Well, I made some people upset…
That probably won’t come as a shock (and it certainly doesn’t faze me)—people are often upset by bold proclamations of Biblical truth. Nearly every post I make on social media receives at least some degree of negative interaction from unbelievers or Christians who have compromised on the truth of Genesis.
But a recent post on my Facebook page exploded with hate. It was a short post (sometimes these short posts garner the most attention!), and it stated: “A gay ‘marriage’ is not a valid marriage.”
That post ignited controversy, and the comments piled up to well over 10,000! Wow! Many of those comments were filled with profanity, threats against me, or accusations that I must be some kind of repressed homosexual. So why did I make the post and why did it get so much negative attention?
Let me first explain why I made that statement in the first place. From a Biblical perspective, I don’t believe a gay marriage is a valid marriage because God is the one who created, and therefore, defines the institution.
In Genesis 2:24, right at the beginning of history, God established marriage as the lifelong union of one man and one woman. Jesus Himself reaffirmed that definition in Matthew 19 and Mark 10, saying “from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.”
Marriage is not a human invention.
It is God’s institution, first revealed in Genesis and defined by the Creator Himself. Governments are free to recognize other legal relationships if they choose, and they may even falsely call those relationships “marriage.” But from a Biblical perspective, they cannot redefine the institution God created.
According to Scripture, there is only one marriage that God instituted, and therefore only one marriage that God recognizes: a covenant relationship between one man and one woman.
I know many people disagree—the over 10,000 comments (many of which were negative comments) certainly proved that.
History is full of examples where governments legalize things that God calls sinful. As Christians, our authority isn’t public opinion. Our authority is not the latest court ruling. Our authority is God’s Word—and that’s really the heart of the issue.
This discussion isn’t ultimately about marriage. It’s about authority. Who has the right to define marriage? The Creator or His creation? Ever since Genesis chapter 3, mankind has wanted to decide truth for himself instead of submitting to God’s Word. That is exactly what Satan tempted Eve to do: “Did God really say?” The temptation has never changed. The issue has never changed.
Will we begin with God’s Word or man’s Word? That is what it’s all about.
We must continue to stand on the authority of God’s Word, even when it’s not popular and even when it garners a lot of hate. Biblical truth will always make a sinful world angry, but we pray that, as the truth is shared, some people will have soft hearts and will respond by placing their faith in Christ and having a worldview shaped by Scripture.
