Should a christian attend a gay wedding

Marriage, after all, was not created by the state. They complete their covenant by consummating it through sexual intercourse. A wedding is a particular type of event. I want to unpack my reasoning for attending, explain why it was mistaken, and offer a practical alternative.

Since the garden, men and women have been forming lifelong covenants together, long before any government recognized them and especially before the United States existed.

Should a Christian Attend : For many believers, their faith informs their stance on marriage as a sacred institution, defined by traditional biblical teachings

I understand the temptation to attend. Suppose a Christian could attend a gay wedding and somehow communicate clearly that he is supporting only the individuals getting married and not their lifestyle. The couple is simply engaging in a ceremony that ends with a legally binding contract, no different than any other legal contract.

There is no way around the fact that a gay wedding ceremony is a celebration of sin. Their behavior is nothing more than mutual masturbation. Should I attend the same-sex wedding of a family member? In fact, a man and woman make up the only pair of people described in Scripture as being capable of creating a one-flesh union.

Deciding Whether to Attend : Some have argued that attending a wedding does not necessarily imply affirmation and that it might be best to attend the ceremony to build an evangelistic bridge to the “gay” friend getting “married

In retrospect, I was wrong to attend. First, marriage was created and defined by God. It was not created by the state. They lack the requisite anatomy. The ceremony took place before God and our family and friends. God defines marriage, not the state.

At the same time, I can't help feeling that it would be wrong as a Christian to validate and celebrate what I regard as a sinful. The marriage certificate simply recognized the reality of our marriage just like a birth certificate recognized the reality of my birth.

God made marriage in the garden after he made Adam and Eve. Notice how Genesis and Jesus formulates this institution: one man with one woman becoming one flesh for one lifetime.

I don't want to destroy a relationship or forfeit my opportunity to have a continuing positive influence in this person's life. Rather, it is a pre-political institution. At a later time, we filed paperwork with the state to receive a legal marriage certificate and state-sanctioned benefits.

That contract extends to the same-sex couple the same legal rights that the state has historically extended to heterosexual couples. The covenant is the ritual pledge a man and woman make before God. A man and woman possess the complementary sexual anatomy to create a one-flesh union.

At some point, you will likely be pressured by family or friends to attend a same-sex wedding, but here are two reasons why you should not attend, along with some practical advice on how to graciously decline the invitation. The individuals he is supporting are still holding an event which celebrates their immorality.

When the U. Same-sex couples are still—and will always be—excluded from actual marriage. This is a dilemma I never dreamed I'd face, and I'm agonizing over the decision. Public vows that are formalized by the state and witnessed by friends and family serve to keep spouses accountable.

Here are the two main reasons why.