That is a blog title that is sure to garner a lot of attention. It is a topic that is a hot button issue amongst Christians and even in the political world this year. With two states (California and Massachusetts) legalizing gay marriages it has caused all kinds of reactions. You have some churches that support gay marriages, some that oppose it and some churches that spew such vile about it that I don’t think that they can be considered Christian.

I have spent a lot of time thinking and talking about it, and trying to figure out where I stand on the issue. On one hand I read the Bible and I clearly see that the homosexual lifestyle is a sin, but then I also know that there are things I have done in my life that are sinful as well. God’s grace is big enough for both sins to be forgiven. However, that is not the issue at hand. The issue is whether or not our government, which is not a theocracy, should sanction gay marriages.

I am first and foremost against a federal law or Constitutional amendment that would define marriage as being between only one man and one woman. I think that it is an issue of state’s rights and not something that the federal government should step into.

Second, I believe that marriage is a sacramental act and something that is founded in biblical principles and so marriage should be kept within it’s biblical context and that is between a man and a woman. But where does that leave homosexual couples that feel that in this country they deserve the right to formalize their commitment? I believe the answer is to separate marriage and civil unions. Like I said marriage is a sacramental thing and should be kept within the context of the church. A civil union is a governmental thing and thus the federal government can regulate it. So homosexuals that want to formalize their union can get a license for a civil union that can be held in a courthouse or wherever they would prefer to conduct a ceremony. And then heterosexual couples can do the same thing and if it is performed in a church then it can be formalized as the sacramental marriage.

Now a church that chooses to bless homosexual unions can do so in a church that may approve of such a thing. However, by making the unions all civil unions and leaving marriage out of the picture then you will leave churches that do not believe in gay marriages to not be forced to perform those kind of ceremonies, because it won’t be required by the government for a marriage to take place for a union between a couple. Because I would be willing to bet if gay marriages were legalized in this country that it would not be very long before a church that opposes such a thing would be sued for discrimination. Thereby forcing homosexuals beliefs upon the church, which is pretty much what they feel churches are doing by rejecting their desire to be married.

There is more about this idea that was in Monday’s edition of the USA Today. You can read the full article here.

I know some people will not be pleased with what I have written and may even call my own faith into question, but let me just say that we need to realize that our government is not Christian and so we can not force it or it’s people to uphold our Christian ideals. Instead we as Christians need to be going about changing the hearts of people by showing them God’s love for them.