MARBURY, Ala. (BNC) by Ben Giselbach — I am disappointed in the condescending and often derogatory comments by many of my peers:

  • “We shouldn’t be upset about the legalization of gay marriage;”
  • “Those in gay marriages are as lost as non-Christians in heterosexual marriages;”
  • “We shouldn’t be trying to save America;”
  • “Quit judging the world and start judging those in the church;”
  • “Stop whining over gay marriage, God is still in control.”

1. Fact: The legalization of gay “marriage” makes it easier for people to sin. The more sins people commit, the more complicated repentance is going to be for them (and the more baggage they will have from sin) when they obey the gospel. I’m angered by that.

2. Yes, practicing homosexuals are just as eternally lost as practicing heterosexual non-Christians. But Paul uses the acceptance of homosexuality as a barometer for how far mankind has distanced himself from God (Rom. 1:18-32). Sinners are just as lost as any other sinner, but American society symbolically became more distant from God than ever before when the Supreme Court ruled in favor of gay “marriage.” I’m angered by that.

3. When did it become wrong to mourn the wickedness that has manifested itself in American culture? And why label this as “trying to save America”? We know the church exists to spread the gospel to individuals, but individuals comprise America. A majority of Americans embrace homosexuality now. Christians, we have our work cut out for us. Sometimes the sheer magnitude of sin in society overwhelms me. I’m angered by that.

4. There are significant legal ramifications that Christians are going to face because of the legalization of gay “marriage.” In the future, I can see the brotherhood colleges I love so much being faced with lawsuits over so called “discriminatory” LGBT policies in regards to student/married housing. In the future, I can see scores of gospel preachers being fined thousands of dollars because they politely declined to perform a same-sex marriage ceremony. In the future, I can see entire churches losing their tax-exempt status simply because they preached an exegetical sermon on Romans 1 or 1 Corinthians 6. I’m angered by that.

5. What’s ironic about the “quit judging the world and start judging those in the church” crowd is that they often do not even judge those within the church. They are inconsistent. They cite 1 Corinthians 5:9-13 as a reason why we should not be disappointed in the direction the world is going (but are also quick to label those who express disappointment in unfaithful brethren as “unloving”). Yes, our sinful world acts like a sinful world and we should expect no less from the world. But are we not allowed to be upset by how broken our world is? Was Jesus wrong when He was angered at people who were not His disciples (Mark 3:2-7; John 2:13-23)? Are we not allowed to concerned about the spiritual direction of our society? Are we not allowed to remark how much our world needs Jesus? I’m angered by that.

6. Yes, man’s Supreme Court will never trump our Supreme God. Yes, God is in control. But this does not mean we cannot still weep and mourn (Ecc. 3:4). Perhaps we should have told Jesus, Moses, and Paul, when they were angry at man’s rebellion against God’s Law (cf. Mark 3:5; Ex. 11:4-8; 32:19-24; Num. 16:15; 2 Cor. 7:11), that they had no right to be upset due to the fact that “God is in control.” I’m angered by that.

Jesus died to free us from all sin (1 Cor. 6:9-11), including the various sins of homosexual practices. I’m angry because God’s Son has already triumphed over sin, yet people continue to bow to it. They are like sheep without a Shepherd (Matt. 9:36), following their own wisdom rather than God’s (Prov. 14:12). Yes, yesterday’s Supreme Court decision was a sad day from this perspective. Don’t let anyone bully you into thinking otherwise.

Please, just let Christians feel righteous anger without giving them a guilt trip. There is a time to correct imbalance, but the emotions themselves are the very emotions our Lord feels when sin advances.

 Ben works with the Lightwood congregation in Marbury, as well as with Lads to Leaders. He tackles hard issues, like:  “Jesus Offers Release From The Bondage Of Same Sex Attraction;” “What Does The Bible Say About Homosexuality?”, “What Does The Bible Say About Transgenderism?”, “Are You Writing Too Many Parking Tickets To Dead People?”, and “Ben Thinkin’: Is It Wrong To Bake A Cake For A Gay Marriage Ceremony?”

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