Posted on 04/24/2018 9:50:02 AM PDT by SeekAndFind
Someone asks "I have friends who are gay and planning a wedding. They know my beliefs on homosexuality — that it is not God's creative design. I'm expecting to receive a wedding invite anytime. What should I do?"
Tim writes:
These are tough questions — at first glance. What do I mean? One could agonize over such a question, but I believe the follower of Christ would recognize that he or she has one loyalty — to Jesus Christ. That means doing what the Bible says.
I could refer to that text about not being unequally yoked — meaning a believer should not marry a non-believer, but there's a more basic argument here.
A wedding is a God-ordained event. Genesis 2:21ff reads, "So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man's ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man."
Notice that God Himself brought the woman to the man. God is pictured as the father of the bride.
Many Christians will have differing answers to this question and various arguments. I do not believe a Christian should attend such a wedding for this basic reason ... this is not a "get-together" or a social event. God Himself is being called on to oversee this solemn event and those in attendance are "witnesses" of it.
Remember, God ordained this holy event.
That's my answer. Having said that, I am not opposed to inviting the couple to a dinner at a local restaurant sometime later where I treat them to a meal. Why? There is no theological conflict here and such a meal would provide an opportunity to enjoy the meal and conversation. This is in my thinking a way to say "I value each of you as persons and appreciate your friendship."
This keeps the doors of communication open.
There is no need to discuss why you did not attend the wedding; place the focus on the present time — a meal and fellowship. If there are pointed questions from the "couple," "why did you not attend the wedding?" deflect them with a bright smile and something like "we wanted to enjoy your presence in a smaller setting." Then move the conversation in a different direction.
You want to keep the lines of communication open while honoring Christ. It can be a fine line to walk, but it can be done — because "with God, all things are possible."
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Tim Wilkins is the creator of the conference MORE THAN WORDS which focuses on walking (versus talking) people out of homosexuality. MORE THAN WORDS has been conducted across the United States among various denominations. Tim's expertise in this area of ministry stems from his own freedom from homosexuality some thirty years ago. He advocates people turn down the heat on the issue and turn up the light. www.crossministry.org
There were two couples I knew pretty well where the husband got blindsided, dumped by a wife who basically wanted to kick up her heels with somebody else. The women in these cases truly victimized their husbands (AND kids), and I would never hold the divorce against the husbands.
And it's always possible that by some objective criterion, her marriage vows were an empty lie, defective from the git-go, IF she always knew she was lying about "til death do us part"; she was always figuring she would split if Splitsville was attractive enough.
In that case, there were really no binding vows because a binding vow cannot be predicated upon a lie. In other words, there was no "what God has joined together" because God doesn't join together on the basis of a lie. In that case, you'd be free to seek marriage elsewhere, and may God bless you. Your present wife would be, in the eyes of God, your one and only honest wedded wife.
Doees that make sense?
It would be akin to attending an abortion, implying approval.
“This is flat-out deceitful.”
I agree. And why would a Christian pretend everything is all right? Why would a Christian “enjoy” their company?
Exodus 23:2
You shall not follow a crowd to do evil; nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after many to pervert justice.
Proverbs 24:1
Do not be envious of evil men, Nor desire to be with them.
This is absurd. What will the suggestion be next? Invite the unrepentant, serial killer, pedophile to your house for dinner with your wife and kids? We must be sure he knows he is loved and God really needs his friendship just like we do, right?
It is possible to treat the lost, even wicked people, in a manner that is not hateful and insulting while also not pretending that sins like this are normal behavior.
Not only is God going to judge it, He is going to judge our nation for tolerating it and even promoting it.
If I was an atheist I wouldn’t go to a homosexual pretend wedding.
“Tim Wilkins is the creator of the conference MORE THAN WORDS which focuses on walking (versus talking) people out of homosexuality. MORE THAN WORDS has been conducted across the United States among various denominations. Tim’s expertise in this area of ministry stems from his own freedom from homosexuality some thirty years ago. He advocates people turn down the heat on the issue and turn up the light. www.crossministry.org”
I want to add to my other comments that it is commendable that Tim Wilkins left the homosexual lifestyle to follow Christ and has been sharing Christ with homosexuals and leading them out of that lifestyle to also follow Christ.
The quote about friendship with a homosexual couple makes more sense in the context of the whole article.
The number one thing missing in this article is addressing the distinction the Bible makes between sinners in the world who do not claim to be Christian versus those who profess to be Christians but openly engage in grievous sins such as homosexual acts.
Is this really a tough question for the audience of “Christian Post”?
Yes, what you say makes sense, but it goes even deeper than that. One thing I liked about the video was that it touched on a subject that is near and dear to my heart lately, and that is that we need to be really careful in taking completely literally much of the instruction in the bible. For example, Jesus was very compassionate toward the woman at the well who had been married five times. His comments about committing adultery were also in answer to some particular issues rather than just the holistic concept of a divorced man and/or woman meeting and marrying.
He got very much into what the Torah and old testament said and how Jesus was building on it.
I confess that I think people get it wrong when they think Jesus says it’s ok to divorce your wife for marital infidelity. The reason is as follows. Matthew 5-32 says that if a man divorces his wife for a reason other than adultery, he makes an adulteress out of her. The reason the exception is there is because in that case she has already made herself an adulteress.
But the fact of the matter is that if one is in their 40’s and ends up single, pretty much all the women that are available are divorced. You’re sort of stuck. And The same is true of the women looking for men. At that point, I have to invoke 1 Cor 7:9 - But if they cannot control themselves, let them marry. For it is better to marry than to burn with passion.
My wife and I are now 64 and have been married 20 years. we are both HSD individuals (High Sex Drive) and are more active than most twenty somethings, and yet sex is only a tiny facet of our relationship. Our love has grown more than I ever thought it was possible to love and be connected to another person. It is almost literally like a fairy tail. The love and respect just continues to grow every year. We were both divorcees that met at exactly the right time and place and had a three month courtship in 850 emails and $3500 in long distance calls before we were married. We met at our 25th high school reunion, but lived 2500 miles apart.
No
Never, it’s not a wedding or a marriage. I do not celebrate sin and perversion.
Wrong! The Gospel is the healing of sinners. The church is the gathering of saved sinners. Scripturally, the corporate church gathers to worship Christ. An unbeliever/sinner may visit, but it's not up to the church to celebrate their sin when they show up.
Neither would I attend a suicide, an adultery, an abortion or a theft.
Giving sanction to these errors fill the society with physical and mental consequences.
Surely the father does not want to give the offspring to renounce descendants.
So you'd never let your children go trick-or-treating then, right?
I don’t know of a legitimate church that adheres to God’s word that would perform a “gay wedding” so no, I wouldn’t attend one.
No.
I wouldn’t want them in my guest bedroom. Sheets and mattress would have to be burned. Serious about that.
Never. No real Christian would ever attend such an abomination.
“Do as you please but the church is a hospital for sinners, not a waiting area for saints.”
A hospital is where one goes for treatment and recovery. If the homosexual comes to repent and seek forgiveness and redemption then they should be allowed in the church. Otherwise, NO. The apostle Paul told the church at Corinth to expel the man that was living with and sleeping with his stepmother. So it is permissible to deny someone from being a part of the church.
Still, no.
Which pagans went door to door asking for candy?
Blah, blah, hell no.
God will not be mocked and, I sure as hell will not take part in it.
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