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n case you have been
under a rock for the greater part of today, there have been some historic
happenings in the Supreme Court regarding same-sex unions. The Supreme Court
Justices have ruled that elements of the Defense of Marriage Act (which denies
federal benefits to same-sex couples) are unconstitutional and married same-sex
couples should enjoy the same benefits that married heterosexual couples enjoy.
Additionally, they declined to rule on California’s Proposition 8 (which
defines marriage as between one man and one woman) because they did not believe
it had the proper “legal standing to proceed.”
For more information
see these articles:
Prop. 8: The Washington Post: Prop 8
While I’m sure there
is much to be said theologically about these issues, I want to direct my focus
towards what a proper response might be towards these rulings. How does this
affect us a Christians when we wake up tomorrow morning? What are we called to
do? Now, make note that I don’t want to argue here for how we can reverse this
and take everyone back 200 years. While the trajectory of culture may not
comply with how I understand reality to be, I don’t think the proper answer is
to get knocked out of wack and complain. Rather, I want to consider here what
the minimum commitments of Christians should be as we interact with this new
reality.
1) Persistent, Patient
Love
As Christians it is our bounden duty
to affirm the equality of all persons due to their innate possession of the imago dei. That being the case, we are
called to love each person alike. Despite what happens in the socio-political
world we have not been and never will be released from this basic duty. You’ll
notice that I modified ‘love’ here with patient and persistent. I did this
because I think we will often find this to be a wearisome and confusing task.
What does it look like to love someone who I do not agree with? How can I
sustain a loving relationship with someone who might perceive of me as a bigot
or intolerant? Well, however those details might shake out, the goal remains:
love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a pure faith (1 Tim. 1:5).
2) Active Articulation
of Christian Truth
Furthermore, Christians cannot stop presenting
the immanent culture with a rigorous and coherent take on reality. This doesn’t
mean vitriolic imprudence in our conversations, but a gentle and active
engagement with current issues. What cannot happen is capitulation to secular
ideals -- we cannot stop speaking about our faith and what our faith entails. If
we stop engaging and cloister away, then we’ve conceded an unnecessary amount.
Instead, we need to always be ready to make a defense….with gentleness and
reverence (1 Peter 3:15).
3) Sober Assessment of
the Road Ahead
Finally, I think it would benefit
Christians to relax a little bit as we think about the future. Most likely it will be a long road ahead for Christians who retain a traditional view of marriage. No big deal! Tomorrow is going to come around. You're going to get out of bed, go to work, and live your life. This is not the end of the world. Be open and attentive to what your Lord would like to teach you through the process. Don't jump to conclusions, make hasty choices or ostracize yourselves from what is happening. Engage patiently and openly. Who knows? Maybe there are some things both sides can learn through all of this. That being said, don't give up on creating Kingdom culture. As I've written before (here) I believe that humans have a God-given capacity to create non-physical realities. We bring about cultures of love, peace, and truth. We need to press in to this capacity and see how God will use it for the future. So, we face the future soberly, but confident that (from our perspective) the future is open for discovery.
Blessings,
Dave
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