On Homosexual Marriage

Since it’s a hot topic and it’s been really heavy on my heart, I wanted to write about homosexuality, marriage and Christianity. I’m nervous as I type, because I know there may be hateful reactions from offended people, but I pray some people will gain insight from my words. Let’s start out with some basics.

We live in a Free Country

This country was formed as a free country, so people could have freedom. Not a Christian country. Though it was founded with Christian values and God at its base, the USA was founded for freedom. Did you watch the New Year’s celebration or read my letter on that? Do you watch tv and movies? Have you seen how people act and heard what is taught in our schools? Seen how commonplace sex before marriage, divorce, abortion, swearing, pornography, and adultery are? This is not a Christian country. God would DEFINITELY NOT be proud of us. That being said, giving everyone the freedom to get married to whomever they desire isn’t at all out of the scope of freedom. Freedom regardless of religious beliefs means God’s opinion on gay marriage doesn’t apply to the government. Which means freedom should truly be freedom to marry anyone.

Your Sexuality does NOT Define You

You are you, regardless of your sexual orientation. When I walk into a job interview or a meeting with someone, I don’t start with “Hi, my name is Andrea and I like to have sex with men.” That interview would probably not go so well. That meeting has already started on a very awkward note. In fact, when I think about listing characteristics about myself or another person, sexual orientation falls either very much toward the end, or not on the list at all. Same goes for skin color, but that’s a whole other conversation. We are people. Sexual orientation is part of who we are, but it does not define us. So when I talk about sexual acts, I’m not talking about the person as a whole, I’m talking about those actions.

Happiness does not Require Sex

Sex may lead to temporary happiness, but happiness and joy do not require sex. Happiness and joy also do not require marriage. There are plenty of unmarried, not sexually active people who are happy and have joy. To say that taking away sex or marriage would take away a person’s happiness is just wrong.

Are you still with me? Have I horribly offended anyone yet?

Why I’m Upset

All that being said, freedom is freedom and everyone in this country gets freedom.

Unfortunately, in the quest for sexual freedom, many people are stepping on the freedoms of those sticking to their religious beliefs. They are attacking God, attacking churches, attacking the Bible. And often these attacks are inaccurate, misquoted, misinterpreted, and result in name-calling.

I’m even more upset that abortion is acceptable and not considered murder. I’m upset that divorce for no valid reason is common. I’m upset that pornography is so rampant. I would be upset if abuse was acceptale. Or adultery. Or murder. And so on.

I’m upset that people think that just because the government says it’s okay, it’s morally okay. The government is not God. If God calls something a sin, it’s a sin regardless of whether the government says it’s ok or not. We must teach our children this from a young age, because I see many youth that think that whatever is culturally okay is therefore morally okay.

I’m upset that people think having the desire means they are entitled to receive it. That if the desire exists it must have been put there by God. This is a fallen and sinful world. A lot of things exist that weren’t intended by God.

I’m upset that my children, my youth, my church, myself, my family, and so on will be bullied for sticking to our beliefs and to what God says. I’m upset that when we try to defend our beliefs, we get called judgmental, or hateful, or a prick, often without even being heard out.

I’m upset that I get accused of not loving people. I know and love people with homosexual desires. They are great people. I hate the sin they are committing if they commit homosexual acts, but I still love the people and would do anything to help them, to protect them, to love them. I treat them the same as any other person I come in contact with. I will encourage them in anything, except encouraging them to continue sinning.

Are homosexual acts sin? Yes. God says so, not me, so yes. (Read Matthew 19:3-4, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, 1 Timothy 1:9-10 and others.) Are the thoughts and homosexual desires sin? No. All of us have temptations to deal with. Reformed alcoholics want to drink. Many Christians struggle with a desire to view pornography. Unless we dwell on those thoughts and they become lusts or actions, then they become sins. All of us screw up. We are all sinners. I’m no where near perfect. Far from. Does God love sinners? Yes. Yes, yes, a million times yes. He loves us so much He gave everything for us. Watched His own Son, Himself, be abused, brutally beaten and killed. He created us. He knows us to our core. He knows our deepest desires and our deepest needs. He knows things about us that we ourselves don’t know. And He knows what is best for us, for our families, for our country, for our world. For His world. God knows we sin. He wants us to realize our sins, to try to stop sinning, to trust Him and follow His word.

The Bottom Line is:

Now I’ve probably offended people. And if you don’t want to believe in God and follow Him, that’s your choice and I can’t and won’t force you too. I will still love you. I will still wish the best for you. I will still help you with the heavy box at the store or smile at you when I see you. I will still attend your parties and invite you to mine. I will still hope you stop sinning and turn to Christ someday so that you can enjoy heaven and eternal life in the long run.

If you say you are a Christian and you say you follow God, please understand, you can’t pick and choose what parts of God’s Word you follow. This is an all or nothing situation. You can’t ignore any of the sins, whether it be sex before marriage, adultery, divorce for non-valid reasons, gossip, murder, stealing, homosexual acts, pornography, and so on. Sins are common to everyone, Christian or not. Christ brings us the call to stop, seek forgiveness, and strive to be more Christ-like every day.