Gay Marriage, - The President verses Manny Pacquiao

‘Dear friends, I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. But now I find that I must write about something else, urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to his holy people.  I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches, saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ…. And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion. Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.’  Jude 1:3-4, 7

I do not on this blog involve myself with politics. While it may appear at first glance that I am breaking with that on this post, it is only because so many within our country are working to make a morality issue, a political issue, and for the most part they have succeeded.  The issue at hand has nothing to do with politics, even though political parties, politicians, celebrities and the like are all driving the issue; rather the issue is a clear cut morality issue.  It did not begin with the current topic that is being thrown around Washington, and the rest of the country, nor will it end with it.   The people of this country began this journey long ago, they just didn’t realize it, where it ends up – personally I do not think that it does end.  As a nation and a people we just keep sinking lower   the outcome within this country is already a forgone conclusion. However, victory does not make the victors correct, or those who appear to have lost this battle – wrong.  

Recently the President of the United States announced that he was in favor of gay marriages. Previously the Vice-President said that he was “absolutely comfortable with gay married couples”.  Celebrities (i.e. Hollywood) across the country jumped at the opportunity to chime in their support for gay marriage, and to state how proud they were of the President for switching his previous position in opposition to gay marriage.  Then something curious happened, Manny Pacquiao (the first 8 division world boxing champion) and one of the most well liked sports celebrities in the world stated simply that gay marriage was against God’s law.  The torrent of hate and anger that was poured out at Mr. Pacquiao for his comments was relentless, even from those who profess to the world that they are Christian. 

Now before I go on to the central point of this posting, you need to stop and re-read that last paragraph, and think about it, I mean really think about it.  A man, who is obviously following God’s word, gets blasted by those within a “Christian Nation” for saying that the President of the United States is wrong and that gay marriage violates God’s word.  Hmmm…. so much for the President's claims to be a Christian, perhaps yours as well.  But what is really amazing is that those who scream the loudest for ‘tolerance and acceptance’ are the most intolerant when someone disagrees with them, guess it makes them happy to berate someone with a different opinion.   As a side note Mr. Pacquiao is absolutely correct, the Bible is absolutely clear on the issue.

This is the jest of why the president and those who support gay marriage say that they support gay marriage – ‘Everyone has the right to be happy’.  That’s it, nothing deeper than that, nothing more profound - just the time honored argument that has been used through the ages to commit unspeakable sins, “just do what makes you happy”.

I am not going to argue the morality of the issue, my opinion does not matter, any more than yours does; God has already decided the morality of it, and regardless of what you and I think, He isn’t going to change His opinion (and His is the only one that counts).  What I am going to discuss is the glaring flaw in the argument used by the President and those who use that argument to advance causes that will make a particular segment of the population ‘happy’.

Simply stated, once you sign off on the argument that a particular  segment of the population is entitled to do what they believe will make them happy, there is no going back from it.  There is no end to it.  You can not (without being a hypocrite) state in the future that others can not do what will make them happy, regardless of what you think is the morality of it.   It was that exact fatal flaw that gay activist used to silence those within the church.  The church and professing Christians had signed off on heterosexual couples divorcing for any reason and remarrying (in direct violation of God’s word) all under the guise of ‘God just wants you to be happy’ so don’t worry you are forgiven.  The Church took the first bite of the apple years ago.  

I am not going to make a long winded argument to support my position; instead I am going to ask you to think about a several questions.

Should a woman be allowed to marry her brother?  How about her father?

Is committing adultery with your neighbor’s husband okay? How about your neighbor’s 17 year old daughter? 

Is premarital sex something that you want your 13 year old daughter to engage in?

Is it alright for a 50 year old man to marry a 17 year old girl? How about 16, 15, 14, 13 (you know they do grow up faster these days)? 

Is it morally acceptable to divorce your wife because you found a newer younger model?

For that matter, why do we make such a big deal out of prosecuting those who have more than one wife? 

If you agree to the argument that gay marriage is not a sin and should be allowed because everyone has the right to do what they think will make them happy, then what are you going to say to those who tell you in the future that doing any of the above is what makes them happy.  How do you tell them that they can not do what makes them happy, when you are already doing the same.  Who are you to judge?  Sing off on one, and you have signed off on all of them.

Let me be perfectly clear, I am against gay marriages, I am also against divorce, adultery, fornication, child molestation, incest, polygyny etc. etc.  I do not distinguish between any of them, neither does God.  Each is a sin, and those who commit them, or encourage others to do so, will ultimately face the wrath of God.

America, if it doesn’t already, will soon make Sodom and Gomorra pale in comparison.

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.”  Matthew 10:14-15

Follow Your Heart..... (Otherwise know as the Path to Hell)

I interact a lot with those who are either going through a divorce or who are thinking about one.  On a daily basis I witness the worst in people.  I listen to their excuses, their selfishness, their lies. Which make the conversation I recently had with a woman no different then the one I have had a hundred times over.    She was thinking of divorcing her husband ,  and in the depth of  the conversation she revealed that  she was having an affair with another woman’s husband.  Which if you do not know, is a sin, which I in a direct manner pointed out to her.  Needless to say she wasn't very happy with me for saying that, so I asked her if she thought she was a Christian.

"Of course I do," she said.

To which I responded "do you believe the Bible is true?"

Imagine my surprise when she said, "Absolutely."

So then I quoted  verse after verse that identified what she was doing as a sin. She told me, "That is your opinion. That's your interpretation. You just don't understand and besides you are not suppose to judge and God forgives everything."  Like I haven’t heard that before.  Interesting how people always tell you that you are not suppose to judge, when they are committing the evilest of sins. 

In the end  I simply told her the truth, “You will do what is right or you will do what you want.  However, they are not the same and whichever course you choose you will reap what you have sowed.” 

Which brings me to this point:  Do what your heart tells you is a creed believed by millions today.  It is one of the great cultural myths of the Western world, a gospel proclaimed in movies, songs, television programs and stories.  Heck I have even heard pastors say it.  But the truth is, if you want to stamp your ticket to hell, then just follow your heart.  However, don’t be surprised at your final destination. 

The Bible is very clear on the matter,  "The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?" (Jeremiah 17:9).  

Adultery, Divorce, Fornication, Gay marriage, the list goes on and on; as long as it doesn’t intrude on me, live and let live… you just don’t understand.  To which I reply “No, you do not understand. Your opinion, your desires, do not alter God’s laws, they have been, are and always will be the same.”  If you need proof that you will reap what you sow, just look around, look at the decline of America. 

We need a higher standard of authority than our heart, a higher standard of authority than mere opinion, and that is the Word of God.  

The problem we have today is a watered-down gospel and because of that, many have a watered-down Christian life.  We have Christians who have become so much like the world that the world doesn't want to become like them.  What is considered normal Christian living in the first century would be considered radical by today's standards. But that is what we need: radical Christianity. To put it another way, we need biblical Christianity.

Instead of trying to accommodate the Word of God to our changing culture, we need to accommodate our culture to the unchanging Word of God.

What is a Christian?

Three ‘Christians’ go to church each week, one volunteers in the nursery, one is an Elder, the other a member of the choir.  Each has their own story, each continues in their chosen sin unabated.  Which leaves this question?  Is the woman who is having an affair with her best friend’s husband a Christian?  Is the man who sells illegal drugs to pay for his daughter’s education a Christian?  Or what about the man, who divorced his wife because he wasn’t in love with her anymore, is he a Christian? 

What is a Christian?  If you were to ask 100 “Christians” you would get 100 different answers.  I think the reason for that, is partly because we have a lot of anemic, shallow preaching today, which has left the church with a generation of people who think they are Christians but really are not.  These are people who have been told to believe, but they have never been told to repent. They have been promised heaven, but they have never been warned of hell.  They have been told that God wants them to be happy, but they have never heard that God wants them to be holy.  I wonder whether a lot of these people even know what the genuine gospel message is. Recently there was a survey that revealed that 7 in 10 American adults have no clue what John 3:16 means “For God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (As I have pointed out before believes means to obey, for even the devil believes, yet he is doomed)  

The same study also revealed that barely one-third of all adults know the meaning of the term, "the gospel."  Thus it should not surprise us that the fact is, what is considered as Christianity by many today would not even qualify as such in the first century.  However the Bible is very clear about who is a Christian.  According to the apostle Paul, a Christian is someone who has put his or her faith in Jesus Christ, and Christ alone, as Savior and Lord and God.  A Christian is someone who has turned from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God “to open their eyes, so they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God.  Then they will receive forgiveness for their sins and be given a place among God’s people, who are set apart by faith in me.’” Acts 26:18.

It is not for me or you to decide who is a Christian and who is not. That is ultimately up to God.  We are told however that we will recognize them by their fruit.  I do know one thing, what we don't need more of today are 'sort-of Christians'. What we need are 'no-doubt Christians'—people about whom you could say, "There is no doubt in my mind that person is a follower of Jesus Christ."  Could you say that about the three individuals mentioned above, could you say that about those you know, more importantly would they say that about you?