Presbyterians Take the Plunge

In case you have not heard, the Presbyterian Church USA has put both feet forward.  In the past it merely allowed their pastors to officiate at same sex weddings but now it has endorsed a new definition of marriage in which two people make a commitment (without specifying who those two people are or should be).

Once again there was a lot of hugging and many tears shed by those who have fought long and hard for this moment.  It is usually that way.  But little ever seems to be said for those who in regret and loss acknowledge that their church body has departed from uniform and unanimous Christian history and identity.  Those folks were not hugging or crying in joy.  They were watching the demise of their church body and the exchange of truth and catholicity for lies and a moment of deception.

Let me say this clearly.  This has nothing to do with hatred for or antagonism against homosexuals.  What it does have to do with is the hubris of the moment in which people filled with pride believe that they are taking a step for justice when in reality they are surrendering the faith to a wisdom that claims to be higher than God's and to a truth that trumps God's yesterday, today, and forever Word.  There is no love in deciding to ignore God's Word.  No one who loves homosexuals or heterosexuals should be happy about choosing lies over truth.  This is not something against homosexuals but for the divinely ordered pattern of human family.  This does not mean that everything heterosexuals do is okay because they are straight.  This is about the choice to ignore the reality of sin and its corruption of desire and God's order for what can only be described as selfish purpose.

If we can abruptly determine that what we think or feel or desire is more important that God's order and Word in this area, then we are not immune from other steps that will further distance us from the Lord and leave us still in our sins and still without hope for redemption.  The problem here is not isolated to one decision but to a perspective which ultimately places human reason and feeling above divine revelation.  That does no one any good.

The problems with modern Christianity have the same root -- deafness to the voice of God and hearts hardened by desire so that feelings are more important than anything else.  Churches that refuse to countenance a change in the definition of marriage are not choosing straight over gay or the sins of the majority over the sins of the minority.  They are attempting within the bounds of human frailty to exercise fidelity to the revealed will of God.  Jesus died for sinners -- of all kinds, shapes, and sizes.  His blood cleanses us from sin -- the darkest and deepest stains of sin.  His desire is that all would be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth.  Redemption is not for the good or the holy or the straight but for all sinners who come lamenting the desires of their hearts, the thoughts of their minds, the words of their lips, and the actions they have taken.  Redemption makes us new -- it does not save by ignoring wrong or putting a stamp of approval on what was and has always been wrong.  Straights have to face up to a history of abusing the gift of marriage, of choosing cohabitation over marriage, of sex that seems without self-control, and of a self-righteousness that judges the sins of others as greater than their own.  But gays have to face up to the fact that the Bible does not, has not, and will not be reconciled to same sex marriage or to the same sins of others practiced with a same sex partner.

The easy route is to ignore the hard truth of God's Word and choose to redefine marriage as if it were just a word.  The harder path is always to be faithful to the Scriptures, to speak the truth not in judgment but in love, and to insist that every and all sinners come through trust and repentance to meet the God of mercy and grace.