What’s your problem with gay marriage? Why does it bother you? How does it affect your life or marriage?
I commonly get asked questions like that in secular interviews.
How would you answer? More broadly, how should the Christian community think about sexual identity-related issues in today’s culture?
Almost two years after Obergefell vs Hodges, the landmark 2015 Supreme Court decision that redefined marriage across all 50 states, social debate continues about homosexuality and transgender issues.
Some say there should be no boundaries. But consider the natural outworking of that view. Imagine a garden. What if you didn’t tend to it for years and allowed nature to take its course? What if, in the words of the Obergefell decision, you allowed it to “flourish”?
The result would not be a productive, thriving garden. The damage might be so severe only the wisdom of a master gardener could help you undo it all. That’s because untended gardens are not healthy for long. They’re always susceptible to weeds.
So are cultures that accept any and every idea as equally true and of equal value and benefit.
But before we Christians point our fingers, we do well to understand that all human nature is susceptible to weeds of one kind or another. Scripture never classifies sexual identity problems as “super sins.”
The point is, the right conception of sin has a tremendous impact on how we decide to respond to it.
On our program today, we’ll offer our views on how the Christian community might bring the love of Christ to a culture increasingly suspicious of and hostile to us.
With us today and tomorrow is Dr. Rosaria Butterfield. Before she encountered Jesus, she was happy in a lesbian relationship and was a serially monogamous lesbian for a decade. She was by all accounts a good person, a good neighbor, and couldn’t understand why Christians didn’t leave consenting adults alone.
A tenured professor at Syracuse University, she began research for a book she intended to write from a lesbian and feminist point of view about the “religious right.” That’s when she met Christian pastor Ken Smith. He and his wife, Floy, befriended her and lived out the Gospel before her for several years.
I believe our conversation with Rosaria will help equip you to think biblically and to offer grace and truth to people with sexual identity issues.
Join us today and tomorrow for our program titled, “Navigating Sexual Sin to Find Your Identity in Christ.” Listen on your local radio station, online, or check out our free, downloadable phone app.
Leave a Reply