This isn't About Gay Marriage



After hearing about the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing gay marriage for all states, many things went through my mind. Some political. Some moral. All contributed, however, to a sinking feeling in my stomach.

There are many things we could discuss in light of that. 

Yes, I believe that gay sexual acts are wrong. Yes, I believe marriage is a sacred agreement between a man and a woman before God. No, I don’t believe that the Federal Government has the right to overturn state laws. Yes, I believe non-profit businesses should have the right to be selective about to whom they sell their goods and services. 

Does that make me any better than people who choose to believe otherwise? No. 

This isn’t about politics, this isn’t about religion. This isn’t even about gay marriage. This is about the condition of the human heart.

So this is what I choose to discuss: How we as Christians, saved by grace and the blood of Christ, should respond to this “proud”1 legal victory. It’s simple:

Follow Jesus. 

Number One: Are we interacting with God daily through reading our Bible and prayer2? When I go through dry periods with my walk with God, my attitude toward people and circumstances get a whole lot worse. I am more likely in these times to fail at showing Christ’s love to people who need it most. 

Number Two: Are we treating others as more valuable than ourselves? Selfishness is the bane of human existence, and is the driving force of much of our interactions and industries. The Holy Spirit nudges me when I inevitably act in my own interest at the expense of others. Christ’s salvation gave me the desire to choose selflessness instead. Turning the other cheek3 is a major facet of this choice. We are called to expect rejection, abandonment, and condemnation by the world in the same kind as what Jesus suffered. We are called to be the kind of confusing people that return hatred for kindness and love.


Number Three: Are we remembering that our actions don’t define who we are? This one is tough. I forget every day that I have done nothing to earn the life I have been given by Jesus’ sacrifice. God is sovereign, and nothing I do or fail to do will make him stop loving me4. That kind of love is healing; that kind of love is freedom. I want others to know that freedom through Jesus.

How many of us forget that gay people are part of the greater whole of humanity that we are called to reach out to with that love?

The bible passage below is one that Christians have used for decades to condemn the gay community. Are we representing Jesus’ love in the way that we approach political and social life? Are we all not sinners who would be condemned if it weren’t for Christ? Take a look yourself and tell me: what are your thoughts?

“If any of you has a dispute with another, do you dare to take it before the ungodly for judgment instead of before the Lord’s people? 2 Or do you not know that the Lord’s people will judge the world? And if you are to judge the world, are you not competent to judge trivial cases? 3 Do you not know that we will judge angels? How much more the things of this life! 4 Therefore, if you have disputes about such matters, do you ask for a ruling from those whose way of life is scorned in the church? 5 I say this to shame you. Is it possible that there is nobody among you wise enough to judge a dispute between believers? 6 But instead, one brother takes another to court—and this in front of unbelievers!

7 The very fact that you have lawsuits among you means you have been completely defeated already. Why not rather be wronged? Why not rather be cheated? 8 Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. 9 Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men 10 nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

1 Corinthians 6:1-11 NIV, emphasis mine

1 “Proud” is the mantra adapted by gay rights activists and their supporters.

2 Matthew 6:5-15

3 Matthew 5:38-40

4 Ephesians 2:8-10