My thanks to the person who posted under the name “God is Love” for that is certainly true. Here, in this instance, we are talking about two different things.

First, the issue of defining marriage. That issue is clearly expressed in _script_ure as being between a man and a woman. The issue of intimate relationships between people of the same sex is also clearly defined as “sin” in _script_ure and thus (as would alcoholism, heterosexual affairs, murder lying, etc.) would not be consistent with the practice and principles of being a Christian. These are examples of God defining and deploring “sin.”

The second issue regards our love and God’s love for the person(s) the writer is speaking about. We are clearly called by God to love and invite all people to a redemptive and loving relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. There aren’t exceptions or limitations on this love that I can find in _script_ure. Jesus said “love as I have loved” and that includes tax collectors, lepers, adulterers, and other sorts of sinners. Our calling and practice isn’t to exclude people from the Church and from hearing God’s Word (Gospel) preached, taught and lived. I would no more send a gay person packing than I would an alcoholic. Because when we begin to exclude sinners from the Church it would become empty pretty fast.

In saying that, I also believe that we don’t adopt the sinful practices of the world as the standard of Christian behavior. Sin is to be avoided and though we don’t always achieve this goal, it is the standard. So the sinner (myself included) who walks into Good News and desires to hear God’s path to the fullness of life and be changed by God’s goodness and grace is welcomed. And the sinner that enters Good News and desires to re-define what God has prohibited as proper and right is not welcome to teach that doctrine.

All of this relates to the idea that God IS love by the Biblical definition of love. Jesus loved the woman caught in adultery and told her “Go and sin no more.” Jesus loved the rich young ruler and told him to “sell all you have and give it to the poor.” Jesus loved those who crucified him and said “Forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.” God’s love meets us where we are but does not leave us in our sin and sinfulness. So He desires that we don’t continue in our sin.

Thanks for your dialogue and your opinion!

In Christ’s Love, Randy