This week's news includes President Bush's proposed amendment to the U.S. Constitution which would ban gay marriage.
We can't say definitively what God's moral intent is, in all areas of life. But the church can and should collaboratively seek after what appears to be God's intent for our living, and one of our tools is to search God's word for patterns and indications that reveal God's character as it has been made known to us. Another tool is prayer, and another tool is God's spirit.
It is a fair assumption that God's expectation for all of us, who are made in God's image, will be consistent with God's own character.
In this one area of human existence (gender issues in marriage) I happen to believe that marriage is something God intends to be a lifelong contract between a man and a woman, and for this to be the appropriate context for families and the raising of children. The simple observation that every person has a mother and a father is one pretty big clue here.
I have to say that I'm not passionate one way or another about whether or not we pass federal laws banning this type of marriage or that type of marriage. Gay marriage or any form of partnership between two people is neither A)less in line with God's intent by the absence of a law prohibiting it, nor is it B)more in line with God's intent if a federal law is passed.
Humans can't generate particular moral values in a society (or an individual) by passing legislation. That's not to say that legislation isn't important or valuable either, however.
What I suppose I care more about than any laws for or against gay marriage are things like consistency, integrity, sincerity, and the genuine pursuit of truth, justice, mercy, and love. The character of Christ trumps formal boundaries (or lack thereof) in a society.
If Christians were to lobby for certain laws on a moral basis, from the point of view of the Christian faith (within which there is plenty of diversity, and not complete agreement about big or small issues including this one) then what about the following federal laws?
Should we ban divorce with a federal law? American Christians get divorced at a rate similar to (or according to some recent studies, a little higher than) the society around them.
Should we ban adultery with a federal law? It's not currently illegal, but it's against the moral will God has articulated to us. Christians are no less susceptible to sexual temptation and infidelity as anyone else. Would a law help?
Should we ban pornography? How about selfish living, hoarding, pride, greed, lust, or any aspects of a lifestyle which enables injustice even if it is far removed? (For example, buying products that are produced by the exploitation of people who do not receive a living wage. Is this OK just because a consumer might be ignorant of the injustice?)
Will banning any of these things make them less common in a society?
And where would we stop? How would we arrive at federal laws which fairly represent all of American society, when our society is increasingly diverse and includes people from hundreds of cultures and languages and religious points of view?
Christians could spend a lot of energy trying to generate a bunch of laws, and that would not address the roots of behaviors and beliefs that lead to moral choices which might seem to contradict how God intended for us to live.
It becomes clear that these issues, and any solutions to address them, go WAY deeper than the presence or absence of laws.
This deeper level is the level at which I think we are called by Jesus to engage our society. Being salt and light requires mixing it up with our society, having the credibility of genuine relationships, especially with the marginalized of society. How are we, the church, doing this with regard to the issue of gay marriage?
It's easier to lobby for legislation from a safe distance than, like Jesus, to enter into incarnational relationships with unconditional love.
I'm not criticizing other Christians for seeking or standing up for appropriate moral stances on issues like this. But I am criticizing the sometimes inconsistency of the church (and myself) if and when we are guilty of trying to legislate morality from a sterile remote vantage point, outside of relationship with people whom God loves.
And I am also criticizing the church if the net observed effect of our posture and communication, by the people around us, is anything other than Christlike love.
Jesus says in Matthew 5:14-18 (The Message paraphrase):
"Here's another way to put it: You're here to be light, bringing out the God-colors in the world. God is not a secret to be kept. We're going public with this, as public as a city on a hill. If I make you light-bearers, you don't think I'm going to hide you under a bucket, do you? I'm putting you on a light stand. Now that I've put you there on a hilltop, on a light stand—shine! Keep open house; be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you'll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven. Don't suppose for a minute that I have come to demolish the Scriptures — either God's Law or the Prophets. I'm not here to demolish but to complete. I am going to put it all together, pull it all together in a vast panorama. God's Law is more real and lasting than the stars in the sky and the ground at your feet. Long after stars burn out and earth wears out, God's Law will be alive and working."
As I've said before, God's law is more about DO than DON'T.
