I came across this quotation as I was browsing the internet a few days ago:

                “Marriage is a secular concern, not a religious one. The objection to gay marriage is almost invariably biblical, but nobody’s                         legal vows in this country are defined by interpretation of biblical verse….A church wedding ceremony is a nice thing, but it is                   neither required for legal marriage in America nor does it constitute legal marriage in America.” Elizabeth Gilbert

When I found it,  I was at once happy to know that I was right in appraising the bottom line issues on same-sex marriage. At the same time, I was appalled because it confirmed the worst of my suspicions. If you are a regular reader of my blog, I wrote a blog post about US President Barack Obama’s stand on abortion and gay rights. I quote a portion of that blog post for reference:

“Obama’s clean-cut image makes it easy for people to stop thinking of abortion and gay rights as a moral, spiritual or religious issue.  His appeal has made it easy for people to accept abortion and gay rights as purely legal and political policy issues. Abortion and gay rights are no longer issues of “right” or “wrong;” they are no longer “sins;” they have become issues of personal rights and Constitutional liberties.   A “right” is a power or an immunity guaranteed by the Constitution, by statutes or decisional laws, or claimed as a result of long usage.  A “right” is a legally enforceable claim. (Blackstone’s Legal Dictionary)”

Here, in the quotation by Elizabeth Gilbert, the issue of marriage, particularly of same-sex marriage, is now perceived as divorced from the moral, spiritual or religious realm and it is now thought of as a purely legal and political policy issue.  The thinking, I believe, goes like this: if individuals are given the right to marry, then the right to marry cannot be allowed exclusively to those men who want to marry women and to women who want to marry men.  Everyone has the right to marry, and therefore, men can marry men and women can marry women.

All the objections against same-sex marriage are Biblical, it is true. The thing is, people no longer see the Bible as a standard for moral beliefs or behavior. The United States has increasingly become a secular and pluralistic state where government cannot establish or support any religion and because so many religions are present and existing in the United States, all religions must stand on equal footing and must be protected by the same Constitutional guarantees.  The Bible is no longer the sole source of all faith and practice because in their pluralistic society, the holy writings of all other religions must be on equal footing with the Bible.

The Holy Bible is not thought of as the divine revelation of God’s will and purpose for humans.  It is just another book, a relic of the past, good only for study of ancient and obscure customs and ways of viewing life and the universe. When men stop thinking of the Bible as divine revelation, then they also stop believing God’s right to lay down standards of “right” and “wrong”.

Where does that leave us?

How are we, Bible-believing Christians going to live? How are we going to make sense of this?

1. Well, the command is clear: we are to hold forth the word of life that we may rejoice in the day of Christ and in doing so we are comforted that we have not run in vain neither labored in vain. Even if no one believes us, we have to stand firm. We are not to conform to this world but we are to be transformed by renewing our minds.
2. We have to recognize that any idea or thought, social or cultural value that does not uphold the deity and lordship of Jesus Christ is a spirit of antichrist. Consequently, any idea, thought, social or cultural value that does not recognize the Bible as divine revelation of God’s standards of right and wrong is also spirit of antichrist. Any idea, thought, social or cultural value that does not bow to the authority of Scripture is also spirit of antichrist. The spirit of antichrist is upon us.
3. We have to understand that we are indeed living in the last days.  We are living in the Laodicean age.  The name “Laodicea” is a composite word “laos” + “dicea”.  It means “peoples’ rights”.  We see today that abortion, gay rights and same sex marriages are no longer viewed as moral, spiritual or religious issues.  They are civil and political issues. Abortion is now a federally protected right, as are gay rights and same-sex marriages. People claim their “rights” and this is characteristic of the Laodicean age.
4. We can shout and protest until we are hoarse against abortion, gay rights and same sex marriages – it is our right to do so.  In the end, do not be discouraged or disillusioned that our protests will be disregarded as irrelevant and archaic. We are still free to believe in the Bible, we are still free to practice our biblical beliefs, we are still free to preach these biblical truths – we just cannot impose it upon people who no longer live under its authority as we do. We are free to choose what to do and how to do what we choose to do.  Ultimately, know that for all these things, God will bring us to judgment.
5. People these days have gone about establishing their own righteousness.  People are doing that which is right in their own eyes.  That is certainly their freedom to do so – especially when the courts and the law give them that right. We, however, have made our choice – we have chosen to live in submission to the Scriptures. We have to stand firm in this choice, whatever befall us. If people laugh at us, despise us, ostracize us or ignore us, we have to stand firm.

Christians are people who live under the authority of the Scriptures.  The Scriptures are our only source of faith and practice.  It is our moral code.  We believe that we shall be accountable before God to stand up and hold forth His word even if it is irrelevant and unacceptable in this crooked and perverse world among whom we are to shine as lights. We believe that continuing in His word is evidence that we are truly His disciples. We also believe that if we deny Christ and His word before men, we are denying Christ before the Father.

The lines have been drawn. Take your stand. Once you do, be steadfast and unmovable—it’s going to be a rough and bumpy ride.