Supreme Court and Gay Marriage

Gay marriage is back in the headlines. On Monday the media reported that the U.S. Supreme Court has effectively endorsed same-sex marriage by not hearing appeals from states wanting to prohibit it:

The Supreme Court on Monday turned away appeals from five states looking to prohibit gay marriage, effectively legalizing same-sex marriage in those states and likely others—but also leaving the issue unresolved nationally. The justices rejected appeals from Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin. The court's order immediately ends delays on gay marriage in those states.

This rejection highlights the continuing decline of America from a predominantly biblical worldview, to one where “everyone does what is right in his own eyes” (Judges 17:6). Instead of starting with the biblical foundation (as most of the Founding Fathers of this nation did), the Justices have started with the foundational belief that man determines truth and morality. With this rejection of absolute authority—the Bible—it is not surprising that moral issues (such as gay marriage and abortion) are being decided simply based on man’s changing opinions. After all, if there is no absolute authority, why not legalize anything you want?

What is the church called to do about this slippery decline? Scripture calls us to be both “salt” and “light” (Matthew 5:13–14) and to “shine as lights in the world, holding fast the Word of life” even “in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation” (Philippians 2:15–16). How do we do this? Well, Jesus tells us to “‘Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature’” (Mark 16:15) and to “‘Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations’” (Matthew 28:19). We will not be able to change the culture from the top down—we need to start from the bottom up! We begin by changing people’s hearts and minds for Jesus Christ through preaching the gospel with truth, gentleness, and kindness. We also need to understand that the gospel message begins in the book of Genesis (with the origin of man, sin, and death—and thus the need for a Savior). Today, because Genesis has come under such aggressive attack from secularists (and even some in the church), when we present the gospel, we usually need to present apologetics arguments to answer questions that cause people to doubt God’s Word from its beginning. Sadly, that doubt often leads to unbelief—and a rejection of the gospel that God’s Word clearly presents to us.

We need to be ready to boldly and unashamedly call sin, sin, but to do so in a way that exemplifies the love of Christ and points people to the gospel.

And we always need to remember this:

So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. (Romans 10:17)

To learn more about the Supreme Court’s action and how the church should respond, I encourage you to read my full-length article.

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken

 

This item was written with the assistance of AiG’s research team.