The Battle for Biblical Marriage is a Mission Moment That Will Define the Church.
The battle is the bite point
Speaking about Martin Luther and his confrontation with culture
about the key issues of his day Elizabeth Rundle Charles wrote,
“It is the truth which is
assailed in any age which tests our fidelity. It is to confess we are called,
not merely to profess. If I profess, with the loudest voice and the clearest
exposition, every portion of the truth of God except precisely that little
point which the world and the devil are at that moment attacking, I am not
confessing Christ, however boldly I may be professing Christianity. Where the
battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved; and to be steady on all the
battle-field besides is mere flight and disgrace to him if he flinches at that
one point.”
Never has there been an age in recent times where the sanctity
of marriage has been more under fire inside and outside the church. Biblical
sexuality is where the battle for the authority of the Word of God is raging in
our culture. If you like, the battle is the bite point. The bite point (as Tim
Chester has articulated) is where the gospel challenges the culture and
offers truth and calls for repentance. The bite point is where the gospel is
most starkly different from the surrounding culture, thus providing an
evangelistic opportunity. The bite point is where the battle rages most clearly
in culture so that the church cannot simply
profess Christ but must confess
Christ as Elizabeth R. Charles says above.
The battle is reaching fever pitch in the U.S. as the Supreme Court decided
on Friday January 16th to review arguments and then likely rule on the
legalization of same sex marriage by the summer.
Russell Moore, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics &
Religious Liberty Commission, said, "This case could potentially transform
the cultural landscape of America. We should pray for the court, that they will
not seek to redefine marriage. Marriage was not created by government action,
and it shouldn't be re-created by government action.”
"And even more than that," Moore said, "we should
pray for churches who will know how to articulate and embody a Christian vision
of marriage as the one-flesh union of a man and a woman in the tumultuous years
ahead."
The battle is for the truth of
complementarian marriage
To be more specific, complementarity is the biblical and
historically Christian position on marriage. So the church must articulate a complementarian understanding of manhood
and womanhood and must embody a complementarian
picture of manhood and womanhood.
Owen
Strachan, the
president of the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, says, “If the
church gives up its overwhelmingly-held historic position–being complementarianism–then
it will no doubt, with tremendous speed, endorse both homosexuality and
transgenderism as not only viable for believers, but good.”
The church must conserve
biblical gospel displaying marriage even as it commends biblical gospel displaying marriage to a watching world.
And there is no better time for Christian marriages to display the grace of the
gospel than in a culture, which is redefining marriage. The light shines most
brightly in the darkness.
Those who want to redefine marriage as a union between two men
or two women tell a lie about the gospel. But only in biblical complementarian
marriage is this gospel clearly portrayed. Which makes marriage a primary issue
for the church.
When we embrace biblical headship and submission we explain the
gospel (Eph.5: 22-33). A husband, who sacrificially loves, protects and
provides for his wife shows that Christ is a leader, who dies on the cross for
his Bride, the Church, and is worthy of trust from everyone everywhere. And a wife,
who gladly, intelligently submits to her husband and follows him, as the church
follows Christ, shows that submission to and trust in Christ is not begrudging
duty but it is delight.
This is a hard calling for both husbands and wives who are
sinners. Which means that biblical headship and submission is impossible apart
from grace. When people observe a husband and wife in grace filled headship and
submission, it confronts the culture with the grace of the gospel.
The battle is public
Churches must not only proclaim this but also confess this
publicly. This means pastors equipping the saints for the work of ministry to
one another, and to a watching and
desperate world. The battle is public. Christ was crucified as a public spectacle
(Gal. 3:1); Christians are to be salt and light in the world (Matt.
5:13-16); Christians are to show the world we are disciples by the way
we love one another (John 13:35) in the household of God and in those distinct
relationships (marriage being one) in that household (Eph. 5 and 6). The
Christian faith and life is not private because the gospel is not a private
affair.
So complementarian marriage must be publicly proclaimed and confessed in speech
and lifestyle. We cannot back down.
The battle is a mission moment
I am
not saying that the mission of the church is to publicly undertake social
justice issues. The mission of the church is to make disciples, by preaching
the gospel, baptizing them and gathering them into churches to be taught. But
disciples must be equipped for mission by having a gospel-centered
understanding of all things. They enter the world for mission, not as
politicians, but as cross-shaped theologians, able to recognize the bite points
where the battle rages, bold to enter in and speak the truth of the gospel.
Homosexual
marriage is not the issue. Sin is the issue. Same sex marriage is a sin issue
in a key area of life, which makes it a gospel opportunity. At the very worst
of times, when Satan seems to have the upper hand, God is using it for victory.
Just look at the cross. Marriage being redefined in culture is the perfect opportunity
to confront the culture with real marriage and the gospel it pictures. It’s a
mission moment.
Be alert to the battle but don’t panic
So we
must be alert to the battle, but we must not panic. God is in control no matter
what it looks like out there. Christ reigns. He will work things for his glory
and the good of his people. Christians have always suffered and will be
persecuted for standing on Christian truth. Don’t be surprised when the trial
comes. For this battle we need Christians who are passionate but sober minded, who
think biblically and pray earnestly.
Silence is sin but love must speak in
the battle
The
Supreme Court may or may not pass the bill legalizing same sex marriage. But the
real issue is whether the church will be silent. Many Christians are not
emboldened because many pastors are not emboldened. They might sometimes speak
on biblical sexuality and then only vaguely. They might teach complementarity
but not thoroughly. So their people are ill equipped to live it out and defend
it theologically in the public square. Pastors need to equip the saints but
must also be first over the battle lines themselves. There are good men in the
pastorate who perhaps need to find their voice. So people must pray for,
support and encourage their pastors in holding to this truth.
The cry must come first from the pulpit but the echoes should be
heard from the pew to the workplace to the park bench.
But men sin by their silence who are silent on the sins of their
culture, because the silence of Adam was at the heart of the fall. Adam didn’t
speak up in the Garden when Satan was attacking his wife and undermining God’s
truth. Adam was passive, he and Eve fell and the universe was fractured. The
church must not be silent for fear of imposition and offence.
The
Bible starts with a marriage in Genesis 2 and ends with one in Revelation 19. God
made complementarian marriage good and it was always made to point to the good
news: Christ and his saving love for the church (Eph. 5: 32). That’s what
everyone needs: those in government, those who are heterosexual, transgender or
same sex attracted, because everyone is a sinner before God.
The
stakes are high in defending and defining marriage and Christians must speak
out of love for God and love for people. Love must not hold its tongue. How can
those who have been forgiven much not speak for the sake of souls? There are
only two enemies, Satan and our own sin. Not those who oppose biblical marriage.
We don’t want to destroy people; we want to win them. But to do that we
must speak truth and live it out and for that we will suffer. Battles test what
you believe and what you love. The battle for biblical marriage is a mission moment that
will define the church. It will test evangelicalism.
This
battle is to preserve gospel truth, and we must contend for that contra mundum. But it is also the
battleground where souls can be won for Christ. This battle is raging. And
“where the battle rages the loyalty of the soldier is proved”.
This article was posted by Christian Today
Owen Strachan will be speaking at my own Calvary Grace Church of Calgary, at our upcoming conference, The Goodness of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, beginning this Friday 23rd January. Details can be found here.
Owen Strachan will be speaking at my own Calvary Grace Church of Calgary, at our upcoming conference, The Goodness of Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, beginning this Friday 23rd January. Details can be found here.
Twitter: @GPeacock8