As most of you know, I am a follower of Christ. I believe that Jesus is my Lord, Savior and Creator. Through his servant Paul, he says, “Do you not know that the wicked will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor male prostitutes nor homosexual offenders nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God.” (1 Corthinthians 6:9-11)  There are many, many references in the Bible that denounce homosexual behavior. (It is worthy to note that homosexual behavior and being homosexual are very different things, just like being an alcoholic and a drunk are two different things.) It is very clear that homosexual behavior is sin. However, is that reason enough not to allow homosexuals to marry?

To begin, let me say that yes, Paul’s statement alone (let alone the other Biblical references) is reason enough for the church not to marry homosexuals. The church is absolutely to welcome those who would call themselves homosexuals. “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) But Christ offers hope for us as sinners. For the church to officially condone a lifestyle of sinful behavior via a gay marriage should be unthinkable.  The church, of course, is to be set apart from the world - in it, but not of it - and to represent Christ to the world. To represent Christ as a hypocrite - which many churches do - is a great offense to our Lord. But by and large, the issue at hand does not involve the church. Absolutely, there are churches that have embraced homosexual behavior as normal, and they are doing the call of Christ a great disservice in doing so. But the general discussion in our society today centers not around what the church thinks about homosexual marriage, but largely around whether or not the government should recognize homosexual marriage.

As I’ve said in other posts, we Americans hardly live in a Christian nation. Though our laws were founded on Biblical principles, there was never a time when the government was thoroughly Christian in nature - nor was it ever designed to be. So the matter of whether or not homosexuals can legally marry does not necessarily and fundamentally depend upon what the Bible says. Instead, I believe the matter needs to be one of common sense. So the question is, what does common sense say about the matter?

Common sense says a lot about homosexual behavior itself. But the behavior itself does not matter in this discussion. The question is, can two homosexual people marry? And to that, I say no. What? All this talk about the Bible playing no role in this decision and you still say no? Yes. And let me explain. Marriage has been an institution for thousands of years. The intent of marriage from the very beginning was not only to obtain a life partner, but to produce a family - something that only a male and a female can do naturally. Marriage - by [edit: historical, working] definition - means the union of a man and a woman in a contractual (and, if done before the Lord, permanent) relationship. Why should homosexuals, who may also wish to exist in a permanent relationship with someone, be excluded from such a contract? My answer is, they shouldn’t. They just can’t call it marriage.

Again, marriage has a very specific meaning, and that meaning is clear. To change the definition of marriage to include homosexual relationships makes no more sense than changing the word “man” to also mean “woman.” If homosexuals - who I assume are outside of the church - wish to have a ceremony, invite all their friends, exchange vows, eat cake, dance, and they live together - then so be it. Call it whatever they want. But don’t call it marriage. Because that’s not what it is.

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