There are several places in the Bible that state homosexual sex is wrong. The New Testament characterizes marriage as a union of a man and a woman. For these reasons and others, it is reasonable to concede that Christianity was founded with the premise that marriage between gay people within the Christian Church was not an accepted concept. Therefore, it is understandable for a Christian pastor or priest to refuse to authorize or bless the union of a gay couple in a Christian ceremony. After all, the First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America prevents the government from interfering with religious practices. What the scriptures do not address, however, is the situation as it pertains to marriage recognized, not by the Christian Church, but by a contemporary, secular government.
In addition to, or, as part of protecting everybody’s right to practice whichever religion they choose, the First Amendment explicitly states that any one specific religion’s beliefs cannot be taken into consideration when making federal laws. “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion….” The First Amendment is not a suggestion, but is itself a federal law. Jesus Christ indicated that both government laws and God’s should be followed, even though he trusted neither tax collectors nor religious leaders. When asked if taxes should be paid, he replied, “Give back to Caesar what is Caesar’s, and to God what is God’s.” (Matthew 22:21)
Within Christianity, it is understood that a marriage is a union recognized and sanctified by God. Our government, on the contrary, recognizes marriage as a legally binding contract between two people which can be used to gain things like tax benefits, inheritance rights, child custody rights and immigration privileges. These are two distinct roles that we umbrella under the same term. To determine whether a Christian should desire for the legal form of marriage to include homosexuals, we can, and must, ponder Jesus’ teachings.
The longest transcription we have of Jesus’ teachings is known as the Sermon on the Mount, found in Matthew, chapters 5-7. A second, similar sermon is found in Luke, chapter 6. These are the most concrete and clear directives from Jesus to be found in the Bible. In these speeches, Jesus demonstrates that there is a distinction between earthly and heavenly values. One major theme is to treat non-followers as brethren even while living according to standards beyond those of non-followers. In fact, treating those who oppose you with love is precisely one way of upholding these higher standards. Jesus clarifies that these high standards should not be demanded, or even expected, of others. He gives several examples that if another chooses evil, it should be met with love.
Most are familiar with Jesus’ command to not judge. Luke 6:37 reads, “Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven.” The severity of this command becomes evident when it is cross-referenced with Matthew 6:15: “If you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.” Jesus is not concerned with the decisions of those uninterested in following him, not because he doesn’t love them, but because he is uninterested in earthly pursuits, gains and rituals. This is why he says to a man who wanted to bury his father instead of getting on a boat with him, “Follow me, and let the dead bury their own dead.” (Matthew 8:22) Jesus sole focus is on being holy himself.
Jesus recognizes earthly laws cannot reflect heavenly values. God judges that which mankind cannot see; even our thoughts. When asked by a group of religious leaders and teachers if an adulteress should be stoned according to Jewish law, Jesus replies, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.” (John 8:7) This compels the group to leave, and then Jesus, left alone with the woman, does something extraordinary. According to his own criteria, Jesus could have stoned the adulteress himself, but he instead measures her against those who had just left- and deems her equal to them. “Jesus straightened up and asked her, ‘Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?’ ‘No one, sir,’ she said. ‘Then neither do I condemn you,’ Jesus declared. ‘Go now and leave your life of sin.’” (John 8:10-11) The Bible does not indicate whether Jesus' advice was taken.
Critics will argue that Jesus’ statement in Matthew 7:6 to not give that which is sacred to dogs is proof that homosexuals should not be allowed to marry. The first rebuttal to this is that the scriptures make clear that God condemns all sin equally, so if it is interpreted that marriage, as a sacred thing, should not be given to those who are not Christians, it follows that ALL marriage involving non-Christians should not be allowed. James 2:8-13 says, “If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself,’ you are doing right. But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers. For whoever keeps the whole law and yet stumbles at just one point is guilty of breaking all of it. For he who said, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ also said, ‘You shall not murder.’ If you do not commit adultery but do commit murder, you have become a lawbreaker. Speak and act as those who are going to be judged by the law that gives freedom, because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment.” Again, we see a clear separation between earthly judgment and heavenly judgment, and that our earthly judgments should be tempered with both mercy and neighborly love, leaning in favor of giving freedom. It is precisely this kind of sacred wisdom that Jesus is suggesting only his followers can understand in Matthew 7:6. His followers should not bother attempting to impose the high standards they should hold themselves to on non-followers.
The only type of marriage the Bible explicitly condemns is re-marriage after a divorce, unless the divorce was because of unfaithfulness (Matthew 19:11). This is why, in the church where I grew up, my pastor once refused to perform the ceremony of a divorcé who wanted to remarry. That pastor probably shared his belief that God would not consider such a marriage sacred. The cultural reality, however, is that he could not say, “You can’t get married,” because in fact, that couple could have walked straight to the courthouse– or any number of other churches– and received a legal document binding them to laws and privileges pertaining to marriage as recognized, though not by God, by the lesser authority operating as the United States of America. In Matthew 19:8, Jesus explains that divorce itself was only allowed as a concession to placate human weakness. This exemplifies Jesus’ understanding that earthly laws, specifically those pertaining to marriage, are necessarily an imperfect compromise.
The sanctity of marriage is completely independent from the earthly laws governing it. Man has no authority to decide what is sacred. It is God, not man, who decides whether a marriage will be recognized and blessed by Him, and God’s judgment waits in heaven. It is understandable that a church, which should seek to reflect God’s laws as closely as possible, would refuse to perform a gay marriage ceremony. For the same reasons, that church could also justifiably refuse to remarry someone who had been divorced, all non-believers and even a person wearing a wedding dress made of a fiber blend (Leviticus 19:19)
The righteous person described and demonstrated by Jesus is loving, generous and humble; not worrying about the things of this world but instead focusing on and striving toward inner perfection. Jesus compared false teachers to wolves in sheep’s clothing and thorn bushes offering fruit (Matthew 7:15-16), and was criticized for associating with and befriending sinners: “The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and sinners.’ But wisdom is proved right by her deeds.” (Matthew 11:19) Kindness toward sinners is always the right course of action while insolence is always the wrong one. The life of a Christian should focus not on demonstrating one’s own virtues, but on charitably giving of oneself to others, meeting their needs and even wants. “And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well.” (Matthew 5:40)
While marriage as described in the Bible is an opportunity offered by the church, marriage described by governmental law is something else entirely. While it is against the fallible, earthly laws of America to take Jesus’ opinion under consideration when making laws, singling out homosexuals by restricting them of rights given to every other American citizen is inconsistent with Jesus’ teachings. Homosexuals should be treated the same as every sinner, which includes all of us. “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:7-8)
But what do I know; I'm an atheist.
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