The issue, as per usual, is all over the media once again. Hats off to the homosexual lobby for keeping this issue alive. I read somewhere that there are less homosexuals in our country than evangelicals, but whilst we all waste time fighting about hymn books and the use of drums in worship, they have mobilised behind a common cause to great effect. Many Christians are confused at worst, and ill-informed (biblically) at best when it comes to some of the nuances of the current debate.
Christianity Today have written an article showing some of the demographics and cultural changes in Evangelical Christians toward the issue (particularly the young). It is worth a look here.
The White Horse Inn have produced a thought provoking and stimulating paper discussing some of the nuances of the debate. Read it here . Consider the following quote as an example:
Same-sex marriage makes sense if you assume that the individual is the center of the universe, that God—if he exists—is there to make us happy, and that our choices are not grounded in a nature created by God but in arbitrary self-construction. To the extent that this sort of “moralistic-therapeutic-deism” prevails in our churches, can we expect the world to think any differently? If we treat God as a product we sell to consumers for their self-improvement programs and make personal choice the trigger of salvation itself, then it may come as a big surprise (even contradiction) to the world when we tell them that truth (the way things are) trumps feelings and personal choice (what we want to make things to be).
They then produced an extremely helpful follow up paper here on how to respond “Christianly” to the issue. Highly recommended! Read Part II here.
The Blazing Center take a different approach. There is a short essay here by Stephen Altrogge on what to do when people put “story above scripture”. Worth reading here.
The Gospel Coalition (Justin Taylor) have produced a series of four DVD clips and various articles and helpful resources on their site. Take your time ploughing through this lot here. Highly Recommended.
Likewise, EPM (Eternal Perspective Ministries) with Randy Alcorn have a whole host of pdf and video resources on the topic on their site here.
Kevin De Young has given 5 reasons why Christians should continue to oppose gay marriage here.
Finally, from a non-Christian perspective, The Daily Telegraph had an interesting take on President Obama’s recent announcement on the issue. Read it here.
I continue to pray for faithfulness and deep, gospel driven, biblical thought as we seek to engage with these issues and apply them to our own contexts.