Marriage Amendment Thoughts.. Part One

On, Sunday April 29th, North Carolina voted on an a marriage Amendment sayingb(in part)....

“Marriage between one man and one woman is the only domestic legal union that shall be valid or recognized in this State. This section does not prohibit a private party from entering into contracts with another private party; nor does this section prohibit courts from adjudicating the rights of private parties pursuant to such contracts.”

I have been praying about this for weeks now. Being on the outside living in England, I have been reading people's facebook comments and hearing the enormous pain behind this issue (on both sides). I've been watching my family members take strong stands on both sides of the fence.

Because there is such strong feelings, I've been VERY hesitant to write this post. I decided not to put it on the blog until after the voting, so it will not affect anyone's decisions either way. My purpose with this is to show you what God has laid on my heart after a LOT of praying and seeking His will in this situation.  All I ask is that you read this with an open heart.  I do not write this flippantly and to be honest with you I NEVER imagined I'd be writing this post, lol.. I do ask that if you start reading this series, you finish it to the end.  To start and not finish will not give you the complete path of my thoughts, so please read the whole thing or none of it :) 

So what is a Christian to do?  In light of this amendment and similar amendments coming out nationwide.  In light of the controversy behind it.  In light of the fact that most church's and respected Pastors and figures in the Christian community, including Franklin Graham, are rallying around the amendment, and in light of hurting homosexuals, friends of homosexuals and the non-Christian majority screaming out against it?

Well, let's take a minute to look at what Scripture says about marriage..         

• Hebrews 13:4 “Let marriage be held in honor among all, and let the marriage bed be undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterous.”
• Genesis 2:24, "Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh." 
•  Matthew 19:3-9.. "And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.”

I could go on and on with scripture.  God is CLEAR where He stands on marriage.. That is not my dilemma. 

Let's also consider this scripture from the Aposile Paul found in 1 Corinthians 2: 1-16 which spoke buckets to me in light of this marriage discussion..

• “And I, when I came to you, brothers,I did not come proclaiming to you the testimony of God with lofty speech or wisdom. For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. And I was with you in weakness and in fear and much trembling, and my speech and my message were not in plausible words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith might not rest in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.”

My dilemma is, what would Christ do with His stand on marriage in this day and age? Would He become politically active passing bills and amendments protecting marriage? Or would He simply believe it and move on with His supreme purpose, sharing the truth of Christ to a hurting world??

Let's look at more scripture.. 

• Christ says in Luke 19:10 “I have come to seek and to save those which are lost”. 
• He says in John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have Eternal life. For God did not send His son to the world to condemn the World but that through Him we might be saved.”..

Living in England has taught me so much about my faith. This country is so void of Christ, and the majority of the people living here lack any desire to know anything about Christianity. In the US, especially down south where I'm from, there is a church on every corner, Bibles in every hotel room, 4-5 worship services on TV each Sunday, Christian music stations, you name it!!! It is so easy for Christians in the States to live your life, take major stands on issues and be comfortable that you are doing “enough”. I would encourage you today to know that voting yes for any amendment is NOT ENOUGH!

I have really spent time here getting to know people, asking what their hang up's with faith are, asking God, “what am I really supposed to do with the time you give me on the Earth?” And you know what resounds in my head over and over and over.. “Love me, Serve me and love others”.. I have heard people tell me that they quit coming to church because they were wounded or judged by the church (NOOO!!!), I have heard people say that they attend church because it is what they are supposed to do, but that it wasn't real to them at all (NOOOO!!!), I have heard people say they turned to other religions because they could be themselves there, no expectations on how to pray, look, act, etc (NOOOO!!!).

Oh people, If all of us professing Christ acted the way He instructed us, there would be none of these reasons!! I believe that if Christ was here now, in light of this Amendment, He would not be in Washington DC advocating for it, he would not be slamming his facebook posts with it.. What would He be doing then?? He would be out living! I have yet to find a scripture where Christ goes to the Pharisees and Sadducees and tells them that they need to change certain laws to make them fit His teachings. Knowing what I know of Christ, that's almost a funny image..

Jesus: “Now, your law 3.1578 is counters my commandment 10 and I need that appealed.”

That wasn't how Christ worked!! He lived amongst the people and radiated truth through his life!! I love the quote, “preach the gospel, use words if necessary'. So what was Jesus doing? He was having dinner with Zacchaeus (the corrupt tax collector), healing the blind, performing miracles, allowing a prostitute to wash His feet with her hair, shall I go on?

Thinking in a practical way.. Our world is hurting and Christ is the great Healer. So how do we fix the hurting world, through the Healer! I ask each Christian reading this to think for a minute if your witness to the hurting world is being helped or harmed by the stance you are taking with this amendment? Because let me tell you, this law/amendment/whatever will pass one day. Just like abortion, “Liquor by the Drink”, fill in the blank.. And when it does, will you still have credibility in your Faith?

When I became an Arbonne consultant a year ago, I was really struggling finding the right balance between it, family and time with God.. As I prayed, God revealed this statement to me.. “Sell nothing but ME!” Don't sell a brand, don't sell an amendment, don't sell anything accept Christ and Him Crucified!!! If we all did this, we could change this world so radically there would be no need for amendments!!! 

CONTINUED....