STOP: If you are under
18 years of age get your parents’ permission before you read this post.
The older I get the more I
realize that life is full of pitfalls, mistakes, stumbling blocks, and rabbit
holes. I have made enough mistakes in
life that it would be hypocritical for me to judge others. (Matthew 7:1-5) The following is not intended to pass
judgement, belittle, or condemn anyone.
I hope it will be taken in the spirit in which it is intended … which is
to gently give others insight into the Word of God and His will for our lives.
Jesus’ prohibition against
judging others does not mean that Christians must suspend critical thought or
spiritual discernment. We are given God’s
Holy Word, the Bible, as a guide by which we can know how God wants us to live our
lives. For the Christian, the Holy Bible
is the ultimate and final authority that supersedes all others.
Judgement is the Lord’s
job. The Bible tells us that we all will
stand before the Lord for judgement (2Corinthians 5:10, Romans 14:10); Christians for their reward (Romans 8:1, Psalm
103:10-12, John 5:24, Ephesians 6:8), and unbelievers for punishment (Revelation
20:7-15). Everything we have done in this life will be made known …
everything (Luke 12:2-3).
Yet, because Jesus’ righteousness has been substituted for our failure
to live according to God’s holy standards, we can come before Him with
confidence in our redemption (1John 4:15-19).
God’s Word tells us that Christians
have a duty to lovingly warn others – believer and unbeliever alike - if they
are disobeying Him. If we fail to warn,
we share the responsibility for their disobedience, (see our post on Friday, 28
July 2023).
Same sex marriage has
become a controversial issue here in the United States. Those opposed point out that it violates our
traditional values and was virtually unheard of until recent times. They worry that their parental rights are
being taken away because our public schools refuse to let them opt their
children out of classes that advocate for acceptance of same sex marriage and “gender
identity” issues. They point out that it
violates the tenants of most of the world’s major religions. Those in favor argue that people have the
right to love anyone they choose, and that opposition to same sex marriage is
no less bigoted than opposition to interracial marriage was a generation or two
ago. They say that one person’s
religious beliefs are not binding on the person who believes differently, and
that people should not be allowed to impose their religious beliefs on others.
Activist groups in the
United States have attempted to use the law to force Christian business owners
to participate in same sex weddings against their sincerely held religious
beliefs. This has stiffened the
resistance to nation-wide legalization of same sex marriage. People wonder, what’s next? Will attempts be made to force Christian Ministers,
Muslim Imams, or Jewish Rabbis to officiate at same sex marriages?
The Holy Bible tells us
that from the beginning of creation God provided us with His plan for marriage:
Then
the LORD God said, “It is not good for
the man to be alone; I will make him a helper suitable for
him.” And out of the ground the LORD God formed every animal of
the field and every bird of the sky,
and brought them to the man to see what he
would call them; and whatever the man called a
living creature, that was its name. The man gave names to
all the livestock, and to the birds of the sky,
and to every animal of the field, but
for Adam there was not found a helper suitable for
him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to
fall upon the man, and he slept; then He took one of
his ribs and closed up the flesh at
that place. And the LORD God fashioned into
a woman the rib which He had taken from
the man, and brought her to the man. Then the
man said,
“At last this is
bone of my bones,
And flesh of my
flesh;
She shall be called ‘woman,’
Because she was
taken out of man.”
For this reason a
man shall leave his father and his mother,
and be joined to his wife; and they shall become one flesh.
And the man and his wife were both naked,
but they were not ashamed. (Genesis
2:18-25 NAS)
When Jesus talked about marriage,
it was always in the context of a union between a man and a woman (Matthew
19:4-6, Matthew 5:32). The Epistles
(letters) in the new testament contain many references to marriage, but there
is not one single mention of same sex marriage in any of them.
It is wrong to condemn (judge)
anyone. However, Jesus has given me the
love and courage needed to warn others that:
“It is a terrifying thing to
fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31 NAS)
I have lived long enough to
understand that individual sexual preferences vary. My job is not to judge anyone. It is to help people find the way to escape the
coming divine judgement of God. Jesus gives
us victory. We do not need to be
enslaved by our lust. Those Jesus sets
free are free indeed. Please believe in Jesus
Christ and be saved today.
