Love thy neighbor becomes a reality in South Carolina; same-sex marriage licenses issued in Charleston
Abbi Webb, Assistant Editor
Same-sex marriage is a hot topic within the Christian community. There are lots of opinions on how homosexual sin should be handled by Christians, but most of them are just precautionary. What do we do, as Christians, when same-sex couples start popping up in the houses next door to us, sitting beside us at football games, or behind us in line at the supermarket? These are the questions we need to be answering now.
On Wednesday, Nov. 19, a judge in Charleston County, S.C. issued the first South Carolina same-sex marriage license to councilwoman, Colleen Condon and her fiancé, Nichols Bleckley.
According to an article on wyff4 news, the couple was the first in line Wednesday morning to receive their marriage license as well as the first to have their marriage license application accepted last month in Charleston.
The article includes a quote from Codon saying, “We’re absolutely thrilled! We knew going into this we weren’t doing it for ourselves but doing it for us, my son and for all the other people who really were afraid to take that step forward.”
While the legality of same sex marriage takes a step forward, so must the church. Preventing same-sex marriage and homosexual sin seems to be a fading option. The church needs to strengthen in strategy and figure out how we, as Christians, should react to what is now a reality.
Bill Cashion, professor of Missions and Evangelism at NGU’s Graduate School of Christian Ministry, said that believers should continue to treat all sinners the same way. “Christians should make no special exception for homosexual sin,” said Cashion. “This means we are not at liberty to neither condone nor condemn. To condone would be to enter into the sin and to condemn would be to assume God’s role.” Cashion went on to reference Romans 5:8, “God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us,” to illustrate the mindset Christians must uphold in dealing with homosexuality. “We are not to lose sight of why Jesus came and died,” said Cashion, “He died for our sins, and that includes homosexual and heterosexual sin.” Just like Paul warns in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, that “the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God,” Cashion said that Christians must lovingly warn homosexuals about the wages of sin. “The homosexual is a precious soul that Jesus died to save,” said Cashion. “Therefore if we love our Lord we will also love every person that He shed His blood for and will share the truth about their sin and the truth about the forgiveness of sin,” he added.
Cashion said there are three appropriate behavioral guidelines for Christians who are learning to be open and accepting of homosexuals: “We must never compromise the truth of God’s Word, we must never hate the sinner, but, instead, love all sinners enough to share the gospel with them, and we must maintain friendships, but avoid socializing in an unbiblical manner.” Cashion said the purpose of being friends with a homosexual is to point them to the Savior who can ultimately break all chains of sin.
