I love the comment on the cover: "unthinkable to legal at a dizzying pace", Now What"
Sometimes it’s difficult to speak the truth in love. And
when the truth involves incredibly controversial subjects, it’s even more
difficult. As a culture we seem to demand tolerance, and we’ve come to expect
from those who most champion tolerance for their causes 'and if you don’t see
things my way, then you’re nothing but a hater.' So how does the church deal
with a subject that makes the news every day, is debated in state supreme
courts, and as far as the legal system goes, is undoubtedly ultimately going to
be decided by the Supreme Court. And all of this which insists that its citizens
enjoy the freedom to worship according to their own religious traditions
Over the
past few years in this country, there has been increasing push to legalize same
sex marriage. And the church has to take sides. Part of Christianity suggests
that Christ’s love is available to everyone, and that Same-Sex marriage should
really be a non-issue. Another part insists that the traditional marriage, one
man and one woman, is the only model allowed by scripture. So where do we turn
for guidance, how do we decide what approach to take when the church has one
standard, and the state another.
In their
book “Same-Sex marriage: A Thoughtful Approach to God's Design for Marriage”,
Sean McDowell and John Stonestreet address these issues and others.
The
approach really is 'thoughtful'. Part One (chapters 1-6) look at what marriage
is and why it exists. The authors turn to the Bible, starting with Genesis,
touching on the 10 commandments, looking at the words of Jesus, and considering
the epistles of Paul in order to formulate their arguments. One of the starting
points is that God commanded that human beings should be fruitful, and multiply
and fill the earth. Sex (between a male and a female) is the primary means for
that to happen. And marriage provides, or should provide the nurturing
environment in which to raise children.
At some
point society has become more accepting of many things that used to be
considered anathema. Over time,
attitudes have shifted, and the authors take a look at this phenomenon. What is
the process. Can the church use something similar to slow the tide.
But the
book is more than a scathing denunciation of same-sex marriage. In Part Two
(7-12) The authors bring up questions, the answers to which, "questioning
minds want to know." Most of them deal with how Christians can respond to
situations, questions, and debates. The focus is that we should speak the truth
in love. There are frequent reminders that the church should be as upset about
same-sex marriage as she is about other sexual sins: fornication, cohabitation,
adultery, etc; or rather that she should be as upset about the other sexual
sins as she is about same-sex marriage.
We are
forced to look at our convictions and see how strongly we support them. What
are we willing to do to uphold our convictions? Where do we draw the line? How
do we support our family and friends, without supporting their lifestyle
choices.
A very well
thought out book. Highly recommended to all who want to know more about how to
speak the truth in love, and how to love God's children when we have such a
difficult time with the choices they have made.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in
exchange for the review. I was not required to write a positive review.
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