The May 21, 2012 cover of Newsweek portrayed Barack Obama as “the first gay president.”
In one of the most controversial issues at stake on Election Day, voters in four states — Maryland, Washington, Maine and Minnesota — will decide on Tuesday whether to embrace or reject homosexual marriages. For those who see America heading towards moral, cultural and spiritual implosion, the relentless push by the Left towards same-sex marriage is a deeply troubling trend. [See below for excerpts from an instructive Politico story.]
For thousands of years, society believed that marriage was a sacred union between one man and one woman. In 1996, only 27 percent of Americans supported homosexual marriages. But by 2011, support had grown to 53 percent. Governor Mitt Romney, the GOP presidential presumptive nominee, hasn’t made “social issues” prominent in the 2012 campaign. But as I noted in a column earlier this year, President Obama in May came out in favor of gay marriage. Homosexual activists are determined to force the issue not only into the headlines but to victory at the ballot in these four states and all the way to the Supreme Court, hoping to force gay marriage (already legal in some states) on the entire country. This is a very serious development, as I am not certain by any means that there are five votes on the High Court to protect the sanctity of marriage between one man and one woman.
As followers of Jesus Christ, the Bible teaches us to love our neighbors and to show kindness and gentleness to all. Christians are not supposed to hate anyway. Still, we are also commanded to preach and teach the Scriptures and to stand firm for what the Bible says. That means standing for traditional marriage between one man and one woman, and opposing homosexual marriage. The New Testament teachings regarding God’s opposition to homosexuality include Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9-10, and 1 Timothy 1:8-11. The New Testament picture of marriage can be found in Ephesians 5:22-33 (which commands a man to love his wife) and Titus 1:6 (which tells us that a godly man is the husband of just one wife).
In August, I received a lot of criticism for my column regarding the firestorm over the defense of traditional marriage by the CEO of Chik-Fil-A. The anger and hatred and obscenities people were Tweeting me was very sad to see. But again, as I noted at the time, Jesus commands us to love our neighbors and our enemies, right? We’re commanded to pray for those who hate us and oppose us, asking the Father to have mercy on them and open their eyes and help them understand the truth of the Scriptures. So let’s do that. Let’s show love and kindness to those who are angry by the debate generated over marriage and morality in our culture today.
That said, as I wrote about in Implosion, it’s not just the pandemic of homosexuality that is bringing America to the brink of collapse and judgment by God. We also face pandemics of adultery. Pre-marital sex. Fornication. All forms of sexual immorality. Pornography and lust. Rape. Sexual abuse. Physical abuse. Emotional abuse. Marital affairs. Divorce. Abortion. And it’s not just in the culture at large. These sins are rampant in the church, too. This is why we desperately need revival. This is why we need a Third Great Awakening. Because these are the sins that the Bible warns leads to God’s judgment against nations. More than ever, we need to pray, fast and repent in accordance with 2 Chronicles 7:14 — “If My people, who are called by My name, will humble themselves and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.”
- Please pray that laws to legalize gay marriage do not pass in on Tuesday, and that efforts to protect traditional marriage will succeed instead.
- Please pray, too, that more Christian pastors and leaders take a loving but bold stand for Biblical principles in defense of marriage.
I’m surprised by how many Christian leaders are staying quiet in the battle to protect traditional marriage. However, I’m praying that many more pastors and Christians lay people take a strong, loving, compassionate and courageous stand for the Bible, for traditional marriage, and for the right of Christians and others to have their beliefs and proclaim them and follow them. If we lose that, America is lost indeed.
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Excerpts from the Politico story on the 4-state battle on Tuesday over gay marriage:
- “Gay marriage is on the ballot in four states on Tuesday and could give advocates a victory that has long eluded them — a statewide vote in favor of same-sex nuptials. Both sides have fought expensive battles over whether to legalize gay marriage in Maine, Maryland, Washington state and Minnesota, all Democratic-leaning states on the presidential level that are expected to go blue in that race. Polls show the battles tightening in all four, but there appear to be majorities supporting gay marriage in Maine and Maryland, where the state’s governor, Martin O’Malley, has helped finesse a strong campaign….
- “A win at the ballot box would be historic for gay activists — and a loss would be a major setback ahead of two major U.S. Supreme Court decisions involving gay marriage.
- “Conservatives are equally motivated, with the National Organization for Marriage mounting a strong campaign against the ballot initiatives in all four states.””‘The reality is, they’re spending 11-to-one against us in some of these states,’ said NOM president Brian Brown. ‘That’s different because it makes it harder for us to get our message out. But if we’re able to win all four, I don’t think anyone can take seriously the claims of the other side that somehow we’re at some tipping point. Even if we lose one or two, given what we’re up against, that will still be a strong showing on our part because these are difficult states.’
- “Brown added: ‘We’ve already won all of the states where we could just get signatures and get on the ballot … these are definitely not conservative states.’
- “What’s more, Brown insisted, ‘There’s no indication that President Obama’s endorsement of same-sex marriage has changed … if anything, what it has done is further polarize the country and the party. That’s another reason President Obama is going to lose this election. All one has to do is look at the president’s numbers in North Carolina … he drops. So that’s on the level of polling…anecdotally, I’ve spoken to many black pastors and Democrats in North Carolina that will not vote for Obama because of it.’
- “That has been a refrain among Republicans for months — that Obama hurt himself by personally backing gay marriage, energizing Hispanic evangelicals and offending some black pastors. In North Carolina, where a statewide gay marriage ban passed ahead of the Democratic National Convention, Republicans believe the issue has damaged Obama….”