Civil Rights or Wrongs?

What a mess…. Homosexual activists are drawing the comparison between their “movement” and the civil rights struggles of the ‘50s. The catchphrase that is being marketed to capture the comparison is, “Gay Is the New Black.” When I hear statements like that, I shake my head and wonder, “Are they serious?”

Apparently they are. Equating homosexuality and perversion to ethnicity is an attempt to justify their lifestyle choice and create an appearance of legitimacy. But that is not the extent of their self-justification. Homosexual activists are also attempting to justify themselves religiously. The cover of this week’s Newsweek magazine synopsizes this latest attempt. As shoppers stand in line at the grocery store this week, they will be confronted with the headline, “The Religious Case for Gay Marriage.” As you open the magazine to the cover story, you will find the article’s subtitle: “Opponents of gay marriage often cite Scripture. But what the Bible teaches about love argues for the other side.”

Oh really? That’s another statement that makes me question their seriousness. But sadly they are. And the disturbing fact is that many churchgoers will not know how to refute their claims because they use their Bibles as infrequently and improperly as the reporter does.

The Bible is clear in its teaching on the design, purpose and nature of marriage. It originated in creation as a union between one man and one woman for the purpose of unique relational intimacy and propagation. The propagation was two-fold—first the propagation of the species and second, the propagation of the testimony of who God is and His work in the world. The clarifying revelation of the New Testament brings the picture into an even sharper focus. God designed marriage as a picture of the relationship between His Son and the church. God’s design, purpose and nature of marriage can never be accomplished in a union between anything other than one man and one woman. While the polygamy of the patriarchs tainted the picture and purposes of marriage, homosexual unions utterly destroy it.

But here is the real problem. The problem isn’t that homosexual activists will twist Scripture in an attempt to justify themselves. The problem isn’t that we don’t have enough laws to regulate against their lifestyle (even though we should). The problem is not a “they” problem. The problem is a “we” problem.

We as a nation have forgotten God. As Romans 1:21 says that we know God but we do not honor Him as God or give Him thanks for who He is and what He’s done. The rampant immorality and violence we see in our nation today is a result of that. Homosexuality is not the cause of big problems—it’s the result of the biggest problem we have.

But we as a nation are not even the biggest problem—because we as a nation can do nothing to fix it. We as the church are the biggest problem because we are the only ones with the solution. When we see the abomination of homosexuality, what is our reaction? All too often, we want to get in the fight. We want to make signs and petitions and go toe-to-toe with the activists. We want to rail against articles like the one in Newsweek and decry the awfulness of the sin we see “out there”. But those things will do nothing to fix the problem. The only thing that will fix the problem is the life-changing, world-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ—and we’re the only ones who can deliver it.

It looks like we’ve gotten behind. I guess that means we’d better get busy.