Traditional Marriage Supporters Win?
The passing of Proposition 8 and its aftermath are speaking one fact loud and clear. Homosexuals and those supporting them are angry and in pain.
In the days after the election, resistance was evident. Chuck Colson of Prison Fellowship pointed out in his BreakPoint column that 2,000 homosexual protesters surrounded a Mormon temple in Los Angeles chanting "Mormon scum," angry over Mormon involvement in passing Proposition 8.
Protesters turned out in force picketing at megachurch Saddleback Church, holding signs reading "Purpose-Driven Hate," a play on Pastor Rick Warren's book, Purpose Driven.
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Bold aggression was on display at Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills where the church was spray painted. Church members' cars were vandalized, and at least two Christians were assaulted, Colson wrote.
The backlash against Christians by pro-homosexual groups seems to only prove that change won't come by law, and passage of this law is not the permanent solution.
Approximately 2,000 years ago, Paul in his letter to Romans declared: "For we maintain that a man is justified by faith apart from observing the law" (Romans 3:28).
Back then, many in Judea tried to achieve righteousness by observing the law. Even extreme groups like Pharisees existed, who zealously practiced the law and distinguished themselves from others by their actions of keeping with the law. Paul, who was once also a Pharisee, realized and confessed that righteousness was not to be gained through the law in the book of Romans.
Though a law has passed upholding traditional marriage and this law is right and good, as Christians, we know that people do not change because of the law. People change when they realize the love of God and repent of their sins willingly. Sinners repent when they receive the grace offered them on Calvary – when the sinless Lamb of God, our Lord Jesus Christ, sacrificed himself so that sinners could realize their immense value and worth to God Almighty.
Like prostitution, the homosexual sin is one that defiles love. It degrades the body and the spirit. It is the wrong way to love. Therefore, it is all the more important to reveal true love, God's love, to those who suffer from their sins in this way.
May Christians everywhere pray and fast so that every single pro-homosexual that they know is shown true love. May Christians everywhere show that they are hurting alongside of the sinner who also hurts. In doing so, may we all mirror Jesus Christ and obey the Gospel that he preached.
In the 1970s, many Christian televangelists and well-known pastors began speaking out against the sin of homosexuality, often offering "lurid exaggerations" about homosexual people to underscore their point, said Joe Dallas, program director of Genesis Counseling – a Tustin, Calif.-based ministry to men struggling with sexual addiction and homosexuality. He called it the "Jonah syndrome" where Christians lose sight of the value and humanity of the people they oppose.
Georgia pastor Johnny M. Hunt underscored this point recently by asking, "Why don't we love the homosexual and hate OUR sin?" Hunt hopes that then the public can see how Christians love the homosexual.
