Should Pastors Be Forced To Perform Gay Marriages?

Should a pastor be forced to marry a gay couple and go against his own conscience?

Ordained by God

In the first place, marriage is not a human-created institution but one created by God. He gives us the outline for who should be married in Genesis where it is written, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him” (Gen 2:18). This verse, in the Hebrew, should read that God would make man a helper that corresponds to him and not that he is superior to the woman. They are co-heirs and co-equals before God and “So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man” (Gen 2:21-22). The concept of marriage then is this, “a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). This is clearly marriage between one man and one woman and the man is to “hold fast to his wife” and these two “become one flesh.” How can two men or two women become one flesh when God recognizes it as being between one man and one woman?

Recognized by God

The state or federal government recognizes same-sex marriage but the question is, does God? There is no place in Scripture where it shows that God recognized marriages between same-sex couples and in fact, God’s Word condemns this type of marital relationship. Regardless of whether we or anyone else recognizes it; God does not. Where the Supreme Court rules, God overrules because we are told that “We must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29). The point is, who recognizes these types of marriages; is it the state and the federal government or God? The only one whose viewpoint counts is God’s. God’s law supersedes man’s laws every time because God’s law is a higher law than that of the land.

The Battlefront

Today, the battlefront has now shifted from fighting to protect the definition of biblical marriage to religious freedom. There are powerful legal movements within this country to force all ministers to perform same-sex marriages, regardless of the church’s bylaws or statutes. Someday soon, the IRS may threaten the removal of the church’s tax-exempt status if they don’t comply with marrying same-sex couples. Will this effort destroy the rights of Americans who presently have First Amendment rights? Other countries, like Denmark, have already passed laws that require ministers to marry same-sex couples. Up to now, this nation has safeguarded freedom of religion but now this same nation threatens to destroy this First Amendment right. In 2007, New Jersey denied a tax exemption to a boardwalk pavilion in Ocean Grove owned by a Methodist group after two lesbian couples were rejected when they asked to hold civil union ceremonies there but the difference was that this was a beachfront property, not a church.

Should pastors marry same-sex Couples?

Personally, I would not marry a same-sex couple because the Bible defines marriage as being between a man and a woman because marriage is a covenant between two people and a Holy God and He has clearly told us that homosexuality is sin, and that marriage is a holy and supernatural union. Paul writes in Romans 1:6-27 that “their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.” Even “Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them” (Rom 1:32). What if you had a bakery and someone came in and wanted you to bake a cake that had a Nazi swastika on it and had “Death to the Jews” on it? Since this is utterly deplorable to you, should you be made to bake such a cake and go against your own conscience? I believe it would be sin to do this because it promotes something sinful. We’ve already seen florists, bakers, photographers and wedding planners all sued for their refusals to serve gay weddings. Churches and ministers may be next.

Conclusion

Since anyone who refuses to marry a same-sex couple is called a bigot or prejudice, what will be next for our nation? Will the movement currently underway by a father in Maryland be allowed to go through so that he can marry his own daughter? What about a mom wanting to marry her son or daughter? What about brother marrying brother or sister marrying sister or even a brother marrying his own sister? Wouldn’t it be discrimination to prohibit this? What about a Florida woman’s goal of legally marrying her pet? What’s next? If we say that same-sex marriage is legal, then what about a father-daughter, mother-son, or brother-sister marriage or the woman wanting to marry her pet? Doesn’t this open Pandora’s Box?

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Teaching Children the Gospel available on Amazon.