In his response,
Kevin Rudd made three assertions: (1) that gay people are born gay,
therefore it’s a natural condition, and therefore the state should allow them
to be married, (2) that the bible teaches that slavery is a natural condition
and therefore what the bible says on marriage can also be rejected, and (3)
that he reached these conclusions by his informed Christian conscience.
On 13 May 2013,
Kevin Rudd made a public announcement informing a change in his view concerning
gay marriage. The full document can be found here: http://www.kevinrudd.org.au/marriage_equality.
(Last accessed 10 Sept 2013).
Homosexuality as a
natural condition
In the gay
marriage debate in Australia, there hasn’t been a proper distinction between
the issue of homosexuality in general, and homosexual marriage. The issue
concerning homosexuality in general, whether it is right or wrong, is a
different issue to whether or not people who identify themselves as gay should
be married, and whether or not gay relationships should be called and
identified as a marriage. This lack of distinction has resulted in people
wrongly treating the issue of gay marriage as a religious question, as if this
definition does not impact a secular state. Some people have called upon the
“separation of church and state” in such a way as to say that people with religious
views have no right to participate in public affairs and public debate.In respect to Christian teaching about these matters, Jesus himself defines marriage as being between a man and a woman:
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. (Matthew 19:4-6, ESV)
Jesus also teaches here that it is God himself who joins men and women together in marriage.
Also, the bible in
other places calls homosexuality sin:
For
their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women who were consumed
with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and
receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. (Romans 1:26-27).
Do
not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers,
nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards,
nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. But such were some
of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (1 Corinthians
1:9-11)
We
know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully, understanding this, that
the law is not laid down for the just but for the lawless and disobedient, for
the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who strike their
fathers and mothers, for murderers, the sexually immoral, men who practice
homosexuality, enslavers, liars, perjurers, and whatever is contrary to sound
doctrine, in accordance with the gospel of the glory of the blessed God with
which I have been entrusted. (1 Timothy 1:8-11).
In Romans, the apostle mentions both homosexuality in women and in men. In 1 Corinthians 6, there are two words which are translated “men who practice homosexuality” which refer to the “passive and active partners in consensual homosexual acts” (ESV footnote). (This also stands as a warning to heterosexual couples who practice anal sex.)
When these
passages talk about homosexuality, they are not talking about a “sexual
identity” or even “sexual orientation”, but simply about the acts. This,
however, does not mean that the inclination towards homosexuality is not also
sin, but this is a different issue. Jesus teaches in the Sermon on the Mount:
You
have heard that it was said, “You shall not commit adultery.” But I say to you
that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed
adultery with her in his heart. (Matthew 6:27-28)
Sexual orientation can also be wrong in the way in which men behave towards women and vice-versa. Can you imagine though if everyone who lusted after someone else in their hearts thought that they should act on it? Maybe someone will scientifically prove one day that there are some people who are born to have affairs. This doesn’t mean that they should act on their impulses and wreck their marriages.
In the same way, if a person feels a certain inclination or attraction to people of the same sex, it doesn’t necessarily follow that they should act upon their impulses and get into bed. This is why Christians have always maintained that people who feel like this, and who don’t want to get married to someone of the opposite sex, should remain celibate.
Marriage between a man and a woman obviously needs to have priority because of the potential of these relationships to produce children. Of course, there are also people who get married later in life, and those who are infertile, but this is another issue. It does not impact on the state’s obligation (religion aside) to protect and defend the natural family unit as it is. The changing of the definition of marriage in the Australian marriage act to include homosexual couples would remove any unique recognition of the potential fertility of marriages between men and women.
It is not the duty of the state to tell its people what is a sin and what is not: that is the church’s job. But the state still needs to evaluate what is in the best interests of the nation and its people, apart from religious views that people might hold.
Scientific data
which seeks to prove that people are born with a homosexual inclination is one
thing. Other people can argue out whether the science is correct or not.
Whether or not this science is correct does not therefore imply that people
with a homosexual inclination should get married, or even that they should have
sex. I would challenge those who think otherwise what value or benefit it would
be to a society to promote complete sexual unrestraint. A celibate life is too
often ridiculed too, and St Paul even praises the benefits of it:
The
unmarried man is anxious about the things of the Lord, how to please the Lord.
But the married man is anxious about worldly things, how to please his wife,
and his interests are divided. (1 Corinthians 7:32-33)
Slavery as a
natural condition
Kevin Rudd also
claimed that slavery is a natural condition in the bible. This isn’t true:
slavery is mentioned and sometimes structured in a certain way, but it is does
not promote it. Also, there is a lot of difference between slavery in the
ancient world and the sort of slavery that came about in American history. In
the times of the New Testament, under Roman rule, it was also the case that
“slaves” were not slaves for life, but for a fixed time, after which they could
go free.St Paul writes:
Slaves,
obey your earthly masters with fear and trembling, with a sincere heart, as you
would Christ, not by way of eye-service, as people pleasers, but as servants of
Christ, doing the will of God from the heart, rendering service with a good
will as to the Lord and not to man, knowing that whatever good anyone does,
this he will receive back from the Lord, whether he is a slave or free.
(Ephesians 6:5-8).
However, this passage needs to be seen in light of 1 Corinthians 7:21-23:
Were
you a slave when called? Do not be concerned about it. (But if you can gain
your freedom, avail yourself of the opportunity.) For he who was called in the
Lord as a slave is a freedman of the Lord. Likewise he who was free when called
is a slave of Christ. You were bought with a price; do not become slaves of
men.
Here, it can be seen that St Paul encourages slaves to avail themselves of the opportunity to gain their freedom, and also, if they are not a slave, not to sell themselves into slavery. Also in 1 Timothy 1:10 (cited above), St Paul condemns “enslavers”, that is, “those who take someone captive in order to sell him into slavery” (ESV footnote).
The intent of Ephesians 6 is to give people who are already caught in slavery the proper advice as to how to deal the bad situation they find themselves in: they should be faithful to their contract and do it without rebelling and such like. This doesn’t mean that the New Testament promotes slavery or calls it a “natural condition”, or as Kevin Rudd put it, that on the basis of the bible, Christians would have been bound the fight in favour of slavery in American history.
An informed Christian conscience
Many places in the New Testament, Christians are encouraged to pray for their leaders (eg 1 Timothy 2:1-2). The leaders that we have in Australia are much less tyrannic than many of those Roman Caesars early Christians had to live under. We have a lot to give thanks to God for in this peaceful country of ours. Christians are called to pray and thank God for our politicians and gladly do good to them, showing them proper respect. We should also give thanks to God for the prime-ministerships of both Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard, and now Tony Abbott, whether we agree with their views or not.
Christians are also not called to be homophobic: we are called to show love to all people including gay people. The bible is not a “homophobic book”, but still calls homosexuality sin. However, all Christians are sinners, and we don’t have a right to consider ourselves more righteous than anyone else. St Paul writes: “no one does good, not even one” (Romans 3:12). The church preaches the forgiveness of sins to all nations (Mark 16:15). This sort of talk will offend people, and faithful Christians will be accused of being judgmental, patronising, hate-mongering, self-righteousness, and such like. Often the accusations won’t be true, even though many Christians are still guilty of behaving badly and hatefully. Christians need to “speak the truth in love” (Ephesians 4:15).
Because of our cloudiness of judgment and the way in which sin even pervades our opinions and motives, if we are going to form a Christian conscience, we need to pay attention to the word of Scripture, which St Peter calls, “the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place” (2 Peter 1:19).
God himself is not “homophobic”, and the Westboro Baptist Church in the USA speak out-and-out lies when they hold their placards saying, “God hates fags”. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, he is like a waiting father—for many people, the Father they never had—who when he saw his son returning home, “felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him” (Luke 15:20).
It should also be the prayer of every Christian that a conscience, formed by the word of God, may be continually worked in each person, including our leaders in government.
Yours in Christ,
Pastor Stephen van der Hoek
10 September 2013
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