice. As Gerald Vandezande is fond of saying, justice is not 'just us'. A society is judged by how she treats the least of her citizens.
A lot of marriages, even Christian marriages, are not good reflections of the imago dei. Some are broken, abusive and/or evil. But this reality does not mar the ideal. Single people and childless couples also bear the image of God especially when they love one another and create something good in this world. Can we truly say that two gay persons who promise to love and honour each other can not reflect God's image?
Jesus said there will be no marriage in heaven so this point will eventually become moot.
I think the greatest difficulty for Christians is the don't ask, don't tell and don't do policy. If gay Christians can not marry, then they can not have sex. This issue forces us to deal with people like Mel White and Bishop Robinson, sincere and mature Christians who have struggled with their identity and concluded that God loves them as they are.
This is where I'm currently stuck. I know some people who can see angels and demons and I want to ask them what they see when they look at a gay person and gay couples. This is where I want to walk by sight and not by faith.
The only impression I get from my heavenly Father is that it's not what others do that matters; it is how I treat them, how I respond that matters most to Him.
Your gay marriage blog inspires me.
Yesterday, I met with a disillusioned Christian who was distraught because the Canadian Government is gradually enacting laws and regulations that are limiting the churches ability to preach against homosexuality. He felt that they were ruining our opportunity to teach the truth.
Our situation as Christians is sad, because this man represents many in the church who think the truth is an anti-gay message.
Recently many in a group of prayer people, to which I belong, have been seeing that the hearts of men (not the gender-specific use of the word men) are hardened and most people on this earth never experience love as God had originally intended. Men simply do not know how to love one another.
Teaching and spreading this love is the true calling of the church and the established church has missed the boat.
We are first to become loving people and second to spread this love amongst the people and the nations of this world. THERE IS NO PLACE FOR ANTI-GAY SENTIMENTS IN THIS MISSION.
I can spend the entire rest of my life trying to become a more loving person and hopefully teach and pray for others to become more loving. And, I simply will not have enough time left over to address the gay issue. The anti-gay issue is huge distraction in a world of such non-loving pain.
Please God, let the established church see the mission of love that you have called us to.
Posted by: Greg | March 11, 2005 at 10:50 AM
Hey,
A couple of very quick comments about this.
One--the bible's own analysis does NOT root the judgment of Sodom and Gomorrah in their sexual sin, but rather for other things, especially bad or insincere worship and failures of social justice. (Search Sodom on Crosswalk)
Secondly, absolutely God's focus is on our own decisions. Luke is really interesting this way--Jesus just says follow me, and then says, here's what you do. There's no extensive list of, "Here's what makes a Christian."
Thirdly, life's an unbelievably complex affair with huge difficulties and as far as I can tell, virtually not one decision which can be made for everyone, everywhere. THAT to me is the result of the fall--that even when we want to get it right, we can't figure out what's right.
I'm not sure why this area provokes such absolutism--fear somehow seems very relevant.
Nice post about it, anyway.
Posted by: nyog | March 11, 2005 at 09:13 PM