Thoughts on the Supreme Court Decision

I was asked this afternoon by someone if I was going to post something on Facebook regarding the Supreme Court decision today on homosexual marriage.  I have prayed about whether I should, I have a very small voice among many great church leaders and scholars who will weigh in on the religious, philosophical, and political analysis of this decision today.  I will offer these thoughts they are my own thoughts for what they are worth but I have striven to let my opinions be guided by the the truth of scriptures.

First for the faithful to whom it may seem their prayers have gone unanswered. Prayers expecting God to change the hearts of the justices to do the right thing. Remember God has not been overcome by the godless and sinful ways of man.  As a matter of fact the victory has been won in the cross and the sins for those that are saved by Jesus’ redemptive work on the cross have been forgiven.  If we are truly Christians and wanted God to change the hearts of the justices wouldn’t we rather see them changed to receive the same gift of forgiveness we have received.  Remember we to once walked in darkness but a great light has broken into our lives.  God’s plan is a plan of salvation from sins.  We need to remain focused on the gospel and to call all to repent and turn from their sinful ways, yes the fornicators, adulterers, homosexuals, the gossips, those that deceive, the one who fails to love God, the one who is angry with his neighbor, the one who looks upon another with lust in their heart, yes even the small child who envies the toys of another.

Second many who turn to hate and react with ungodly words and actions but yet call themselves disciples of the Lord need to look into their own hearts and apply the truth of the scriptures to their lives before looking beyond to those that seem to be destroying marriage and the foundations of the family. Many will want to be like James and John who wanted to call down fire from heaven because the village rejected Jesus and his ministry.  Jesus rebuked the two disciples, never saying the village was right, reminding them he came to save.  We were once those who rejected Jesus and if there is any rebuke or discipline remember that only sons of God, believers, are the ones to receive the love of God in discipline.  I turn to Hebrews and Proverbs…

Hebrews 12:3–7

³ Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted. ⁴ In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood. ⁵ And have you forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons?

“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord,

nor be weary when reproved by him.

⁶ For the Lord disciplines the one he loves,

and chastises every son whom he receives.”

⁷ It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

Proverbs 3:11–12 (ESV)

¹¹ My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline

or be weary of his reproof,

¹² for the Lord reproves him whom he loves,

as a father the son in whom he delights.

God will discipline his children.  You I hope and myself in our reactions to this decision should be guided by the possible rebuke of God if we react in a sinful way.  Just as Jesus rebuked the two disciples.  Remember you are loved and we can hope that those who reject God and his truth will come to know that same love that we enjoy.

Third as an evangelical, life will get very difficult as we continue to hold to the truth of God’s word and accept that our first allegiance is to God and not to this country. I want to offer history.  The church has looked away from other immoralities in our Judeo-Christian history.  Look at the pitiful state of marriage in the Old Testament where polygamy was rampant even among the most faithful servants of God.  In the New Testament the religious leaders of the day sought a justification for divorce with Jesus,  Paul taught that is was better that a man marry than burn with lust.  History is filled with many issues of sexual immorality in the church (e.g. The Corinthians that Paul addressed in the New Testament).  Maybe the church needs to focus more broadly on the problems of the decline of family and marriage that includes divorce, cohabitation (the modern term for fornication), homosexuality, and pornography.  The greatest challenge to the church will be to maintain the right and religious liberty to define right and wrong based on the truth of scripture and to call sinners to repent.  This is the true threat to our message and the gospel.

Lastly this is not the end. Just like the Roe v Wade decision in 1973 that made killing babies legal.  Things may be settled but they are not settled.  The decision means that 5 people have spoken in an opinion of their own will but not based on law as Chief Justice Roberts said in his dissent, “The majority’s decision is an act of will, not a legal judgment.”  The five willed the outcome not based on law.  Not the law of the land and certainly not the law of God.  The Supreme court took it upon themselves to redefine marriage.  We who are called by God as sons and daughters know the true definition of marriage as a gift of God to be shared exclusively between one man and one woman for life.  The focus needs to be on strengthening our churches with a conviction towards biblical marriage and family that is based on God’s truth resulting in healthier families.

Love is truly a wonderful thing if we accept the definition as God defines love.  God’s definition of love is not based on a lust filled spaghetti of emotions and feelings but on commitment.  Love will be wrong in all marriages that do not recognize love in a biblical and godly way.  Love will twisted to be about us and our personal feelings rather than commitment to our spouse.  The love of others will grow cold.  This is the case in so many marriages today where men and women simply decide that the marriage is not personally fulfilling and walk away.  Guess what gay community welcome now to the mess of ungodly marriages filled with broken hearts, broken homes, and devastated children.  Maybe you were better off in the closet where you had to be committed and you had to trust your partner.

Church now is the time when we turn to God and hold onto the principles of scripture and offer the lost of the world the true hope in Jesus Christ.  As the church we need to send this message to all who are sinners like ourselves there is a God who will give you forgiveness and restoration in the blood of Jesus Christ.  This is our message of love the gospel of Christ Jesus our Lord.  Even as they try to silence our voice we need to cry out even louder because they are doomed without Jesus.