On Proposition 8

It seems that one of the issues for our society that will perennially cause controversy is homosexual marriage. Every time this front of the “culture war” seems to be taking the backburner, something will ignite the passions of one side or the other and a swarm of energy is put into rallying the troops. Usually, whichever side has lost the most recent battle finds the impetus to get their side motivated. When the Massachusetts State Supreme Court ruled that homosexual marriage should be legal, the religious right responded by getting a number of states to pass constitutional amendments defining marriage as between one man and one woman. This past month, when California approved Proposition 8, also defining marriage as between a man and a woman, the homosexual rights activists have been rapidly trying to mount a counter-offensive. For our purposes, however, the interesting (and perhaps disturbing) facet of this debate is how the Church has responded. The Christian right and left have each been making arguments as to why Proposition 8 is worthy of Christian support, or why Jesus Himself would have opposed it.

Many on the religious left have been taking a stand against these marriage initiatives for a while, arguing that the most important thing for the Church to do is to love homosexuals. They rightly point out the fact that God is love (1 John 4:8), that we are called to love our neighbors (Matthew 19:19), and that neighbors include those who are different than us (Luke 10:25-37). It is indeed a tragedy that many homosexuals view the Church as being full of hate. The Christian left rightly calls us to temper our speech, and to let love reign in all that we do.

Unfortunately, the left has not met their call to love with an equally vigorous adherence to the whole of Scriptural truth. Many have tried to say that the Bible actually supports the idea of homosexual marriage. In a recent controversial piece, a Newsweek author has tried to say that the Bible does not actually teach a one man/one woman view of marriage (read the article here). This argument is nothing new. Many have argued that “Jesus never condemns homosexuality,” “the Old Testament is the only place that talks about homosexuality,” and that “the New Testament only attacks homosexual prostitution, not monogamous relationships.”

Without getting into the complex topic of Covenant Theology (how the Old Testament applies today), let us deal with these other two arguments: Jesus had nothing to say about homosexuality, and the New Testament doesn’t condemn monogamous homosexual relationships. When dealing with Jesus’ lack of discussion on homosexuality, it should be noted that scholars generally recognize arguments from silence to be weak (see D.A. Carson’s Exegetical Fallacies). This weakness becomes even more pronounced when one realizes that Jewish culture saw homosexuality as a result of idolatry, thereby making it a “gentile” sin (see Elodie Ballantine Emig, Exegesis of Romans 1 on Homosexuality). Since Christ’s ministry was primarily to the Jews (Matthew 15:24) it makes sense that He would not spend time on a topic that His audience would have already agreed with. Secondly, proponents of the idea that the New Testament doesn’t condemn monogamous homosexual relationships usually cite 1 Corinthians as their case study. But if we are going to be faithful to the Apostle Paul’s take on this subject, we must consult the whole of his writing. Romans 1 makes it very clear that homosexuality is a retreat from the natural created order, this could very reasonably be taken to include monogamous relationships. (Note: there are many other arguments concerning the Bible and homosexuality, none of which when interpreted properly would indicate anything less than the Bible’s complete condemnation of homosexual intercourse)

Now, let us briefly examine the religious right’s role in Proposition 8. At the heart of their motivation is a desire for holiness. They rightly point to God’s holiness and His call for us to emulate Him (1 Peter 1:16). However, I believe they go astray when they try to place this requirement for holiness on the world instead of the Church. The Bible’s commands for holy living should not be placed upon the backs of those who don’t even claim to follow Christ (1 Corinthians 5:12-13). Perhaps as a whole, the Church needs to reconsider our foundation for fighting against homosexual marriage. It may very well be that if we are truly guided by the Bible we will not see this topic as a hill worthy to die on.

Ultimately, this recent swarm of controversy should encourage the Body of Christ to rethink our approach to this heated issue. The many hot headed responses that have been circulating since the election demonstrate that, as a Body, we are not always guided by love. Personally, I find the whole language of “the culture war” to be something that is antithetical to the Gospel. Likewise, people on both sides of this issue need to be first and foremost guided by Holy Scripture and the proper interpretation thereof. We cannot allow our personal political biases to influence our reading of God’s Holy Word, thereby damaging the Gospel that we are supposed to live out in all we do.