Friday was not the end of the homo crusade, or jihad (I'll let you pick your flavor of word choice since that is the kind of society we are now). If you believe the finish line was reached with the new court ruling, I have some swamp land in the Everglades I would love to sell you. The finish line was not reached, the starting gun sounded.
The secular, liberal, gay, - and many other adjectives - agenda is driving down a mountain with no brakes and no intention of pushing them if they did. There will be no satisfaction until they are not only allowed, but applauded for their actions. Full acceptance is the goal. Those who resist will become the target.
Here enters the Church.
For the first time in my lifetime, it has finally hit me that Christians are not the moral majority. It may have been that way for a few years, but Friday's ruling solidified it. The moral/sexual revolution in the United States is quickly changing the landscape of our country. I suspect that I will never witness Christian morality as the majority again. This could be the best thing for the Church.
"Whatever do you mean, Erik?" Well, let me explain. There are no rocks for Christians to hideout under. We will be pressed now to answer the question on where we stand on this issue. It will become the litmus test of our social standing. If you believe, as a Christian, you will be able to keep your view on this sealed, you are wrong. If you believe you will be allowed to simply "agree to disagree," you are wrong. If you believe this is an inconsequential issue that is not worth all the fuss being made about it, you are wrong.
There are a lot of ripple effects that could come from this decision. I will address them in future posts. The goal of this little soirée is to make clear to Christians that putting your view in your back pocket, hoping you will never have to take it out, is foolish. Are you going to submit to the authority of God's Word or surrender to the authority of the Correctness Police? Are you willing to go against the mob and intolerista? They are coming.
The Church will thrive from this. It may not be reflected in our numbers, but the Church will become clearer about its mission and calling. The Church will be pruned of those who have half-heartedly associated with Christianity. The Church will be pruned of those who claimed Christianity because it was the socially acceptable thing to do. Only genuine believers will claim Christ and stand on His Word when it is socially unacceptable. This issue is going to forcefully shake the tree of the Church and I am imagining a lot of debris is going to come raining down. But good news, friends, the church will shine. The gates of hell will not prevail against her (Matthew 16:18).
Now is the time to solidify your position, friends. The world is going to call your hand and make you show your cards. There's nowhere to hide.
*I proudly have my name attached as a signatory of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission's declaration "Here I Stand" evangelical declaration of marriage, read it here
*A great resource on the Bible's teaching on homosexuality and an answer to the popular arguments for same-sex marriage is Kevin DeYoung's What Does The Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality (a short, but important book)