Thoughts - Same-sex marriage legalized in the United States
[One of the echoes of current events]
The passage of a bill may have an impact on the entire social culture, but the ultimate reason why social culture is affected is because we Christians locked up in the church have no influence.
Why do we say that Christianity will be hindered or even destroyed because of this? In the Bible and in human history, when has the Christian faith not been destroyed, ridiculed, and resisted?
But really because of this, I see that there are still people who shed their blood to uphold the Christian faith, and there are still people who are not afraid to be a "minority" and preach loudly, and are not even afraid of being pushed to the edge. From the beginning to today, the Christian faith still exists, and the church still stands. I am grateful that God’s glory has still overcome all kinds of shocks and rejections, continues to move forward, and will always take us to the new heaven and new earth. Therefore, I see all impacts as opportunities for us to reflect again and cherish the truth of Christ again.
▲On June 25, 2015, 50 states in the United States passed the legalization of same-sex marriage. Same-sex marriage support groups carried rainbow flags everywhere to celebrate the legalization.
Protest same-sex marriage? What about the so-called true marriage? For many, many years, Christians have not truly regarded monogamous marriages as valuable. Marriage problems within the church are no less than outside. Everyone knows that the divorce rate among Christians is 50%. At any time, Before the bill comes to challenge the biblical establishment of marriage, in fact, we ourselves have already underestimated the sanctity and beauty of marriage. Therefore, at this moment, should we be more angry or cherish monogamous marriages more?
If a child doesn't like to eat and is skinny, it's useless if you scold him as hard as you can. A poor appetite means his body is not strong enough. What his mother needs to do is to give him a nutritious diet that he likes to eat, let him exercise more, and take care of his emotions. If a tree grows rotten fruit, it is useless for you to curse the fruit and damage the tree. The gardener needs to put effort into taking care of it from the root.
A person does not know his or her Creator, does not understand the beautiful intentions and values that God bestows on life, has not experienced God’s reality and guidance, and does not understand that the truth can really set people free. We need to understand that he lives outside the boundaries of the truth. Angry? Do we need to be surprised that he lives a very self-centered life?
I don't think even pity is necessary. Pity can make people confused and even angry. What I want to do is introduce Jesus to more people and tell the truth. Get out of the church and take the healthy truth out. Also, live a good life and let non-Christians ask themselves: "How can I live such a rich life with purpose and dependence?"
If we really want to be angry, we should consider being angry at ourselves for not loving our spouses and teaching our children in accordance with the teachings of the truth; if we really want to be sad, we should consider being sad with Christian families who claim to have the way, truth, and life, but their lives are noisy. Noisy, indifferent; if we really want to be sad, we should be more sad. Christian parents only care about their children’s grades and not their spiritual life; if we really want to protest, we should consider protesting to ourselves, why do we live so unappreciated by others? envious?
When we have been criticizing homosexuals for their choices about marriage, I would like to ask, other than talking about what the Bible says, what better choice do we have to convince others, such as living out the Bible and showing them to them?
Spending so much effort to resist a country and society that has long been unhealthy, spending so much time discussing why people who don’t know God fail to respect the marriage taught in the Bible, is this the direction we need to focus our efforts?
If you are afraid that your children will be affected in school in the future, then let me tell you, if you are afraid of weeds, cultivate the soil first and plant good flowers and grass there. Even if weeds invade later, as long as you accompany them well in the future, , the theme of the garden will still be good flowers and good grass.
▲For many, many years, Christians have not truly viewed monogamous marriage as valuable.
If you hate the atmosphere of the country and society, then please remember: not only same-sex marriage can influence people, but the sweet marriage of monogamy can also influence people. Our focus should not be on resisting wrong influence, but on living out Christ. influence on life. Christians who can speak to national society? Is your voice used to continue to protest, or is it used to inject more truthful information into the world?
We always say we love gay people but just hate their behavior, is that really true? Do gay people feel loved by Christians and the church? How many churches have discussed and sought ways to love homosexuals? Or when someone who "seems to be gay" comes in, everyone accepts it on the surface, but in their hearts they are so nervous that they feel like they are facing a powerful enemy, like a bacterial attack, and they keep thinking about "how to deal with them"?
When my daughter returned to school from homeschooling, she went to an art school where there were more homosexuals than in ordinary high schools, and they dared to express their sexual orientation. Once, the leader of the school's Christian fellowship wrote his story on Facebook, telling the gays at the school that he once had homosexual tendencies but was healed by God, and wrote some words that homosexuality is a sin according to the Bible.
▲Let us once again think carefully about the rainbow promise God has given us.
My daughter initially thought this would anger the gay classmates at school and lead to a mob attack. Unexpectedly, throughout the night, some gay classmates responded to the group leader on Facebook, telling him: "I love you, and I hope you can accept me too!" "Thank you for caring about us, we respect your beliefs." "Thank you for sharing your story with us, I believe you care about me!"
That time, she suffered from insomnia for the first time and read the conversation over and over again. She was completely shocked. That night, she began to think about whether there was a gentler path that Christians could take in safeguarding the truth.
After living in the United States for thirty years, I have always heard Christians say that the United States was founded on the foundation of the Christian faith, as if faith can be inherited and once it was mainstream, it will continue to be mainstream. Don’t get me wrong, I also hope to live in a place where Christianity is the mainstream. I can only admire but not envy those Christians who are constantly being persecuted in Muslim countries.
However, just like many Christian parents who think that their children should be Christians if they grow up in a "Christian family" and do not seriously care for their children's lives, perhaps American Christians have developed a mentality of being too dependent on the mainstream in the past. Now we have come to a moment of adjustment. Let us face the fact frankly: It is not that society has deteriorated first, but that Christians in the church have long been weak, stereotyped, and unable to retain the next generation.
Parents with teenagers at home know that when their children are rebellious, although they cannot indulge, they must "choose your battle" (choose which battle to fight). I hope that from now on we will choose to fight the battle of our own family, marriage and parent-child relationships, and first choose to fight the lukewarm battle in the church that treats the truth as a slogan.
Homosexuals are not our enemies, they are the ones the gospel wants to reach. Don’t really hate the symbol of the rainbow, but think carefully about the rainbow promise that God has given us. Maybe after this bill is passed, the real conversation will begin.
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Mrs. Private School: Writer, Blogger (http://blog.udn.com/madameteacher7/article)
A homeschooling mom-teacher dedicated to Christian cultural ministry.