Two weeks ago, Iowa made national news for being the third state in America to legalize same-sex marriage. My Facebook feed exploded as fellow Iowans, each representing a single color in a wide spectrum of opinions, praised or criticized the court ruling, and then praised and criticized each other’s praises and criticisms. Blogs ignited across the country as amateur journalists reported it. And in the real world, we discussed it at this month’s Grab a Brew on the UNI campus.

At the risk of adding to the noise, I share my own viewpoint: I don’t think the legalization of same-sex marriage is something we as Christians should spend our energy fighting against.

First let me anticipate your objections; these were once my objections, too, and I hope to answer them before I go any further.

THE BIBLE SAYS THAT HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN. Two important points:

1. The Bible absolutely condemns homosexuality as a sin. There is no way around this, and I won’t tolerate Christians who rationalize it by saying “Paul was talking specifically about pederasty” or “Sodom and Gomorrah was destroyed because of rape and lust, not homosexuality.”
2. The Bible, in the same breath, condemns idolaters, thieves, and drunkards (1 Corinthians 6:9-10); adulterers, slave traders and murderers (1 Timothy 1:9-10); the cowardly, the unbelieving, and all liars (Revelation 21:8). You have committed at least some of these, and it’s likely you are even continually engaged in one. (If nothing else, how about idolatry?)

But in the same breath, the Bible also offers hope! “And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” (1 Corinthians 6:11) We must not wage war against certain sins and pretend as though ours aren’t as bad.

IT DESTROYS THE SANCTITY OF MARRIAGE. Will it destroy the meaningfulness of my own marriage now that homosexuals are allowed to marry? Not in God’s eyes. And who am I before men?

If we place our trust in laws to protect the sanctity of marriage, why not outlaw divorce as well? Infidelity is as much a sin as homosexuality, and divorce without reason of adultery or abandonment is infidelity according to Jesus.

IF WE LEGALIZE THIS, WHY NOT LEGALIZE POLYGAMY TOO? “What is that to you? You follow Me.”

I realize that this is all contrary to the prevailing opinion of much of American Christianity today. As with everything else in life, when seeing someone fall off their horse on one side, there is the temptation to lean too far in the opposite direction and fall off our own horse on the other side. If we are to remain balanced and upright, we must remember the following points.

It is important that we distinguish between sacred and legal marriage. These have always been separate, but we may have forgotten this since we’ve agreed with the government on the definition of marriage for many hundreds of years. This is where we part ways.

Most homosexuals have no pretenses of wanting their marriages sanctioned by the church. The new laws in no way command us to recognize them within the church. We only cross paths in our vocabulary. Yes, it will sound strange when a man refers to his husband, but I can get over this.

It is important that we choose our battles wisely. When choosing, always ask, “Is this what we want to be known for?” We’ve entangled ourselves in politics and other distractions, forgetting that we have a higher calling: the Kingdom of God. We do not impose God’s law on those who do not claim to follow God or even believe in Him. This is not the gospel.

There are many other battles worth fighting. We must not approve of any sexual immorality within the church. As cohabitation becomes the norm, as premarital sex is assumed, as divorces are more common, we must resist the influence of culture and refuse to compromise our theology under pressure.

It is important that we attack the disease and not the symptom. The disease is sin, and every one of us has a terminal case of it. But Jesus Christ is the antidote! We cannot save anyone from his sin by making the sin illegal. We can only offer a cure. And we offer it to everyone, without distinction. This is the gospel.

What is wrong with the world? It’s not that homosexuals are allowed to marry. What is wrong with the world is that yesterday I sinned, today I sinned, and tomorrow I will sin, and I make the world a worse place in doing so. The world is broken because of me, and no one else. But yesterday, I was forgiven by grace through faith in Jesus Christ. Today, I am being forgiven, and tomorrow, I will be forgiven again.

Let us love one another, and let Jesus bring His own kingdom (along with its perfect laws) to earth in His own time.