Ok, so it’s been a day, and I feel that my first post allowed me to express many of the thoughts that I have regarding the gay marriage debate. Many of you might have read my post and wondered, ‘isn’t God the God of love’ or ‘didn’t Jesus eat with sinners? Whatever side of this debate you are on, you are most likely filled with a variety of different emotions about this debate. I would say that we need to set aside emotions, on both sides, and reason together, examine the facts and allow ourselves to reach a logical conclusion. Do not let your emotions cloud your judgment. Emotions like anger, rage, hatred and vengeance (on both sides of this issue) will lead us down a path that we would not normally take, leading us to do and say things that we might not normally.  Please consider my words, rationally, and as always, feel free to post polite, constructive comments.

A brief aside, as to my qualifications for writing this article: Over the past 7 years, I have worked as a deli manager in San Francisco and Alpharetta (a suburb of Atlanta). During that time I have worked directly with gays, lesbians and a trans-gender person. I have always treated them with the same respect that I have anyone else. I’ve given them the same opportunities as anyone else, including promoting them to supervisors and assistant managers. All knew my views and opinions, but they also knew that I valued them as people. I will never forget the day that one gay man in particular was leaving our store to relocate to Seattle. He came and gave me a hug, thanking me for the way that I had treated him. I believe that Christians can (and should) live peaceably within the world, we may not agree, but that’s OK. We should make an effort to understand each other, and to live in tolerance. Let me repeat that, we can live side by side with opposing views without being forced to accept or embrace them, but be tolerant of them.

So where is this God of love that Christians are always talking about? All I see are bigots who try to push their dogma on me. All I see are hate filled people who are self serving and who seek to use the government to push their agenda upon everyone else. I don’t see how God would allow His people to do this!

Let’s take a look at the basic Christian world view, we’ll start from the beginning.

God created.

God made man in His own image. There was Adam, glorious, healthy, naked, without sin or shame, and Eve, his help-mate. Adam and Eve were created to worship God, have a relationship with Him and to be His friends.  God had left Adam and Eve with one simple command, ‘of every tree of the garden you may freely eat, but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat of it; for in the day that you eat it you shall surely die.’ Enter Satan, Lucifer, an angel of God, filled with jealousy. He hated Adam and Eve, he sought to be like God, and was angry that these beings were created in God’s image. Satan tempted Adam and Eve to eat of the forbidden fruit, at that moment their soul died, they lost the close personal relationship that they had with their creator. They were ashamed, so when they heard God walking through the garden they hid.

Through Adam and Eve, the first couple, we’ve all inherited sin. We are all born spiritually dead, separated from God. This is the spiritual state of every person on earth, born spiritually dead. No person can claim to be better or worse than another, no sin better or worse than another, we are all under the power of this sin, every last one of us. If we were to die in this state we would be eternally separated from God. Right about now, you are wondering when I’m going to get to the loving part.

Enter Jesus. Jesus came to earth, born in the flesh to live a life just as we do. He was tempted in every way, and endured temptation living a perfect life, without sin. Jesus died to show us the way back to the relationship with the Father.  God was not content to watch His creation live apart from Him, but He is righteous, He is holy, He is perfect, He can’t have a relationship with sin. He requires sin be punished with death. Jesus died to be the righteous sacrifice (or payment) for our sins, He died so that we could be forgiven of our sins and regain that spiritual life that was lost in the Garden of Eden. On the cross of Calvary, Jesus took the sins of every person upon Himself, He accepted the righteous wrath of God the Father on our behalf so that we would not have to take that punishment ourselves.

OK, Great! Jesus died for my sins, so we’re all equal again right? Didn’t He die to take all of the sins? Yes…but. We must make a choice. What will you do with this Jesus? Will you make Him a liar, lunatic or Lord? Jesus tells us that He is God the Son, and that He is the only way to the Father. You must decide if He is lying, if He is a lunatic, or if He is in fact just who He says He is- in which case you must willingly make Him lord of your life. You cannot accept Him as savior and not accept Him as lord. When you die, and enter into the everlasting you will be judged on what you did with God’s Son. I believe that all other sins have been paid for on the cross. If you choose to live apart from God on earth, He will honor that and allow you to live apart from Him in eternity. This is love, that God laid down the life of His one and only son for you and for me. This is love, that I love you enough to tell you about the salvation that God offers. This is love, that I don’t hide the words of eternal life from you for fear that I might offend you, or that you might get mad.

Christians– I know you get so excited about the free gift of eternal life and about the work that God is doing in your lives, and that you overflow with gratitude and seek to share this good news with others. We quickly forget where we came from, and we begin to look down upon those who are living apart from God. This is wrong, and it leads to the negative battle of emotions that I began with. We get so caught up in our own righteousness that we begin to take on a ‘holier than thou’ attitude. Again, wrong. We lose site of how Jesus taught us to live. Jesus called us to love the sinner but to hate the sin. We are to treat every sinner with the love that Jesus loved us with- unconditional love. We cannot expect people to live according to the teachings of Jesus, unless we first show them who He is. Am I saying that we have to right to take a stance on moral issues? No. Am I saying that we have no right to declare what is right and what is wrong? No. I am saying that we have the Word of God, the book with more evidence that any other. We have the right to declare the truth, but we must do it in love, we must first lead people to the foot of the cross before we can expect them to acknowledge the wisdom of God’s ways. Remember that as people, we don’t like to be told that we are wrong, that we’ve sinned. Love everyone you come in contact with. Pray for them, and seek opportunities to share God’s love with them. Don’t be afraid to get to know them, and to spend time with them, after all Jesus did eat with sinners. He ate with them to show His love and to offer them a gift of salvation, He used His proximity to transform them into His image. Think about this, pray about who and how you can share Jesus with this week.

I’m starting a new blog today. My heart has really been overwhelmed with sadness during the past few weeks as the Lord opens my eyes to see the true depravity of this world. I’ve been a Christian for about 10 years, and the wickedness is nothing new, but it seems that He has opened my spiritual eyes just a little further. I am at a point in my life where I am completely dependent on God. I need Him to provide strength, shelter and food. Every day He amazes me with His unfailing love and faithfulness. I felt led to put some of my thoughts and emotions into writing, and I hope that He uses this for some purpose.

One of the reasons that I’m writing this is to reach out to people, I feel a need to share the truth of God with people, the need to share truth in a world of relativism and eternity to a world focused on the here and now.

I recently “lost” a friend through facebook. He and I were having a discussion about California’s Prop 8, which bans gay marriage. The underlying context of our back and fourth was about God, the role He should play in government, and how relevant the Bible is to todays society. You must understand that we both began with a belief that most would consider fundamental evangelicalism. After much study, I continue to believe that the Bible is the most challenged book in history, and that despite endless attempts to discredit it, has retained its credibility. I may get into this more later, but for the time being, I feel that the Word of God doesn’t need to be defended. There are a multitude of sites and sources for Christian apologetics devoted to this. My friend, however, after much study and soul searching has moved into a less literal view of God. Many call his journey, the Emergent Church movement. His belief is that God is found through a post-modern view of scripture, including the writings of various different religions, and that the conversation and the journey are of utmost importance. Having looked into the emergent church, I am fearful of many of the different components, but this discourse will have to wait until another time. We now find ourselves on opposing sides of the gay marriage debate. After some time, he decided to remove my friend status. I am deeply saddened that a friend of 6 years no longer seeks to talk with me, but I remain steadfast in my devotion to God’s truth. I continue to proclaim that God is real, that He has the authority to make law, He has the righteousness to proclaim judgment, and that He seeks a real relationship with each on of us. He does not ask that we clean ourselves up, or that we walk across hot coals, or anything crazy like that. He only asks that we repent- say we are sorry and turn from our wrong actions. I know that God’s message of salvation is no more popular now than when He came to proclaim it 2000 years ago.

Here, is a breakdown of my position. I would encourage anyone to post polite, constructive dialog, regardless of their viewpoint. It is my belief that if we reason together through these things, that we come to a better understanding of the Truth.

1. Marriage is not a right. I don’t see anywhere in our constitution where marriage is guaranteed to anyone. I believe that gay couples receive the same rights as hetero couples, these rights are tax breaks, the right to make financial and medical decisions, inheritance, etc. Civil unions offer equality under the law, but they do not offer marriage which is the religious ceremony marking the covenant relationship between one man, one woman and God. Marriage is not a state offered right, it is a church function.
2. Marriage is a union ordained by God, for one man and one woman. Thus far, the Bible has the oldest recorded marriage, I believe that it therefore qualifies as the authority on marriage. Many may claim that many different cultures had marriage and that it is not exclusive to those who follow Judeo-Christian tradition. I would argue back to my original point, The Bible is the authority on marriage. If you disagree, please take it up with its author or show me where you find an earlier, more reliable record.
3. The separation of Church and State does not require that churches abstain from politics, but does just the opposite. The founding fathers desired a church free from government intrusion, but they clearly expected God to have a role in the government. We see evidence of this in most of the writings of the founding fathers, most famously the Declaration of Independence– “We the People find these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights…” We also note that prayer was a offered prior to governmental proceedings, and that many of our national landmarks contain religious references and symbols. Here are a few quotes that I found relevant, they were taken from an article called “Finding God in Government” from Christian Single Magazine.
   • The first two presidents, George Washington and John Adams, were both considered strong supporters of religion. Washington, an Episcopal vestryman, said, “Freedom prospers when religion is vibrant and the rule of law under God is acknowledged. The time has come to turn to God and reassert our trust in Him for the healing of America. Our country is in need of and ready for a spiritual renewal.”
   • John Adams was quoted as thinking of himself as “a church-going animal.” He said, “The moral principles and precepts contained in the Scriptures ought to form the basis of all our civil constitutions and laws.”
   • Benjamin Franklin said of America’s beginnings, “Our founding fathers believed devoutly that there was a God and that the inalienable rights of man were rooted not in the state, nor legislature, nor in any other human power, but in God alone.”
   • Civil War general and U.S president Ulysses S. Grant said, “The book (the Bible), Sir, is the rock on which our republic rests.”
4. Gay marriage is a threat to my freedoms. I personally believe that once attained, the gay proponents will no longer be satisfied with marriage, they will again move the goal further into my realm of religious freedom. Think I’m overreacting? Consider that churches in California have been sued for not agreeing to preform gay marriage. Churches in California have been sued for not allowing gays (who do not agree with the fundamental beliefs of that church) to work in their ministry. Fear is being circulated among Christians that reading Bible passages that condone homosexuality may constitute hate speech. Google Bible Hate Speech and see what you find! I’d also recommend reading “How the Bible Became ‘Hate Speech’ in California”.
5. Gay marriage means pro-gay education in schools. Gay marriage is as much about indoctrinating our next generation with “tolerance” than it is about getting additional state benefits. Marriage is taught in school, no question, it is represented and taught in a majority of schools today. If gay marriage is allowed, it would mandate equal time in each classroom. Children would be taught that marriage is open to different interpretations.
6. Gay marriage is contrary to the intended purpose. Marriage is a union that has benefited society through procreation for thousands of years. Gay couples cannot procreate, and therefore cannot benefit society via aiding in the creation of subsequent generations.