Are Pastors As Courageous as the Governor?

I really don't like most Internet "forwards." Some are insightful--and occasionally one or two are real zingers. But most are not profound or important enough to pass on to my already-information-overloaded friends.

Today I make an exception and ask you to deeply consider fowarding the following words to every pastor or spiritual leader that you know personally.

I didn't write this letter. But I consider it a "Wittenberg Door" moment that is desperately needed to halt great harm to many lives and an entire civilization.

The following article begs you to get involved in the seminal  cultural issue of the 21st century--the redefinition of marriage. Will you twittle your thumbs while Rome burns or will you grab a fire-hose and help to put out the flames?

What will you do?

The following letter by Joseph Backholm, the Executive Director of the Family Policy Insitute of Washington was sent out to residents of Washington, USA. But it could have been written to every American state and most Western nations.

I will let it speak for itself, then make some comments at the end (emphases in the letter are mine).

Are Pastors As Courageous as the Governor?

By Joseph Backholm

Today in Olympia (January 5, 2012), Governor Christine Gregoire held an impassioned press conference to announce her public support of legislation redefining marriage in Washington. If you did not watch it, you should by clicking here. Her public comments were not significant because they were surprising.  While the Governor had not previously given her public support to same-sex "marriage", she had been a strong advocate for most other legislation advanced by the homosexual lobby in Olympia.

Her comments were significant because public statements in support of same-sex "marriage" are not something that politicians do lightly.  Even President Obama, despite significant work on behalf of the homosexual community, has never publicly supported same-sex "marriage" because he understands it would be a political liability. 

No state has ever voted to redefine marriage.  

Perhaps she feels released from the political liabilities associated with a decision like this because she is not up for re-election.  Or it could be that she is simply following the courage of her convictions. And she clearly has conviction.  

Governor Gregoire's press conference was nothing short of a sermon.  She appealed to the moral rightness of her cause, stating emphatically that, "this is about our values". 

Indeed it is.  

She took time to discuss the meaning and significance of marriage.  "When I think about marriage, I think about love, I think about commitment, I think about responsibility, I think about partnership.  Same-sex couples should not be denied that meaning of marriage. Equal rights for same-sex couples it not only a good thing, it's the right thing to do."

Now I ponder what the response will be from those who know better. When governmental leadership goes public with the idea that government should redefine an institution that God created, is church leadership willing to correct the record?

The state's most well-known Catholic (Governor Gregoire) just threw her weight behind policy that directly conflicts with thousands of years of established Catholic doctrine.  Will the Catholic church do anything about it? Will evangelical pastors, Mormon bishops and orthodox Jewish Rabbis who know better share the same courage of conviction that the Governor demonstrated today?

Church leader, we need you to declare what you know to be right.  Your churches are full of people who are terrified to do what they know is right because they don't want someone to call them names.  We need you to demonstrate for them what it means to stand for truth in love.  We need you to demonstrate for them what it means to not be governed by the fear of men.  And when they learn to follow your example of living for an audience of one, your congregation will be blessed.

Sure, there may be people in your congregation who lack a biblical worldview that won't like it.  But is a secular worldview within the church something we want to accommodate or draw-out and fix?   You are not responsible for how people respond to the gospel. But you are responsible for how you treat them, as well as what you teach in word and deed.  Avoiding relevant biblical issues being played out in contemporary culture is not exactly the example Jesus gave us.  

If you take some heat for doing what's right, consider yourself fortunate. After all, "Blessed are you when people insult you and persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of Me.  Rejoice and be glad, for your reward in heaven is great; for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you." (Matthew 5:11-12)  And really, compared to being burned at the stake and having your head cut off, having someone flip you the bird during a sermon or write something mean about you on Facebook isn't that big of a deal.  

Today Governor Gregoire made her case.  As the Governor of the people in your church, she just told everyone in your congregation that it's right to redefine marriage.  

What will your response be?

Are you going to pretend it's not happening, create the impression that God doesn't care, and hope to stay out of the fracas?

I hope not.  We need you.  

Governor Gregoire is a leader that isn't concerned to take a public position on one side of a biblical issue despite the blowback she will receive.  I pray you have the same gumption.

For practical steps on what can be done to stop marriage from being redefined in Washington, click here. 

Our request from churches is simple. First, make their church aware of is happening. Second, give them the phone number they can call . Third, spend two minutes talking about why we should use our influence to encourage righteous legislation.  

To email your legislators about this important issue click here.

If the church does these simple things, we win.  

Be Strong and Courageous.

*     *     *     *     *     *     *     *  

If you are facing the issue of homosexual marriage in your state or nation, then these words are for you. If you live in Washington, please respond to the prompts at the end of it. If you live in another state or nation, figure out where you need to channel your energies.

It is time for the "Martin Luthers" of this era--the pastors and spiritual leaders--to defend the sanctity of marriage. This battle has never been waged before. Over the past few decades, a vocal minority of homosexual activists have been cunningly successful in convincing a decaying Christian culture that homosexuality is okay and that marriage is simply about "who you love."

Both are lies--and most of us have been too cowardly to speak the truth.

Homosexual activists told the Associated Press at their "re-define marriage" kick off in Bellevue (WA) several weeks ago, "Yes, we have the benefits, but we want the name." "Why?" asked the AP reporter.

"Having the name will help erase the stigma of the behavior" they said.

So that's it.

This fight is not about rights. It's not about love. It's about legitimatizing immoral actions. Can we allow that to be done on our watch, to the great hurt and destruction of thousands of people?

If you are a follower of Jesus, and especially a pastor or leader, it's time for you to take a stand lovingly and truthfully for God's moral safeguards for human sexuality.

• Homosexuality, (like fornication, incest, adultery, pedophilia, and bestiality), is morally wrong. It should not be sanctioned through re-defining marriage.
• Sexual immorality is an abuse of God's natural order and has been rejected by all faiths and societies for the past five thousand years--for very important reasons.
• Homosexuality is personally and socially destructive behavior. Numerous studies have confirmed  that practicing homosexuals are far more likely to face depression, be suicidal, get venereal diseases, and die young. We must love people enough to draw them out of both temporal and eternal harm.
• Marriage is a God-created institution between one man and one woman for the purpose of procreation, family nurture, and social stability.  It must be renewed, cherished and protected at all costs.
• If homosexuals are allowed to marry in the name of "love' and equality," then many other marriage perversions will follow including multiple spouses or partners (bigamy and adultery), adults marrying children (pedophilia) relatives marrying each other (incest), and humans marrying their pets (bestiality). If the first domino falls, the rest will follow.
• All children deserve both a mother and a father. We must repent of our own marriage failings and strengthen the God-created institution of marriage--not create inferior alternatives.
• Through it all, we must fervently love those struggling with homosexuality and hate sexual sin for what it does to people, children and families.

Are pastors as courageous in 2012 as the governor of Washington? Are there any Martin Luthers out there willing to reform a decaying world?

We shall soon find out.

If not you, whom? If not now, when?