Sonspot

I've been thinking over the Gay Marriage debate and think I'll throw in my penny regarding the subject. I say penny because, as I mulled this issue over being full of (self)righteous indignation, money is what came to me. Money in the form of these verses:

Mark 12:14 (King James Version)
14And when they were come, they say unto him, Master, we know that thou art true, and carest for no man: for thou regardest not the person of men, but teachest the way of God in truth: Is it lawful to give tribute to Caesar, or not? 15Shall we give, or shallwe not give? But he, knowing their hypocrisy, said unto them, Why tempt ye me? Bring me a penny that I may see it. 16And they brought it. And he saith unto them, Whose is this image and superscription? And they said unto him, Caesar's. 17And Jesus answering said unto them, Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's.

I'm sure many see where I'm heading, and I'm sure I'm not the first that has headed this way. However, I don't like what I'm about to say, not one bit. If there was any other conclusion that I could've stumbled upon, I would have. But this particular stumbling stone was unavoidable for me.

Let's start by asking, what is God's that we are to give? Everything is God's no doubt, but Jesus made a contrast between God's property and Caesar's. Why did he do this? Well, I believe the bible says God's kingdom is spiritual and lives in the heart of the believer and that, for now, the natural world is cut-off. The natural world will not be part of God's kingdom until the last day when there will be a new heaven and a new earth.

O.K., but homosexuality is a sin in God's eyes right? Yes, it is. Noone can come away from even a cursory reading of the bible and not know that. God views homosexuals as sinners, right? Yes, he does. But he views all the world as sinners in need of the saving grace through his son Christ Jesus. We have all fallen short. What does God want then? He wants us all to be saved through faith in Christ, period.

So if this isn't an issue of God's kingdom, but one of Caesar's (the world's), how do we handle homosexual marriage? Like we should everything else in the world, we start by asking this: What is the benefit versus the risk to our society?

I believe there is great risk in making homosexual marriage equal to heterosexual marriage. Homosexuals have higher rates of drug/alcohol use than heterosexuals. Homosexuals have higher rates of HIV infection and other STD's than heterosexuals. Arguably, homosexuals have higher rates of suicide/suicide attempts than heterosexuals. Why do I link to these unpleasantries? Because, if homosexual marriage is instituted then it will appear to be considered a normal alternative to heterosexuality. I'm not getting into the "being born that way" stuff. Being a nurse, I have known many homosexuals and nothing of their behavior has lead me to believe it's an issue in their Genes (but, maybe an issue in their jeans).

You know what though, similar things could be said about sex-outside-of-marriage, divorce, the legality of Alcohol, and even sky-diving. Ah, our hand has weakened my friends. Like I said before, if there was any other conclusion I could've come to...

I for one am not going to fold, I am going to continue to throw my penny in the pot and argue against homosexual marriage just like I argue against everything else that the bible deems harmful to the society, I think that is our duty as Christians in a lost world. But from now on, I continue with the knowledge that I'm playing with Caesar's money.