On Thursday of this past week the Supreme Court of the United States handed down a ruling that requires the legal recognition of same-sex marriage in all fifty states.<\/p>\n
As Christians, we are not of this world, but we are in it and we care about and are concerned for what happens here. And so on Sunday we prayed in reflection on the Supreme Court’s decision for our nation, for the church, and for everything in-between. Here’s how we prayed together:<\/p>\n
Father, increasingly, our nation is calling evil good and good evil, and we have a mixture of emotions about this.<\/p>\n
On the one hand, we know who rules the world, who set the stars in their place, and who orders history. You do. The nations are as a drop in the bucket to you, and our leaders, in all of their righteous and unrighteous decisions, are ultimately working out your plan for history. And so we are calm and we are confident because history is yours, and we belong to you.<\/p>\n
And yet, though trusting you fully, we are troubled in so many ways. We look to you, yet we lament.<\/p>\n
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- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for a nation that has set its way against the Creator. Marriage is something it can and should recognize and regulate, but marriage is not the state\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s to change, for the state did not design human beings. It governs them. Lord, we trust you<\/em> with calm, serious, and happy reverence for the institution you made, even if we look crazy for it.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for those who experience same-sex attraction, that the affirmation of their desires as good might put them farther from the life-saving truth about sin and salvation in the gospel.\u00c2\u00a0Lord, we trust you<\/em> to perform the miracle that is always your to perform in conversion\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto open blind eyes and save sinners.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for those in our lives whom we love, people made in your image, who believe and even celebrate a lie that leads to death. This is so very sad. Lord, may we trust you <\/em>and your Word when it seems like so few do.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for children yet unborn who will inherit a world with a more confused vision of marriage than we\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve known ourselves, children who will have a lesser chance of growing up with the mother and father who made them. Trends in other lands confirm what we would expect: that laws teach norms and norms matter. Lord, may we trust you<\/em> to be the Father of the fatherless.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for what it will mean to be wrongly identified by culture and law as bigoted\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfor what this will mean for our influence in the schools, as teachers, as parents on PTO boards; for what it will mean for our workplace relationships when we can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t congratulate a friend on their engagement or attend their wedding; when we are ruled out for a promotion or position of influence; when certain vocations, in time, are simply out of bounds for people who believe what we do. Lord, may we trust you<\/em> more as exiles in this world, as strangers and as aliens.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for how this will effect the freedom of people of all revealed faiths\u00e2\u20ac\u201dMuslims, Jews, Christians, and others\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwho hold to a traditional understanding of marriage, and for the temptation they will face to deny what they know and so sin against their conscience. Lord, may we trust you<\/em> with hard work for the just freedom of all persons to believe without coercion and exercise their religion in the normal course of their lives.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for how this may over time effect our work together for the common good in Christian day-cares, schools for children, Christian colleges and universities, campus ministries, military chaplain programs, adoption agencies, and even perhaps Christians who desire to foster and adopt little ones. Lord, may we trust you<\/em> with persevering and painstaking work for the good of our communities.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for the pressure our elected officials will feel to be on the so-called \u00e2\u20ac\u0153right side of history\u00e2\u20ac\u009d on future erosions of marriage that seem inevitable when marriage is untethered from the twoness of the sexes. May we trust you<\/em> with patient, persevering, and prudent self-government.<\/li>\n
- We\u00e2\u20ac\u2122re troubled<\/em> for the temptation Christians and churches will face to abandon a faithful witness by either denying the sinfulness of sin and so losing the gospel, or by affirming the truth about marriage in a way that denies its beauty and repels sinners. Neither response will ensure that we are a refuge for sinners who need refuge when sin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s empty promises leave them hurt, guilty, and alone. Lord, may we trust you<\/em>\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwe need you\u00e2\u20ac\u201dto keep us from timidity and from pride. May we make sin known and be known for our Savior from sin.<\/li>\n
- Lord, we are troubled<\/em> about many things. We are even troubled by how much others are or aren\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t troubled by these things we have lamented. Give us unity around the main things and wisdom together to know when those things are at stake. Give us patience in our listening and wisdom and winsomeness in our speech.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Thankfully, while there many reasons to lament, there are still many more to trust, and in trusting, to sing and to rejoice.<\/p>\n
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- And so we rejoice in Christ<\/em>, risen from the dead and seated. Our world changes, but he isn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t going anywhere. We fear nothing for nothing can separate us from him.<\/li>\n
- We rejoice in Christ<\/em>, who was a stranger in this world. Every difficulty for his sake confirms that we are his.<\/li>\n
- And we rejoice in Christ<\/em>, who is building his church. Maybe now, Father, you will be pleased to receive more glory in us as we give you more glory in our marriages against the backdrop of a place that is trading it in.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Glorify your Son\u00e2\u20ac\u201dthe King of Glory, the Highest Judge, our Risen Lamb\u00e2\u20ac\u201din whose name we pray.<\/p>\n
Amen.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Helpful responses to the Supreme Court ruling:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Here We Stand: An Evangelical Declaration on Marriage<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission (click here<\/a> for more articles from the ERLCon the SCOTUS decision)<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153CBMW\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Official Response to the SCOTUS Ruling<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Why the Church Should Neither Cave nor Panic about the Decision on Gay Marriage<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Russell Moore<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What Does the Bible Say?<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Kevin DeYoung<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Top 10 Quotes from the Dissenting Justices on Same-Sex Marriage<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Trevin Wax<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153How Will the U.S. Supreme Court\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Same-Sex Marriage Decision Affect Religious Liberty?<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d The Atlantic<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Supreme Court and religious liberty: Reason for concern<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Andrew Walker<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Gay Conservatism and Straight Liberation<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Ross Douthat<\/li>\n
- “Everything Has Changed and Nothing Has Changed \u00e2\u20ac\u201d The Supreme Court Legalizes Same-Sex Marriage<\/a>,” Albert Mohler (Click here<\/a> for Mohler\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Daily Podcast here)<\/li>\n
- “Sam Allberry on Ministering to Same-Sex Attracted Friends<\/a>,” Joe Carter (click here<\/a> for the ERLC’s site, Equip<\/a>, equipping the church regarding same-sex marriage and homosexuality)<\/li>\n
- “Talking to your children about sex, marriage and same-sex marriage<\/a>,” with\u00c2\u00a0oundtable contributors: Jani Ortlund, Stephanie Goeke, Krissie Inserra, Trillia Newbell and Jena Starke<\/li>\n
- \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Lessons for the Marriage Debate from the Pro-Life Movement<\/a>,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Russell Moore<\/li>\n
- “Opening Our Eyes to Obergefell and Its Effects: A Pastoral, Cultural, and Legal Round-Up<\/a>,” David Schrock<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
Books\u00c2\u00a0to equip you for crucial conversations:<\/strong><\/p>\n
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- Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom<\/em><\/a>, by Ryan Anderson.<\/li>\n
- We Cannot Be Silent: Speaking Truth to a Culture Redefining Sex, Marriage, and the Very Meaning of Right and Wrong<\/em><\/a>, by Al Mohler.<\/li>\n
- What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality?<\/em><\/a>, by Kevin DeYoung.<\/li>\n
- Compassion without Compromise: How the Gospel Frees Us to Love Our Gay Friends Without Losing the Truth<\/em><\/a>, by Adam Barr<\/li>\n
- Is God Anti-Gay?<\/em><\/a>, Sam Allberry (click here<\/a> for Sam’s ministry, Living Out<\/a>)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
For a helpful tone-setting response to the decision, here’s a video from Russell Moore, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.<\/p>\n