With Regards to Same Sex Marriage and the Church

I originally wrote this as a series of comments on a Facebook thread. Now that Same Sex marriage is legal in all fifty United States, it seemed appropriate to repost it again here on my blog. It's nothing I haven't said before.

The truth is that Christian practice in the United States and the modern world in general has fallen so far from the original, that we honestly don't know which end is up. It's about love, but not romantic or sexual love. We must love those who are homosexual, as Christ taught, but Biblical love is neither homosexual nor heterosexual. There is nothing sexual or romantic about the love which Christ and His Apostles taught. The love which he taught is the choice to sacrifice one's self and self-interests in favor of the other person.

"I need to be careful as to how I word this. If following Jesus Christ were about being "true to your own heart and mind", then I would agree with you and with this article. But it isn't, and it never has been except to be realistic with oneself in that one, being human, is not sinless. To be true to one's heart is to subject oneself to the whims and passions which come and go like the waves on the beach, relentlessly and constantly, and thus to be unstable in one's faith and practice. The foundation of Christian practice is the sacrifice and abandonment of one's own passions and desires. "If anyone wants to come behind Me, let him deny himself, pick up his cross, and follow Me." To what gender one is physically attracted is not necessarily a choice. On this, I believe we agree. It is determined by many factors, including brain chemistry. The practical expression of that physical attraction is, however, ultimately a choice. In the Scriptures, sexual intercourse is forbidden in Christian practice (Acts 15:9). It doesn't matter if it is homosexual intercourse, or heterosexual intercourse. Both are forbidden by the Apostles, and every Bishop since has reaffirmed this prohibition within the Christian religious rule since the first century, regardless of schism.

The one glaring exception (which also happens to be the practical, not the theological, norm) is heterosexual marriage, which is, theologically, a special dispensation. This was permitted for two reasons. 1)and primarily, because otherwise there would be no offspring, and 2)as a mercy, because not everyone has the capacity for total celibacy. Modern "Disney" notions of romantic love never entered into the equation.

Marriage itself is a Sacrament because both parties, in the practice of the teachings of Jesus Christ, receive Grace by dying to themselves in sacrificial service to their spouse. Following Jesus Christ is about choosing Jesus Christ over everything else in your life, including what gender you may be romantically attracted to, and it also means sacrificing those things and dying to them in pursuit of Christ alone. This fundamental truth about the Christian faith has not changed since Jesus and His Apostles taught it no matter who has tried to do so. Your choices are between you and the Lord, but I would be irresponsible and more concerned with myself and what you and other people think of me than with you if I didn't point this out.

I have no intentions of discriminating against anyone. This subject is a very sensitive, confused and misunderstood topic from all sides. I have spent a great deal of time trying to understand this issue in light of all of what Holy Scripture teaches, as well as what the understanding of the ancient Church was on the subject, and not just a few passages which support the position I might want them too. The goal of Christian faith and practice is union with God through Jesus Christ. We move towards that goal in this life by obedience to Him and letting go of those things which impede and distract us from Him. The Christian life is, foundationally, a life lived according to a certain religious rule with this in mind. The regulation of sexual practice is a part of that religious rule, and always has been. That hasn't changed just because it is inconvenient or uncomfortable. Christian practice has always been both inconvenient and uncomfortable to one's personal desires and passions, and was never intended to be otherwise as the Pattern for that practice led a very uncomfortable life, and even worse death. The Apostles followed suit as well."