Quote:
Originally Posted by Evangelical
The government did not invent or create marriage. Marriage came from God (see Genesis), and Christians are supposed to be representatives of God, therefore Christians should uphold the true definition of marriage in the world.
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That is true. But that does not deny the world's governments the ability to use the word in conjunction with something that we do not believe is marriage. Even something that we would stand against as being marriage.
It is clear that we do not consider gay union as marriage in the Biblical sense. But the government is fully within its right to define a legal sharing of property and other rights to any combination of persons that would not be considered marriage to the church and call it anything they want — including "marriage."
Stand firmly on the premise that such is not the position of the church. It should not be. But stop tilting at windmills. There is no declaration in the Bible that Christians (or Jews for that matter) fight to preserve the "sanctity of marriage" in terms of the world's use of the term and practice. Only that we stand firm to preserve that sanctity for and among ourselves.
We stand upon greater defined terms on many other things. Bearing false witness is, to us, a problem even if the person against which the false witness is given deserves the result. The world does not always agree, even though the laws may generally agree with our position.
And this one will get most of us (including me). The government sets speed limits. Do we agree with the world and assume that the allowance of up to 10mph over is acceptable, or stick to the posted speed? It does seem that in some places to do so it as your own peril. But it is the law. And we are commanded to obey the laws given by both God and government except where it would be impossible to obey God's and that of the government. And speed limits would not be in that category.
So the real question about marriage in the context of the world is whether it is the loving thing to do to take strong antagonistic stances against homosexuality in these ways. Do we find ourselves at odds with the command to love others as ourselves when we take this kind of position? I am not saying to give up on holding to the correct Christian understanding of marriage for purposes of what the church will recognize and take part in causing to become.
Tolerance is a maligned term these days. From both sides of it. On one side, there is a push to declare that tolerance is proof of bigotry. On the other side, tolerance is decried as being acceptance of wrong as right. Neither is correct. Tolerance is the result of holding strongly to standards for myself that I do not force upon others. Neither do I condemn them for their stance. If there is condemnation to be given, it is God's task to make that condemnation.
I am not speaking in terms of toleration of immorality among the church. Tolerance is mostly eliminated within this context. We are clearly charged to take a stand within the church.
(Do not take that last part to mean that I agree with a lack of tolerance for disagreements over nonessential doctrines, positions, and practices.)