A man was seen recently in the local BullseyeMart creating quite a disturbance. He was moving from section to section complaining out loud about how the signs were worded, the products being sold, the prices being charged. He complained to anyone would listen about the policies being implemented by the service desk and management.
Needless to say, while from time to time he got a few people to agree with him, for the most part the customers looked at him like he was a raving maniac. Finally, as he took matters into his hands and stood on an “associate use only” ladder to rollback a few prices, security grabbed him and escorted him to the manager’s office.
Before the manager could address the man, the man started in with “Finally! What are you doing out there? Do you see what a mess this store is in? Have you not read the operations manual? Have you not heard what the boss had to say about your policies? The way you treat your customers? The prices you’re charging? Don’t you care?”
The manager stared at him blankly for a moment, unsure how to proceed. “Excuse me sir. Do you work for BullseyeMart? Perhaps the corporate office?”
The man straightened up his clothes and sat upright. “Why no, I work for Carpenter’s General Store down the street. But still the boss said…”
“But sir,” the manager cut him off. “Your boss is not our boss.”
Such is the case when Christians try to argue social and political issues with the world from a biblical perspective. Our God is not the god of this world. You cannot disciple a non-Believer. First people must come to Christ and be willing to submit to Him solely on the basis of what He did for them and their recognition that they are lost completely without Him.
The world is lost and that is far worse than any of the specific sins they might be committing. Yes they are sins, but their boss is not our boss as it were. Convincing people to behave a certain way apart from belief is religion and it carries the wrong notion that they can be saved by their behavior and not solely by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ.
Christians want to get mad and in an uproar as we watch the world turning more and more to sin. We want to change social and political policies to be (or remain) Christian-friendly when that borrowed time has expired. Are you any less a Christian if the Ten Commandments are not displayed in a courthouse? Is the world any less Christian? The answer to both is a resounding “NO!”
America was never a Christian nation. That is a myth. It was founded by a group of people with great political ideas and some grounding in biblical truth, but was never meant to be a Christian nation but a place where all religions would be free of state interference. For a couple of hundred years it wore the mask of Christendom, but it dallied with the world as well… now the mask is coming off and Christians want to get mad about it?
That said, Gay marriage (its own word since two same-sex gay people can never ever truly be in a “marriage”, they can be in a Gay marriage, which could just as easily be called Zinklewism or Rondsplader or something else), will be “legal” soon. Society has no sense of moral bearing and no goal of self-preservation. Abortion was legalized in the 70s. Prostitution won’t be long after. As will drugs. I AM NOT saying those issues are connected (except by lack of intelligence and common sense) and that there is crossover in the groups who choose to be gay, patronize whores, or take drugs.
“Marriage” is and always will be the union of one man and one woman, period, end of discussion. “Gay marriage” will never be “marriage” in the same way that a man in drag will NEVER be a woman. Even if said drag requires several surgeries, medications, and is recognized “legally.”
The world, including America is “falling apart.” Why wouldn’t all these things become legal?
Quite frankly, as a Christian, it’s not my place (or the church’s) to “change the world” except one by one, sharing the Good News of Christ Jesus to people. To help them see that they are sinners (whatever flavor of sin it is: homosexuality, adultery, fornication, murder, covetousness, hate, pride, etc… all are sins equal before God) and that sin separates them from God. But God loved them so much, so much that He sent His only Son to die and pay the price for that sin… that if the will accept the free salvation offered to them, they can live eternally with God.
There is no other way to God but through the blood of Christ Jesus.
[Jesus said,] “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father unless by Me” (John 14:6).
That is the purpose of Christians. Not to rebel when pagan society turns against them. It would be great if (legal or not) no one murdered or had an abortion or committed adultery or chose a gay lifestyle. These are symptoms. The sickness is sin.
Daniel never told Nebuchadnezzar he couldn’t have his statue or laws requiring people to bow down before it when the music played. Daniel took care of himself and refused to dishonor God by complying. And he was willing to accept the price to be paid for his fidelity. That is the Christian’s role in this.
Likewise the apostles didn’t tell the Sanhedrin they needed to be more tolerant of Christian views. They preached. They got thrown in jail and beaten and released. They preached again. Repeat.
We are totally to be subservient to man’s laws EXCEPT where they contradict the Word of God.
We cannot make the country or the world or (Obamachadnezzar) conform to a faith they are blind to. They will pass their laws and continue into darkness on the path ironically called “enlightenment.” Nothing they pass can separate the saved man or woman from God. But we as Christians are not to take part in anything that is against God. If a church rightly refuses to Gay marry same-sex couples — that is their choice. And they may lose their tax exempt status, be fined, jailed, or prohibited from performing real marriages. So be it.
This will extend to the periphery of marriage-associated businesses too. Photographers, cake makers, facilities, etc… A line in the sand is being drawn. Will Christian business people stand firm or cave? Quite frankly they should continue to practice as they are and if the time comes that a gay couple wants to press the issue, then they have to close up shop or just say “no” if possible.
They will have to be a Daniel and face man’s wrath of ignorance by doing what is right, no matter what the consequences.
“For do I now seek to satisfy men or God? Or do I seek to please men? If I were yet pleasing men, I were not Christ’s bondman” (Galatians 1:10).
A test is coming. Who passes and who fails is up to each believer.