"But at the beginning of creation God 'made them male and female.' For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one. Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate." ~Mark 10:6-9
I have always found it interesting how things that were originally meant to be something are now taken to mean something else. The rainbow when it's first mentioned anywhere in history is in the book of Genesis when God makes a covenant with Noah. Thousands of years later people have taken the rainbow and use it for something else.
And that's what's been happening since the beginning of creation. People take parts of the Bible and modify it to fit their purpose. Many just simply discard it altogether. By now all of America is aware of the Supreme Court's decision to legalize gay marriage in all 50 states. For years this has been a battle, and slowly the Biblical viewpoint had been getting pushed away as people who wished to do things their way made their voice loud.
For many this decision was one of celebration. All through my newsfeed I see things such as #lovewins and rainbows. For the Christian the decision should come as no surprise because things are said to get a lot worst for the culture. Eventually people are going to start looking at other things to redefine, because if marriage doesn't have to be absolute in their mind, does anything? Why should something like say adultery be considered wrong? There are many things people will just say, "Eh, I don't agree with the Bible, so I'm going to vote for things that make me personally happy and just seem right to me." Someone whom is an advocate might question the Christian, "So is God really in control?"
The truth of the matter is that God is going to let people do what they want. If many wish to go the other way, He's going to let them. People are either for Christ or not. There's no in-between or neutral ground. Interestingly, many so-called Christians support gay marriage as if it can be adopted into the Bible. By now it's considered completely normal and to think otherwise makes the person seem out of touch and crazy.
For the true Christian, even things like this can be used to strengthen his/her faith. For one thing, now that it's legal all over people are going to expect Christians to either adopt the viewpoint or keep quiet about their beliefs. Many believers will think now they'll have to be quiet about their belief. That's not how it should be. In the world, whether it be at school, college, message boards, or in the work place, we're going to be tested and attacked. Friendships will be lost. But our faith, the most important thing, will be strengthened as we face opposition and stand up for the Truth.
Th next most important thing is to not let ourselves grow bitter. We need to be loving more than ever. If we catch ourselves attacking people with things like "You're a sinner!" (because we all are) they will not be open to hearing about the Gospel. We need to not let ourselves think there's no hope for others. God can work miracles in people. We just need to showcase the love of Christ that is within us. Not everyone will be convicted, but some will, and you have to remember that. We need
The Supreme Court can enact anything it wants. It will never change the foundation God has established. People might think they're in charge, but ultimately no one is. God lets these things happen to show the folly of our thinking. A Christian has two jobs in light of this decision. One is to stand firm and not let his/her belief be shaken when faced with opposition and persecution. The second is to be loving to those around them, showcasing the Gospel of Christ to an ever more fallen world.
"I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes." ~Romans 1:16
This was definitely a tough blow for the country and it's a real shame. A lot of Churches are likely going to come under attack if they choose not to allow gay marriages in their sanctuaries with following lawsuits. I feel like this is one of the toughest issues to tackle. As you mentioned, a lot of "Christians" claim that homosexuality is okay. Culture has completely taken it in and in just about every class that I'm in, there's always 2-3 gay people. It's fairly common to see guys together outside now and the other day two of them were just making out in the middle of the street. The place is definitely going downhill and it's going to be very tough for a while. Just mentioning that you don't believe in homosexuality is liable to put you at the risk of bodily harm along with the creation of many enemies. As you mentioned, we still cannot let this deter us and we certainly can't conform to the new standards. I've mostly just been passive about it outside, which I suppose is probably not the best thing to do, but it's hard to tell someone that what they'r doing is simply wrong. For example, on my site, I criticizes a gay subplot that was in one of the manga titles that I reviewed and a commentor quickly asked if I was homophobic. I responded that I don't believe in the gay culture and don't believe that it is right, but I won't go around condemning people for it.
ReplyDeleteIt's sort of like other sins for me. A lot of people swear constantly as it's a way of life for them. I know that it's wrong, but I'll typically just tune it out and continue on my way. I know that those people are not currently on the path to Heaven, but I don't really believe that I can change their views so I don't even try. Especially on the job, if a co-worker is gay, there's almost no way to handle that without putting your job on the line no matter how subtle you try to be. It's too bad because we end up meeting a lot of nice people along the way, but no matter how nice a person is, if he/she doesn't accept the Lord into that person's life, it's essentially futile. I've always found that to be the saddest part in life. To think that there are some people who live a proper life and do a lot of the right things, but they simply don't believe in the Bible and so the rest doesn't matter. It's inevitable and it's their choice not to believe, but it's still too bad.
So, I'm firmly against homosexuality as well Destroyer and it's regrettable that so many people have accepted it so quickly. I'm going to hope that my local church continues to not accept it although they've been very quiet on the subject. If they ever do conform, then it'll likely be time for me to sail out of there. This is something that I need to think about as well if someone ever confronts me about that in real life. I certainly need to stand by my view that it's the wrong thing to do and maybe even convince the person, but I need to do in a very careful way. Living in the world, but not being of it has always been a tough mission but if being a Christian was easy, then everyone would do it right? It's the ultimate challenge in a sense, but with the ultimate reward. No matter how much society goes downhill, we must never falter!