Do we need gay marriage?

***Dave argues why we need gay marriage

I believe it's better to teach that homosexuality is okay, and so homosexuals are expected to follow the same formal rules as heterosexuals, than to teach that homosexuality is okay, and it's okay for them, but not straights, to shack up with each other.

I mean, it can be taught that the sort of relationships that gays ought to be in are what we expect from straights as well — faithful and committed and loving reflections of God's love for us, etc., etc., but those can too easily be weasel words. Lots of straight people profess such relationships, too — is the church now going to say that it's okay for them to live together without benefit (and blessing and commitment) of marriage? Probably not.

I actually do believe that this effective double-standard is going to have a more negative effect, in the short and long run, than simply marrying gays. People are often less upset about right or wrong than they are about fair and unfair.

Dave gets extra points for consistency. The question that is begged by Dave is why does a certain class of relationship need to be monogamous. Once the Biblical standard is jettisoned some other needs to be substituted. For Dave, it is commitment and love. But, where does commitment and love need to be exclusive? The church is rightly condemned for the attitude of "us four, no more, shut the door". Obviously, the church is to be both committed and loving. Yet, this kind of commitment and love is to be non-exclusive.

What makes the sexual relation exclusive is the issue of children and the intimacy that is the result of sexual union. The former is not an issue. Two people who do not have sexual relations can adopt. So, it is not the sexual relation that is in view here. It is true that only heterosexual union produces children. But, it takes more than that union to make good parents.

The latter is obviously an issue. A father can be intimate with all of his children. Thus, intimacy in and of itself is not exclusive. The only reason why we give the intimacy that results from sexual relation exclusivity is because God ordained it that way. And if that is true, then all the rules apply.

If you want to be loving and committed with people other than your husband/wife, that's great. As long as you don't have sexual relations (this goes for both homosexuals and heterosexuals), you can be intimate and loving with as many people as you care. It is insufficient, however, to justify deviant sexual behavior based on being loving and committed. If you have an overflow in that department, then there are many hurting people that could use your love and commitment. In fact, Paul argues against people marrying precisely for this reason: marriage and family distract from other avenues of service to our fellow humans. If you do not have a heterosexual orientation or you simply do not have an opportunity to marry, then you can view this as a gift of God. But, I ask you to please use this gift in service rather than license to practice behavior that God forbids.

Comments

[*** Dave]

If you believe that God actually has forbidden sexual activity outside of heterosexual (and married relationships), then your position, too, is consistent (extra points!). I don't believe that to be the case (particuarly since once of the changes in the New Convenant from the Old is the removal of arbitrary or ritual restrictions on behaviors), so I disagree.

[Rich Blinne]

Behavior is not the focus of either Covenant. So, where we can agree is that we should focus on the heart. I don't have a problem with this kind of sin. That is not to say that I don't have a problem with sin! Jesus' application of the behavior rules can be found in the Sermon on the Mount. There he doesn't do away with the requirements, he increases them. The purpose is to drive each of us to despair in our own righteousness. He both increases and decreases the requirements. Man's way of dealing with this is to decrease the requirements. God's way is to provide a substitute.

My concern is not the particulars. My concern is the removal of the requirements of the Old Covenant drives people to self-sufficiency. We are forgiven and much of the Old Testament is fulfilled in Christ. Yet, we are not to trample the grace of God underfoot. The author of Hebrews sums up well our attitude towards the Law:

Hebrews 10:15-31

15The Holy Spirit also testifies to us about this. First he says:
16"This is the covenant I will make with them
after that time, says the Lord.
I will put my laws in their hearts,
and I will write them on their minds." 17Then he adds:
"Their sins and lawless acts

I will remember no more." 18And where these have been forgiven, there is no longer any sacrifice for sin. 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body, 21and since we have a great priest over the house of God, 22let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water. 23Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 25Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

26If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no sacrifice for sins is left, 27but only a fearful expectation of judgment and of raging fire that will consume the enemies of God. 28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace? 30For we know him who said, "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people." 31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

[Rich]

Due to the following comments that keep coming up on this post, comments will be closed on this topic. Sorry.

Boris rules !