What a month it’s been for the gay agenda. Vice President Joe Biden propelled gay marriage into the presidential campaign by stating on “Meet the Press” that he is “absolutely comfortable with the fact that men marrying men, women marrying women and heterosexual men and women marrying one another are entitled to the same exact rights, all the civil rights, all the civil liberties.”
Later that week, President Obama told ABC’s Robin Roberts that he thinks “same sex couples should be able to marry.”
It’s amazing how far the gay agenda has come in one generation. Behavior that once was in the closet is now presented as mainstream. What previously was considered deviant is today pressed upon us as a normal lifestyle choice.
This cultural shift happened very strategically and incrementally through the years. The media played a key role. Between movies like “Brokeback Mountain,” and television sit-coms like “Modern Family,” viewers see homosexual relationships pushed to the forefront of modern life, and gay marriage as just another way to express commitment. Impressionable young viewers wonder “What’s wrong with gay marriage if that’s what they want to do?”
Then the clever tactic of promoting an atmosphere of tolerance helps portray anyone who opposes homosexuality and gay marriage as a homophobic bigot. Who wants to be labeled a “gay basher?”
One foundational problem with the effort to legitimize homosexuality is the blatant ignoring of biblical authority. In Genesis 2, God instituted His design for marriage and the family. God created male and female and put them together as husband and wife. He created the gift of sexual intimacy and clearly designed that intimacy to take place in the context of a marriage relationship between a man and a woman.
As James Emory White wrote, “This means that femininity and masculinity are at the heart of God’s design. They form the basis of marriage, the two becoming one. Both genders reflect God’s image, and together reflect and honor God as they join in union with one another. God created men and women, and marriage, so that their differences would complete one another in every conceivable way . . .”
Homosexuality, therefore, departs from God’s design by embracing same-sex sexuality rather than male and female, and takes that activity outside of the bounds of biblical marriage.
In addition, the Bible clearly forbids homosexuality (Lev. 18:22, 20:13, Romans 1:25-27; I Cor. 6:9, 10; I Timothy1:8-11). This is not a grey area open to interpretation. Homosexual behavior is seen as deviant, sinful, and outside the will of God. God calls it an “abomination.”
God wants what is best for our lives, and He gave us the Bible not only to know Him, but also to have guidelines and guardrails for daily life.
Deliberately stepping beyond God’s plan for marriage and venturing into what He clearly prohibits is a slap in the face of a Holy God. We are basically saying, “I am smarter than God. He doesn’t know what He’s talking about.” That’s pride and arrogance at its worst. God is God and we’re not, but we try to be.
One of the more interesting aspects of this firestorm that received minimal press coverage was the reaction of African American clergy. The next day, after the president shared his evolving opinion on gay marriage, more than a dozen pastors and civil rights leaders in Memphis gathered and called on President Obama to reverse his position and to tell him that gay marriage activists are hijacking the civil rights movement.
“I marched for civil rights and I can tell you: I did not march one inch, one foot, one yard, one mile for same-sex marriage,” said Rev. Bill Owens. “No right is a civil right if it’s not square with God.”
Owens and other members of the Coalition of African American Pastors issued a statement that included, “We cannot and will not remain silent while marriage, the most fundamental institution of our and any nation, is undermined by our own President while using Christian language and relating it to civil rights. . .”
All the while, God’s heart breaks as we continue this moral slide. I’m afraid eventually our nation will reap what it sows.
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Dr. David L. Chancey is pastor, McDonough Road Baptist Church, Fayetteville, Georgia. The church gathers at 352 McDonough Road, just past the department of drivers’ services. Join them this Sunday for Bible study at 9:45 and worship at 10:55 a.m. Visit them on the web at www.mcdonoughroad.org.
