The decision of the Supreme Court of the United States on June 26th 2015 that all states must allow Same Sex Marriage has triggered another round of pressure from the Gay lobby in Australia to coerce the federal politicians in Canberra to follow suit.
The Christian church has always affirmed human sexuality as being between a man and woman in marriage while viewing all other sorts of sexuality as immoral and against the will of God. However, not all churches and Christians see this issue the same way. In pursuing love and an answer of grace some churches, denominations and individual church leaders have come out in favour of the right of two people of the same sex people to get married.
For me, this local church – Plenty Valley Church, and our own denomination – International Network of churches, we are opposed to the granting of the right to marry for people who are of the same sex. I don’t expect the Gay Lobby to agree with me or even validate my right to hold an alternate view, but if people want to know where I stand and where my church and denomination stands then here is the position we take.
The thinking of the few churches and Christians who favour the granting of Same Sex Marriage (SSM) rights is based on the idea that love is the basis for marriage and discrimination against any section of the community is wrong. They see that no harm can come of granting this right.
The churches and Christians who oppose the granting of this right are doing so because they believe it is giving credibility and recognition to the lifestyle that is clearly condemned in the scripture. Furthermore they feel that there is solid evidence that children raised in a home with a mother and father fair better in many ways than those who are raised in same sex parent households. They feel that the push from the Gay Lobby for the right to marry is a way to bring legitimacy to a lifestyle that is sinful, harmful and should not be promoted. They feel that the granting of this right will lead to a flow on effect of further demands and rights for LGBTI people that will curtail freedoms for those who hold such opposing views. In a bizarre case in Oregon a Christian Bakery was fined $135,000 for refusing to bake a wedding cake for a Gay couple, while 13 Gay bakery owners who refused to bake a cake with an opposing view of marriage on it were ignored without penalty.
The right to marry, based on the fact that two people regardless of gender, love each other is not really the only basis for marriage. As Pastor Peter Pilt of INC said, “The biggest danger homosexual civil marriage presents is the enshrining into law the notion that sexual love, separate from its potential to procreate, is the sole criterion for marriage. If the state must recognize a marriage of two men simply because they love one another, upon what basis can it deny marital recognition to a group of two men and three women, for example, or a sterile brother and sister who claim to love each other? Homosexual activists protest that they only want all couples treated equally. But why is sexual love between two people more worthy of state sanction than love between three, or five? When the purpose of marriage is procreation, the answer is obvious. If sexual love becomes the primary purpose, the restriction of marriage to couples loses its logical basis, leading to marital chaos.” Throughout history marriage has been the basis for the formation of families that raise and care for children.
At present in Australia gay couples can have a civil union recognized with a ceremony and have the same legal advantages and protections as a married couple. Then why do they want the right to marry? It is because being given that right legitimizes their relationship and gives it the same status as a man-woman union. The normalization of the homosexual lifestyle is the aim of the world wide Gay lobby to the extent that it would be promoted and championed as a viable and right choice for anyone.
The reason some churches and Christians have accommodated the Gay agenda by advocating the change to the marriage act is that some Christians have misunderstood their view of love and acceptance. Loving and accepting a sinner does not require the acceptance of their sin. Also Christians must stand for righteousness. If churches and Christians do not hold a view that the bible is divinely inspired then they are vulnerable to the notion that sexual orientation is something you’re born with. Now concerning the rightness of homosexual behavior, if one holds to the view that the bible is divinely inspired then there is no argument; homosexual behavior is sinful. If one believes that the bible is a religious book and written by men then its values are not timeless and should be taken as historical record and not for today. This is the heart of the matter for Christians.
Most Christians choose to accept the individual homosexual person and welcome them into church, participate in church activities and create relationship with them, in other words to show unconditional love. We would treat them no differently to an adulterer who is also clearly condemned in scripture or a thief, or a tax evader. Any and all of us are sinners at the outset, so our first entry in to the church is one of discovery and then hopefully, repentance and change. Just how long that takes is not of great concern. The normal approach for most churches and Christian leaders is to allow the Holy Spirit to lead an individual through to a change in thinking, values and behavior and if that isn’t happening after some time to initiate a conversation about values and what God may be saying to the individual. The task of change for the homosexual to change their orientation can be easier for some than others and no one is denying that it is a hugely difficult task for some, and may not be accomplished. To give these individuals support, encouragement, a lack of judgement and acceptance is important for churches and Christians. It is my view that an unrepentant sinner is not ready yet for a serving or leadership role in the church. The idea that love only, not condemnation, is how any church deals with homosexuals (or any sinners) is also missing half the biblical message. The simple truth is, lost sinners are condemned already by a righteous and holy God. They can only be delivered from the existing sentence of divine condemnation they are under by faith and repentance in Christ. Sure we love them, but we do so by telling the truth of their condition, including the truth that they are condemned to a lost eternity unless they repent and turn to Christ.
The homosexual person may have no desire to connect with God or church but if they do the big dilemma is that they often feel that their same sex attraction is so much a part of their essential being that it doesn’t make sense to call it sin. Their identity is as a gay person. They describe it as being born gay or having an inherent same sex attraction that is in their genes. My view is that the science doesn’t bear this out. Reviewing the articles that claim there is no “Gay Gene” here, here, and here, bring a clear argument. If the bible makes the case that homosexuality is a choice (Rom 1:24-27 ) then science would be likely to back that up notwithstanding that one can interpret findings in different ways.
As one may expect, there are conscientious objectors on the LGBTI side as well. These Gay men are opposed to the granting of SSM rights. Interestingly, the big shout of victory arising from the Irish referendum on SSM failed to disclose that the non-compulsory voting system in Ireland resulted in only 34% of the population voting in favour of SSM the balance being against or didn’t vote.
To accommodate the wishes of what is essentially a very small minority to the detriment of many (Children for example) is not helpful. Various sources say that homosexuality is as prevalent as 1-2% in Australia, other sources say 2-4% in the USA, still other sources say 1.2% of Australians. Still smaller is the percentage of Gay couples which is 0.47% of all couples in Australia.
The fact that the media is almost universally behind SSM makes it hard to make ground with any other argument. However the media doesn’t report fairly either.
As Senator Eric Abetz said recently that the Pitcairn Islands, Ireland and the US Supreme Court decision were all same-sex marriage stories we’ve heard about in the past couple of weeks.
Senator Abetz, leader of the government in the Senate, asked where the media voices were when more than 300,000 protested against same-sex marriage in Italy, the Austrian parliament voted down change by a margin of 110 to 26, and 31 US States voted by democratic referendum to put man/woman marriage in their constitutions before being overruled by courts.
In his Sydney Morning Herald Article and ABC AM interview, he questions why Pitcairn Islands, with a population of 48 and no gay couples, was the leading story over Austria and Italy. He also questions the democratic process in the US Supreme Court’s ruling on same sex marriage, and confirms his stand with the Liberal party position that marriage is between a man and woman.
For those wishing to know the stance we have as a local church in relation to homosexual people who visit or are members of our church you can read about it here. The denomination of which we are a part (INC) recently signed a letter together with 27 other Australian Denominations to the Prime Minister regarding the push for SSM. Here is a copy of that Letter. The Statement made by our own denomination concerning Same Sex Marriage can also be found here.
AS Christians, it is our responsibility to lead sinners to Christ and to stand for righteousness in our nation. This requires courage and persistence. Our belief in the inerrant word of God must be our guide and our encouragement.
Craig Anderson.
Senior Pastor Plenty Valley Church
South Morang, Melbourne.
