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Gay Marriage in the Church

Just recently a young Christian student attending a public high school here in Sacramento wrote a paper on the ever growing acceptance of "gay rights" among her peers. It was in response to an assignment she was given to draft a "persuasive article" on a controversial subject. She read it before her entire class. It's a paper many of the pastors not only here in Sacramento but throughout the country should read. It puts to shame the compromises so many of them are making for the sake of not "rocking the boat." But "rock the boat" is exactly what they need to do - and it's exactly what this courageous young woman has done. If pastors won't pick up the cause of Christ, then God will raise up others to do so - others like this young woman.

Gay Marriage in the Church

Written by a young high school student

Within the past 12 years interest in the biblical acceptance of homosexuality has peaked and Christians have found themselves backed into a corner, forced to answer the million dollar question: "Is it sinful to be gay?" Recently there have been meetings with the leaders of large churches such as Capital Christian, Bridgeway, and The Rock of Roseville to discuss this very question. Some of these pastors have said, "I used to think being gay was a sin, but now I've changed my mind." Every day more Christians conform to the social standards set by homosexual propaganda. However, I remain intransigent. We, as Christians, have to believe that God is immutable and we must refuse to manipulate the bible to meet the wants and needs of this disaffected social era; we must examine the Bible and refrain from calling sin "good."

	With her mother

Gay Christians or Christians who support gay marriage have set out to prove themselves and preach that it is biblically acceptable to be gay. Matthew Vines is a 22 year-old gay Christian who released a youtube video called "The Gay Debate" that quickly went viral, catalysing several Christians to exonerate homosexuality. In his video, he addresses the 6 main passages that identify homosexuality as immoral and "disproves" them all. The counterargument to Matthew Vines' sermon lies within the first 7 minutes. He says "I am gay, I didn't choose to be gay. It is not something I would have chosen. Not because it's bad but because it is extremely inconvenient." 

When we know that we are wrong, or are doing something wrong, we try to "make it good" so that we don't have to feel guilty. Who can blame us? Guilt is an awful feeling. However, just because we label it "good"  in order to satisfy our emotional needs, does not make it good. Matthew Vines grew up a Christian in a Christian home, he knows the Bible, he began his video by quoting the scripture that clearly states that homosexuality is a sin; he knows he is doing something "bad."  Now because we are born with a tendency towards a sinful life, he, like all people, will feel strong temptation to live a sinful life. That doesn't change the fact that he has learned the truth about sin from the bible, and that what he's doing is wrong. Now that his sinful flesh and knowing heart are at odds, he feels guilty, and so he devoted himself to calling his sin "good."

Vinces quotes Genesis 2:18 when God says that it is not good for man to be alone, so he created a companion for Adam and that was Eve. Matthew continues to say that a woman is an appropriate helper and companion for the majority of men, but that only encompasses straight men. He says that even though he is gay, if he is alone he is complying with what God called "not good." However, in 1 Corinthians 7 Paul says "it is good to remain unmarried. The unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord."  Leviticus 18 states that homosexuality is an unlawful abomination and that the punishment is death. Christians have questioned the applicability that Leviticus' warnings have on present day Christians. They speculate that the Old Testament's rules were fulfilled by Jesus and the new covenant.  In Roman 7: 7 it says "What then shall we say? That the law is sin? By no means!" God tells us that he has written his law in our hearts. That means each of us are going to have different struggles and temptations. Mine may not be homosexuality but I struggle with doubt, self-obsession in the way I look, I idolize food and what I eat, I gossip, I've stolen, I'm disrespectful. The only thing that separates me from a person that actively practices homosexuality is that I know that I am sinful and each day I ask God for help in relinquishing my idols to him. We must daily surrender our sin to him so that we may do his perfect will with no distractions.   

	On the Cal campus

Romans 1:27 "and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error." Christians in support of gay marriage are fallaciously preaching that this passage needs to be redefined. They say that the men and women mentioned in Romans 1 are blameworthy because they started as heterosexual then rejected it. But this can not apply to the gay people of our day and age because they were "born this way;" they started as homosexual; so in point of fact "it would be unnatural for them to pursue a heterosexual relationship." They have debauched the bible. If this were the case, then nothing in the bible holds any weight. We were all born sinful, that is everyone's natural way. It is our duty as Christians to take up our cross and deny our individual temptations. By exempting homosexuals from their quotidian burden we are exculpating their sin and allowing exposure to the aspersion of sin. If we truly love them we will hold them to the standards that will ultimately allow them access to eternal life and the splendor of heaven.