A Hill to Die on

The Christian Church in America is up in arms. A flagship mission organization has issued a statement on homosexuality, and both sides are excited: some with anger and some with elation. Many are thinking about pulling support from the organization- and some already have.
"This is the battleground," people will say. "We gotta win the war on marriage; it's a war we must not lose!" Homosexuality is a direct, full on affront to God's ordained plan for the world. We cannot let it take place in America. America is doomed, damned, if homosexual marriage becomes a reality. It is a slap in the face to God, who designed things to be a certain way.

The reality is that the war on marriage has already been lost in America. It was decided long ago, and the church didn't do too much about it. It's something that Jesus actually does talk about by name, and not just by association: divorce. In America, people can get divorced without proof of infidelity, abuse, etc. They can get divorced on a whim, with no strings attached. It is called No-Fault Divorce.  See, the thing about marriage is it is not just a "union before God." Marriage is also a very public act, binding someone to another person and giving that person certain rights and responsibilities. It is an earthly covenant; some people make that covenant before God, while others choose to make it only before a judge. When no-fault divorce was legislated, the effect was that people were not held to their covenant responsibilities in America.

No-fault divorce destroyed the institution of marriage. It was exactly what the Pharisees were asking about in Matthew 19 ("Can a person get divorced for any reason??"), and Jesus said that was totally off from God's intended purpose. Jesus talks about marriage as something that binds one man to one woman, unites them for service and selfless love. Many Christians are debating the one man and one woman part. But I would contend that the American Church has by and large given up on the "binding" part.

The church is ignoring the conversation about divorce (not to mention pre-marital sex). It has become a norm in society and is not talked about much anymore. Many Christians are willing to die on the hill of homosexual marriage, but it is merely one side of a much bigger issue. If Christians want to die on the hill of marriage, that is all good and well, but please make sure it is upholding the whole of marriage. Talk about divorce, call people out for it, hold them accountable. Talk about pre-marital sex, tell children they are throwing away a precious gift from God, call out their parents for doing the same. Talk about pornography and how it is destroying how people view the opposite sex and totally objectifies men and women. And take it to the government! Demand that marriage actually be a binding covenant between two people: what God has put together, let man not put asunder. Demand that the multi-billion dollar porn industry be shut down. Please, don't stop halfway up the hill. Take your cross to the top, and die there.

But Jesus did not die on that hill. Jesus thought marriage was pretty important. Jesus thought a lot of things were important. But what he thought was most important was that people were separated from God and his love. People didn't know that their Creator cared. Can you believe it- God cares deeply for them, and they think he hates them! So Jesus came to this earth, met with adulterers, prostitutes, divorcees, and all kinds of people with shady lives. And he showed them God's love. He showed them that they had a place to belong. It offended a lot of "religious" people, because they didn't think those people were worth the love of God. They need to follow a bunch of rules to earn God's favor. Jesus had no room for those people- he actually refused to let them believe such a thing. He took his stand. Jesus called out people for refusing to care for those that God cared about. Jesus wanted sinners to know God's forgiveness and grace. That is the hill Jesus died on. The "religious" leaders condemned him because he opposed the rules, and they nailed him to a cross on the top of a hill.
I want to follow Jesus. That's the hill I want to die on. I don't want to give up my life for rules. I want to be so stubborn about people knowing that God has given them a place to belong in Jesus, regardless of where they have been, that it is offensive. Showing the unbelievable grace of God does not negate his truth. But, as Jesus proved, it is the only hill to die on.