The Supreme Court isn’t in Washington D.C.

I want to address the recent Supreme Court decision legalizing what is popularly referred to as “Gay Marriage.” By the reaction of the media and the President’s administration, you would ascertain that it was a unanimous decision. However, it was not 9-0 it was 5-4. This means that if just one other justice had changed his or her mind it would have been 5-4 the other way. Would the media and administration be declaring the issue resolved? That it’s the law of the land, so keep quite? Somehow I doubt it.

What I am about to say is not just an academic exercise for me. These comments were not created in a vacuum, but as some of you know, this is very personal to my family.

In many ways, this ruling doesn’t affect you & me at all. Nothing has changed in our day-to-day lives. Your marriage remains a sacred trust between you, your spouse, and God. As a church, we still have the freedom of speech. As a pastor, I am still free to decide which weddings I will perform or will not perform. My job this morning is the same as it was 2 weeks ago, “Preach the Word.” For now nothing has changed. For Now.

Just because the Supreme Court of the United States rules on something doesn’t make it true. In the Dredd Scott decision, the court ruled that African-Americans were not full persons. In Roe v Wade, they ruled that unborn babies aren’t persons at all. (BTW, just like the abortion ruling didn’t make the controversy over abortion go away, neither will this ruling make this controversy go away). This redefinition of marriage creates a slippery slope. We all know polygamy is next. Making something legal doesn’t make it God’s will.

It is clear that the court’s intention was not just equalization among people regarding marriage, but moral acceptance of it. This is why everything has changed. This institutionalization of what the Bible considers sin, puts people who believe the Bible on notice. Our views are not tolerated.

This decision is saying to Christians that our churches are next on the gay right’s movement’s list. The same force they pursued marriage, they are going to pursue our freedom. This isn’t a conspiracy theory, or the tea party talking. This was the opinion of the four dissenting Supreme Court Justices.

Within days there were calls for the end of church’s tax-exempt status, an end to college accreditation for Christian institutions (thus ending access to federally subsidized student loans), for the removal of military chaplains that won’t agree. All these things are coming, but we don’t panic. The Bible never promised tax exemptions. The Supreme Court of the United States can do a lot of things, but they can’t put Jesus back in the grave.

I don’t know what the future holds. I know who holds the future. God is in control. Our hope is in God. Our faith is in His Word. Our message is the life-changing Gospel of Jesus Christ. We must continue to love people no matter their sinfulness. But we must continue to love them enough to tell them the truth. God sent His Son to die for sinners, heterosexual and homosexual. We are all sinners. The difference is Christians weep over our sins, not celebrate them.