Dear Rock Church Member,
As you probably know, the Supreme Court Of The United Sates (SCOTUS), in a landmark decision today, ruled in favor of legalizing gay marriage. As your pastors, we felt it would be appropriate to let you know our response to this ruling. FYI, much of this reply reflects the response that the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) sent out today.
The fact is, that nothing in the Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges opinion, changes the truth about marriage. What has changed is the legal definition of marriage. It is now at variance with orthodox, Biblical faith, as it has been affirmed across the centuries and as it is embraced today by nearly two billion Christians in every nation on earth.
At The Rock Church, we believe and affirm that God designed marriage for humanity. As first described in Genesis and later affirmed by Jesus, marriage is a God-ordained, covenant relationship between one man and one woman. This lifelong, sexually exclusive relationship, brings children into the world and thus sustains the stewardship of the earth. Biblical marriage — marked by faithfulness, sacrificial love and joy — beautifully displays the relationship between God and His people.
While commentators, politicians and judges may revise their understanding of marriage in response to shifting societal trends, followers of Jesus should embrace His clear vision of marriage found in Matthew 19:4-6:
“Haven’t you read,” Jesus replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
In its role as a moral teacher, the law now misleads Americans about the true nature of marriage. We, as Evangelicals and other followers of the Bible, have a heightened opportunity to demonstrate the attractiveness of loving Christian marriages and families. We should renew our commitment to the sacrificial love and covenantal faithfulness to which Jesus calls all husbands and wives.
As witnesses to the truth, evangelical Christians should be loving, kind, gracious, and compassionate to those who do not share their views on marriage. Like Jesus, we love sinners, but not the sin. We should continue to preach a salvation purchased for ALL sinners (every human being) through faith in the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Sadly, we are convinced that those who continue to embrace historic Biblical teaching on marriage, will increasingly need to appeal to the First Amendment protection not just for abstract belief, but for the practice of our faith. May God grant us courage and grace to face the challenges that lay ahead of us.
Sincerely,
The Pastors of The Rock Church
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