Sometime this month, the Supreme Court is expected to decide whether same-sex marriage should be afforded constitutional protection and if state laws banning or not recognizing such unions are constitutional. Many expect a Supreme Court ruling sympathetic to same-sex marriage. What people don't see is that such a ruling would likely reduce state marriage to nothing more than a legal contract granting certain legal protections and benefits.
And if same-sex marriage becomes constitutionally protected, what will happen to ministers and churches which hold to a Biblical view of marriage? Jesus made it clear that marriage is to be a life-long union between one man and one woman when, addressing the issue of divorce, he quoted from Genesis and said (Matthew 19:4-6 NKJV): "Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate." Add to this all the Scriptural prohibitions and condemnations of sexual relationships outside of marriage between a man and a woman, and it is clear that Bible-believing Christians cannot, in good conscience, condone same-sex unions any more than they can condone other forms of adultery and fornication.
So, if a Christian minister performs marriage services only for those who seek to enter into a Biblical marriage covenant and declines to perform services for same-sex couples or others who seek to enter into a marriage agreement different from the Biblical definition, what could he expect? And, if churches host wedding services only for those who seek a marriage as defined in the Bible and decline to host marriage ceremonies for others, what is likely to happen?
While a court ruling granting constitutional protection to same-sex marriage might also allow some protection to ministers and churches based on their religious convictions because of First Amendment protections, I think most can see that lawsuits could be expected if churches and ministers "discriminate" against those who hold to non-Biblical views regarding marriage and refuse to perform ceremonies.
I've already seen church officials recommend to ministers and congregations consultations with an attorney to look at this very issue and to make sure their policies regarding performing or hosting marriage ceremonies are written, clear, consistently followed and will pass legal scrutiny. But even with carefully crafted policies, in light of court rulings in regard to businesses which declined to provide goods and services for wedding ceremonies which were contrary to the business owners' beliefs, I could see lawsuits filed against ministers and churches declining to host or perform marriage ceremonies for same-sex couples.
Think about it. The minister, in addition to leading a worship service for his church and the couple, acts as an agent of the state in solemnizing marriages and signing state documents to make marriages legal and binding. Even if a church has policies stating that marriages will only be performed for church members or for those in agreement with the church's doctrine regarding marriage, the very fact that the minister functions as a representative of the state in witnessing vows and solemnizing marriages opens up Christian ministers and their churches to lawsuits if they refuse to perform a marriage ceremony for a couple licensed to marry by the state.
Perhaps, then, the only safe thing for ministers and churches who hold to Jesus' words and His definition of marriage will be to back away from performing state marriages altogether and, to be safe, to withdraw their credentials to perform marriage ceremonies for the state.
Then, if a Christian man and woman wish to enter into the Biblical covenant of marriage, ministers and churches could hold a wedding service which includes Biblical marriage vows and seeks God's blessing upon the marriage. Churches and believers could recognize those entering into the Biblical marriage covenant as husband and wife regardless of their status with the state.
But, if that same man and woman who spoke their vows before God wish to have, as well, the legal protections and benefits afforded to married couples by the civil laws of the state, they would also need to complete the necessary paperwork at the courthouse and ask a judge to sign their marriage license.
Some might argue that so separating Biblical marriage and the wedding service from state marriage cheapens state marriage and makes it little more than filing the necessary paperwork to obtain a legal status in the courts, but isn't that what the state has already made it? And if marriage in the eyes of the state is further broadened to include same-sex couples, hasn't the government even further reduced marriage to nothing more than a legal status which allows two people to get tax breaks, jointly own property and share in the custody of children?
Randy Moll is the managing editor of the Westside Eagle Observer. He may be contacted by email at [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author.
Editorial on 06/03/2015