24 Therefore God also gave them up to uncleanness, in the lusts of their hearts, to dishonor their bodies among themselves,
25 who exchanged the truth of God for the lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature.
27 Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due.
Even though there is a tendency to romanticize behavior that is diametrically opposed to God's plan for men and women, the Bible is very clear: such activity is sinful. This is true with the homosexual lifestyle - these actions are not about "who to love," but they are an extension of what the apostle Paul calls "vile passions." We have to be careful that we do not accept the redefinition of unclean things as beautiful. And, in our lives, we have to make sure that we are not relabeling our own actions and attitudes as being acceptable to God when in fact, we are engaged in sinful behavior.
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Jesus was asked about divorce, and he used the occasion to teach about the sanctity of marriage. This took place in Matthew 19:
4 And He answered and said to them, "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,'
5 and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?
6 So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate."
It's not about winning or losing, it's not about being on the right side of history. It's about being aligned with a key element of God's plan for the family unit and the essential building block of marriage. Marriage is the first institution ordained by God in Genesis chapter 2, and we do well to uphold the sanctity of that institution and stand against the corruption of it.
Across Alabama yesterday, while same-sex couples wishing to be married were celebrating, the fact is that only a fraction of probate offices were issuing marriage licenses. As I reported yesterday, an AL.com map showed that on this "glorious" day of triumph, only 9 counties were issuing marriage licenses across Alabama. That map has now been updated to include 19 counties.
In Mobile, where the lesbian couple who filed that original lawsuit resulting in a Federal judge striking down Alabama's marriage amendment resides, the probate office there was not issuing such licenses. Of course, they already were officially "married" in California. AL.com reported that the federal judge who struck down Alabama's ban on same-sex marriage, turned down a request to hold Mobile County Probate Judge Don Davis in contempt for failing to open the marriage license section of his office. U.S. District Judge Callie V.S. "Ginny" Grande wrote that Davis is not a defendant in the suit that prompted her order. And the plaintiffs, Kim McKeand and Cari Searcy, were not affected by the closure because they already were married in California.
Of course, at the center of the controversy surrounding gay marriage in Alabama is someone who apparently has the authority to do something about it. Chief Justice Roy Moore issued his order to probate judges Sunday night to not grant licenses to same-sex couples. Governor Robert Bentley responded the next morning by saying that he would not take action against any probate judge. Perhaps this would also include not taking action against a probate judge who refuses to issue a license.
Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council called attention to the crisis of conscience in Alabama concerning gay marriage. Yesterday's Washington Update stated:
Minutes after the U.S. Supreme Court gave the green light to issue wedding licenses in Alabama, most probate offices started turning down license requests. From Marshall, Franklin, and Lawrence Counties to Jackson, Tuscaloosa, and Dekalb Counties, dozens of judges sent couples home empty handed. Caught between the state’s courts and a federal judge, most offices are issuing their own stay.It's important to note that a number of probate judges had already decided what they would do concerning the same-sex marriage issue before the Chief Justice's order Sunday night.
Perkins quoted Elmore County's probate judge, John Enslen, who said, "I will never perform a so-called same-sex marriage... A federal court can put me in jail for life, and I will still never perform a so-called same-sex marriage. As a believer in the Word of God… I cannot in good conscience participate in a purported marriage ceremony which I strongly believe would profane the sacred institution of marriage." Elmore County has now begun to issue same-sex marriage licenses.
Perkins added:
Before people could accuse Elmore of ill-will toward homosexuals, the judge made it clear: “This is not about hating people. Each of us needs to treat every other human being with dignity and respect, regardless of our diametrically opposing viewpoints on this divisive issue. But tolerance is a two-way street. Either there is tolerance for all or there is tolerance for none. I want tolerance for my personal religious viewpoint.”This is certainly not a matter of allowing people to be with who they love. This is a direct assault on a fundamental institution that is consistent with God's heart and a building block for an orderly society. In a Focus on the Family online series on Marriage: God's Idea, David Kyle Foster is quoted:
Beloved, there is a profound and awesome reason for the way God ordered the creation of man—one that is commented on throughout Scripture, and one that we must observe if we are to find the fulfillment of our very being as humans. It is ordered as the union of a man and a woman in marriage—heterosexual and monogamous—an order that Jesus unambiguously reaffirmed in Matthew.Another article in the series, by Carol Hefferman, quotes Sacred Marriage author Gary Thomas, relating some of the reasons for marriage:
- God created marriage as a loyal partnership between one man and one woman.
- Marriage is the firmest foundation for building a family.
- God designed sexual expression to help married couples build intimacy.
- Marriage mirrors God's covenant relationship with His people.
Thomas is quoted as saying, "God did not create marriage just to give us a pleasant means of repopulating the world and providing a steady societal institution to raise children. He planted marriage among humans as yet another signpost pointing to His own eternal, spiritual existence."
So we continue to stand in God's truth in alignment with His plan for marriage. Probate judges, bakers, photographers, and others are exercising their guaranteed rights of freedom of speech and freedom of religion so that they do not endorse an action that conflicts so directly with God's Word. And, we can stand because we do not want to see the cultural or spiritual consequences of departing from his truth. Tomorrow, I will return to the Focus series on God's design for marriage and discuss some research that shows the benefits of marriage.
Some thoughts for today:
Number 1, God's way is best. Plain and simple. He has ordained marriage as one man and one woman, and this is an institution that has been a key building block not only for our society but for societies throughout the ages. If we get out of alignment with His ways, then we face the consequences. Gay marriage is a severe misapplication of God's truth.
Number 2, this is not an issue of intolerance, it's an issue of upholding what is right. Some of the most loving things that we can do for people is to provide correction when they are wrong and to prevent errant behavior. I would hope that we are driven by love and concern for the individuals or couples involved, and motivated by a concern for our society.
Number 3, we can be motivated to pray for our state and our nation, for our officials, and for the couples who have bought into the homosexual lifestyle and the agenda of so-called "marriage equality." There is much power when God's people come together in one accord - based on God's Word, we can pray for the renewal of the sanctity of marriage across our state and across the country. Pray especially for the U.S. Supreme Court as it considers how to handle this pivotal question.
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