Confused Christians

Are Christians in this country confused about human sexuality? Evidently. Even our President is terribly confused, vacillating between positions against and for homosexual marriage. I'm not writing to deride the POTUS. He is merely a very public example and illustration of our shared confusion regarding human sexuality and marriage.

Eight years ago in a U.S. Senate campaign speech, President Obama stated that he believed as a Christian that marriage was between a man and a woman. Two days ago, in an interview with ABC's Robin Roberts, President Obama stated that he believed as a Christian that same-sex couples should be allowed to get married. He cited the Golden Rule (Matthew 7:12) as his foundation (and presumably as the catalyst for his "evolution").

I am unwilling to speculate as to his rationale for this change. Cynics and most conservative voices on the blogosphere are decrying this "obvious" pandering to special interest groups, donors, and an increasingly indifferent voting bloc (in a recent Pew poll, only 28% of Americans believe the issue of gay marriage will be important in their vote). So, while many states are clamoring for same-sex marriage as a constitutional and civil right, other states (like North Carolina) are making constitutional amendments to insist on a traditional definition of marriage.

As has recently been blogged by Justin Taylor, Ed Stetzer, Russell Moore, and countless others, this issue is not going away. This issue may be, in any case, reflective of the increasingly confused understanding Christians in America have regarding marriage.

We must reach out in love and grace to homosexual and heterosexual persons within our community. Tolerance and kindness are demanded. However, this does not suggest that we change or redefine marriage in the name of tolerance or "evolving" viewpoints, as though our cultural context demands wholesale changes on issues of morality as though there is no clear prescription.

I don't get too concerned when "the world" goes down the path that the POTUS (and evidently so many others in the Christian community) are going down. I get concerned with the church joins in lock-step with the world, nearly falling over itself to declare its progressiveness, tolerance, and evolution in thought away from a "misanthropic, archaic, and patriarchal" set of values.

So, yeah, this is all very concerning, primarily in that God's people are very, very confused. If the Bible is not our guide, all bets are off, and we are well on our way to a sort of naturalism that will enable the justification of any and every action (interestingly, we saw this earlier this week when an appellate court in New York declared that viewing child porn is not always a state crime). God help us.

Bottom line--marriage is between one man and one woman for a lifetime. Any redefinition takes us outside of the auspices of Scripture, whatever benefits may be perceived economically, politically, or socially.