Worldview Made Practical - Issue 3-22

8/14/2019 Worldview Made Practical - Issue 3-22

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Introduction

The recent elections were historic for a number of reasons. Of course, the election of our first black president lists quitehigh among those reasons. Another is the passage of marriage amendments in three more states. But perhaps one of thebiggest stories in all of this is something that has happened since the election but is related to its results. It seems thatthere is a segment of our society who do not like the result of the marriage amendment votes and are working to overturn

the express will of the people. Day after day, we are continuing to see protests and other actions against people who sup-ported the amendments even to the point of violence, defacing property and having people fired from their jobs.

How can it be that this kind of thing can go on in America? The simple answer is that there is a different set of worldviewassumptions which have become prominent in the public square a set of beliefs which are completely foreign to thefoundation of this country. This worldview is particularly prominent among those who would seek to overturn the will of thepeople by force. Today, we will take a brief look at what is going on in this arena.

This topic is particularly pertinent for us as Christians as we are the ones who are going to take the brunt of the abusewhich results from this kind of thinking. Already, there are businesses who are being forcedto provide services which go

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Marriage amendments have just passed in three morestates. Up until now, we have not seen much backlash fromthe militant homosexual community. But with the recentpassage in Florida, California and Arizona, the militants areup in arms. In some cases the response has even turnedviolent.

Shortly after the election, there was an article in my localnewspaper about a protest planned in Tallahassee. In theonline version of the paper it is possible to respond to pub-lished articles, and with this one there was quite a lively dis-cussion concerning the passage of the amendment. Idecided to put in my two cents worth and gave a very calm

and reasoned explanation as to why homosexual marriageis not good for society.

Even though I did not attack anyone, I was roundly attackedwith emotional outbursts and even lies. People were delib-

erately misrepresenting the things I said. On top of that,they were interjecting new topics into the discussion whichhad nothing to do with my points in order to try and discreditthe Christian viewpoint.

So, just what was going on with this? Why the emotionaloutburst? Why the attempt to lie about what I had said anddiscredit me? After all, this was supposed to be an openforum to share diverse ideas, right?

The simple answer is that the Christian position I was advo-cating struck a nerve with a group of people who were oper-ating from an entirely different worldview platform.

Basically, I was threatening their religion by expressingmy point of view. A worldview position is the basis for apersons faith, even if that faith is secular in nature. In this


MarketFaith Ministries is an equipping ministry which is focused on helping Christians become more effective

in living out their faith in the midst of the increasingly diverse worldview environment of modern society.

Contact MarketFaith Ministries312 Anton Dr.Tallahassee, FL 32312 [email protected]

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Volume 3 Number 22 November 26, 2008

What is the Worldview Basis of Homosexual Marriage ?


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(Homosexual Marriage - Continued from page 1)

case, it was not simply a matter that my beliefs were different than theirs, my disagreement was actually seen as athreat.

But there is a tricky element here. Many people who are homosexual claim that they are Christians and that they loveGod. They also reason that since God made me this way, he is not upset when they live a homosexual lifestyle.

This is where our understanding of worldview becomes so critical. When we examine a worldview position, the first placewe have to look is the authority source. For Christians, our authority is the Bible. Scripture clearly teaches that homosex-ual activity is contrary to Gods intention. So, when homosexuals say that God does not object, where does that view-point come from? It is clearly not from the Bible. In fact, it comes directly from their own personal reasoning. By that, theyhave made their reasoning to be an authority equal to the Bible.

So, what worldview is represented by homosexual activists? Basically, it represents a Naturalistic point of view the be-lief that there is no supernatural reality. As such, they believe that there is no one outside of the human race available toreveal a moral code, so humans have to make up their own.

Some homosexuals may claim to love God and that they are Christians. But they make that assertion based on beliefswhich are outside of Christianity. They want to be included in the Christian camp and express homosexual behavior atthe same time. So to justify that, they try to create a new hybrid belief that accommodates their viewpoint one which isnot purely Christian or Naturalist. It calls itself Christian but uses a Naturalistic authority source to redefine the termChristian.

If that were the only issue it would be bad enough. But this kind of thinking is not uncommon even among many in ourChristian churches. Modern America has become so saturated with Naturalistic thought that many Christians do not evenrecognize that their faith has gone off course. It is not at all unusual to hear Christians say that they like their Christianity,but if other people want to follow another belief, that is just as valid.


(Introduction - Continued from page 1)

against their core principles and beliefs. Making churches hire people who have beliefs and lifestyles which run contraryto Biblical teachings and forcing pastors to perform homosexual weddings cant be far behind. We must understandwhat is going on.

As MarketFaith Ministries continues preparation for the Worldview Summit for Ministry Professionals in January of 2009,we are seeking to share the principles of worldview with pastors in order to help them become better able to equip theirown constituents. We are working to do this for these leaders without any cost to them. To do this, we are seeking the

support of Christians who believe in what we are doing. If you would be willing to help us with this project, please sendyourtax deductible donation to MarketFaith Ministries, 321 Anton Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32312. It is also possible to do-nate online at the MarketFaith Ministries website at www.marketfaith.org. Simply click on the donate button. Thanks somuch for your support.

Please feel free to contact me at any time with your thoughts, opinions and suggestions. I always love to hear from you.God bless,Freddy

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This is a very charitable point of view, but it flies in the face of reality. There is a way that reality is actually structured andit is not structured in any other way. If the Bible does not express the truth about that reality, then what the homosexualactivist asserts possibly could be true. But the evidence shows that Bible does represent the truth and that those trying toredefine Christianity to include acceptance of homosexual behavior are found to be separated from God.

So just how do we, as Christians, deal with this? We have to get up to speed regarding our understanding of the world-view possibilities. We need to know what we believe, what other people believe and why our faith is the truth. Armed withthis knowledge, we put ourselves in a position which gives us confidence in our own faith and the tools we need to effec-tively share Christ with those separated from him.

So, just what are the reasons why homosexual marriage is damaging to society? There are two categories of reasoningwhere this plays out. There is one line of logic based on a secular approach to understanding the problem and anotherbased on a Biblical understanding.

Secular ReasoningMany Christians may, at first, resist the secular logic not seeing any particular reason to use this approach. After all, ifGod says it in the Bible that ought to be enough, right? Well perhaps so, but if we are trying to convince people who donot accept a Biblical approach we must have a different set of tools if we want to get a hearing. As the percentage of peo-ple declines who are willing to accept a purely Biblical answer, we must have a way of presenting our argument which hasa different basis. Be aware, though, that even this secular argument is based on Biblical principles. It is just that it is pre-

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sented in a way which uses a secular approach rather than

a religious one.

The first thing that must be established is the very purposeof marriage. The purpose of marriage is not to give peoplerights but to create an environment where children can beraised to become healthy adults. If you examine the mainarguments of the homosexual activists, you will notice thatthe entire topic of discussion has shifted from the that ofraising a family to the denial of rights for a certain group ofpeople.

In order for homosexual advocates to make this shift, thefirst thing they do is tamper with the language. The very

concept of homosexual marriage requires that we changethe definition of the word marriage. Marriage, by definition,requires one man and one woman. Changing the definitionturns marriage into something that did not previously exist.It also shifts the purpose of marriage from raising a familyto the acquisition of a set of rights.

But marriage is not about rights. Making it about rightsputs the focus on self-centered individuals and takes it offof the children it is meant to foster. Rather, marriage isabout forming society in a way which provides stability forthe social order into the future.

When the family breaks down, society breaks down. In or-der to have a stable family situation, and thus a stable soci-ety, children need a mom and dad living together in acommitted relationship. When families do not have this ar-rangement, children are damaged. This is true whether thesituation relates to divorced or separated parents, hetero-sexual cohabitation, homosexual cohabitation or singleparent situations.

Unfortunately, there are some situations which have oc-curred in which individuals have no choice but to accept


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and deal with an undesirable family situation. Sometimes a parent will die or leave their spouse. But while sometimesthese things happen, most bad situations result from deliberate choices people make to divorce or live together outside ofmarriage.

The fact is, society has a vested interest in promoting strong families. This promotion can be done in a couple of differentways. First, governments can discourage acts and lifestyles which damage the family. A second approach is that they canincentivise acts and lifestyles which promote healthy families. The benefits the state provides married heterosexual cou-ples is a just and right means of promoting healthy families.

Christian ReasoningWhile the secular reasoning is important when taking our case to society, Christians must also remember that our ultimatereason for not accepting homosexual marriage is because God has revealed to us that this goes contrary to his purposeand his plan for mankind.

When God created the world, he created it to operate in a particular way. There is a natural way that things exist and thisrepresents the reality that God created. Those who live contrary to Gods way may get away with it for a time, but will ulti-mately destroy themselves and others, including the next generation of children, by their rebellion against the natural or-der.

The structure of Gods creation involves using the family as the basic platform for carrying out his plan. In addition to theability to express the ultimate form of relationship, the family exists to produce individuals to populate Gods kingdom.

In specifying the structure of the family, he specifically sanctioned marriage as the union of one man and one woman toproduce this population. As such, the creation of family is an element of nature that is, procreation is a natural, biologicaprocess. Homosexual relationships run contrary to the natural order.

Marriage certainly involves a sexual joining of a man and woman, but it goes way beyond that. It also expresses an ele-ment of the very image of God in mankind. Gender is an element of the personhood of God, but he, himself, is neithermale nor female. Male and female together represent the fullness of this gender characteristic. Human beings, though,find themselves representing one gender or the other. In humanity, it is only by the joining of a man and a woman in mar-riage that the ultimate expression of gender, as it relates to the image of God, is able to be displayed.

Marriage, then, is such a central part of Gods plan that he declared all non-married sexual unions to be contrary to his wil(sin). This includes heterosexual relationships as well as homosexual.

ConclusionThe issue of homosexual marriage is not simply a matter of the rights of individuals. It involves the fulfillment of the verypurpose for mans existence. A Naturalistic worldview begins by denying the existence of God and his purpose. As a re-sult, it does not acknowledge any reason why homosexual marriage should not be advanced. A Christian worldview, onthe other hand, not only acknowledges Gods purposes, but provides motivation to see that it is carried out in the world.

As long as the Christian and Naturalistic worldviews exist side by side in society, there will be conflict. But Christians mustbe willing to strand strong for our position. The consequences of losing this battle in society is the destruction of the fami-ly. Along with this comes the destruction of many lives as the next generation suffers the consequences of a society with-out a foundation based on reality.

In the next Issue: Fighting the Culture War Against the Odds

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Worldview Made Practical - Issue 3-22