by Nathan A. Cherry, 01/23/2012

Martinsburg, WV – People often want to know how legalizing same-sex “marriage” will affect them individually. Frequently I will hear someone complain that allowing homosexuals to marry won’t have any immediate or lasting impact on our society so we should just let them marry and be done with it. Such thinking is not only patently wrong, it is prolonging a debate that should have been settled a long time ago.

If anyone needs proof of what impact, immediate impact allowing homosexuals to “marry” will have on our society you need only to read this article about a church in New Jersey being told how to use their own private property.

A federal judge has decided to tell the church it is not allowed to “discriminate” against a homosexual couple by denying them the use of their facilities. The church is arguing that forcing them to allow the couple the use of their wedding services and facilities violates their civil rights, and their moral and religious convictions.

Here is where we have come as a society; we have federal judges telling churches how to use their own private property. Where are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton now? Why aren’t they decrying the horrible judge for violating the churches’ civil rights? Where’s Barry Lynn and Americans United for the Separation of Church and State. To me, this is a clear violation of the Establishment Clause as the government seeks to intervene in church affairs and dictate what the church must do/allow.

This is a small sampling of what will happen if same-sex “marriage” is legalized in America. Not only will churches be forced via government mandate to offer and provide wedding services and facilities to homosexual couples seeking to marry, but pastors will be forced to provide their services of officiating those unions. What will the penalty be for a church or pastor refusing to comply with the government mandate? I don’t know, but I have a feeling it involves tax exempt status and license revoking.

As this story unfolds what is striking is the lack of outcry from pastors. The very ones whose congregations and professions are on the line seem awkwardly silent. Perhaps they are still under the sincere yet misguided idea that it is not their responsibility to be involved in political discourse. Where has that landed us today?

Not long ago pastors spoke on the issues and were not afraid to raise their voices in public over socio-political issues. Throughout history pastors and churches have been credited with helping to pass family friendly legislation while seeing legislation that would jeopardize the family or the church defeated. Is the decline of pastoral involvement in the public sector a marked contributor to our declining society? There was a time when being a Christian was preferred for political candidates by the people electing them. Now it seems anyone that promises to put money in our pockets is good enough for office.

It is encouraging to see a pastor stand for marriage in a bold, decisive way outside his church walls. Pastor Ken Hutcherson of the Antioch Baptist Church in Redmond, Washington is opposing the governor’s push to legalize same-sex “marriage.” He made the following statement:

“As long as the Bible says it’s wrong, I’m going to fight against it like it’s the last thing I can do. It’s no different than any other sin. If someone walked around and said ‘We want to be a minority because we are divorcees,’ I would fight that just as much.”

Hutcherson reminds us that this issue is, least of all, a civil one. It is first and foremost a Biblical/moral issue. For believers this means we stand on Scripture first in deciding the issue. This being the case we can no more approve of same-sex “marriage” than we can approve of adultery.

The outcome of this issue will, without a doubt, change our society forever. It will either see traditional marriage strengthened and religious liberty once again affirmed. Or, it will mark the end of the family as we know it and see the end of religious liberty as prescribed in the Constitution.

Maybe that sounds like a doomsday pronouncement, it’s not. That is just the cold, hard truth. How we handle this issue, either engaging it or ignoring it, will play a major role in the outcome; and how it directly affects each of us.

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Related posts:

1. NC: Judge Tells Mom What School to Put Kids In:
2. Has the Salt Lost It’s Flavor? A Look at the Church’s Yawning Response to the Redefinition of Marriage – Part 3
3. Has the Salt Lost It’s Flavor? A Look at the Church’s Yawning Response to the Redefinition of Marriage – Part 4