Christians and Marriage Law

I’m being asked a lot of questions regarding  the change in Illinois law allowing for same-sex marriage.  Some are wondering if the Bible says anything about the subject, and if so, what. Others are expressing their concern for the disintegration of traditional marriage. Some are upset that the church is not doing enough to preserve Biblical marriage in America.“What is your position?” or, “Why aren’t we talking about this as a church?” are some of the questions I am getting.I am a traditionalist and tend to be conservative in most matters. There was a time when the passing of this law would have led to panic in my own thinking. But that’s not my response.I’m not an advocate of same-sex marriage, and if the law ever requires pastors to perform them, I may wind up in jail. But the change in Illinois law is not a shock to me. Nor is it causing me great consternation.Let me explain.Christians cannot expect non-Christians to embrace Christian values. I expect people of the world to think like people of the world, live like people of the world, and follow the ways of the world. Those who make no pretense of believing or valuing things that are in our Bibles should not be expected to do anything other than what is based on their beliefs and morals.One of our Christian heroes and Biblical authors made this truth abundantly clear, “What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside” (I Corinthians 5:12-13 NIV).As Christians, do we believe that? Or do we think it is our business to usurp God’s exclusive right to judge what non-Christians do?I have a related question: If we believe we should require traditional marriage for all Americans, what “tradition” are we going to insist on? Think on that one for a while. Most older traditions embraced polygamy. Many traditions were a glorified form of slavery…where wives were viewed as “property” of their husbands. Is it really “traditional marriage” that we are insisting on?Maybe it’s “Biblical Marriage” that we would want to promote. Are you sure about that? The marriages in the Bible are not exactly shining examples. Can you think of any that were? Solomon? David? Even Abraham? While I’m all for Genesis 2:24 as our standard, it doesn’t appear that many characters in Scripture did. While that is regrettable, it hardly helps our case for insisting that non-Christians adhere to “Biblical Marriage.”I realize that in America, we all have a voice and that voice should be used. Many believe that there are societal advantages to preserving marriage as a one-man one-woman institution, and as Americans, I think it is commendable for that argument to be made in reasonable discourse through proper educational and political channels.But for the church, we have one Gospel to focus on. For us to muddy up our mission by getting carried away with political and societal causes that will have no bearing on bringing people into a relationship with Jesus is counterproductive. And there is no Biblical basis for church involvement in matters of public policy for a secular state. Neither Jesus nor Paul, nor any other New Testament author made any attempts to change the immoral policies of secular Rome.Let’s expect lost people to do lost things. Maintaining that mindset may be just what it takes to give us urgency for the primary need of our culture: Jesus.