Why Does the Marriage Debate Matter?

Last updated on: April 28, 2015 at 9:32 am by Jordan Cooper

Why Does the Marriage Debate Matter? 2015-04-28T09:32:13-06:00 Jordan Cooper

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Today is a historic day in Western civilization, as the Supreme Court case regarding homosexual marriage begins. I think many of us expect what the outcome of this case is going to be, and that soon same-sex marriage is going to be accepted in all fifty of these United States. As the culture continues down this path, those who hold to traditional views of family are going to be continually marginalized as being on the “wrong side of history.” I don’t want to get into particular political arguments here, or explain why such a law shouldn’t even be enforced on the Federal level in the first place (encroaching on state’s rights). Instead, I want to ask the question: why does the integrity of the family actually matter? Why does the church care about who does or doesn’t get married anyway?

God created three fundamental institutions which define life in this world. Martin Luther referred to these as the “three estates”: the family, the church, and the state. The first of all of these fundamental institutions of society is family. God created marriage at the moment that he created humanity. Adam and Eve were created for one another, and with one another. Note that at this point there was no government (which is unnecessary without sin) and no formal church. Marriage is the fundamental structure of human existence. The first commandment God gave to man, informing him how he is to live in this world, was: “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:28). Some theologians have called this the “cultural mandate,” because this commandment of God gives man the authority to create culture upon the earth. This is not simply a pre-fall mandate, but God reiterates the same to Noah (Gen. 9:1-7). Thus, such a mandate is fundamental to who man is as created.

When the fundamental structure of created existence is altered, there are bound to be negative consequences. God created all things to function in a particular manner with particular laws. When those laws are violated, negative things are bound to happen. Thus, if marriage is the most fundamental institution for human society, then the distortion of that institution will have negative impacts throughout human culture.

Really, the issue isn’t even gay marriage. The issue is the loss of the fundamental God-created family structure in society. The downfall came way before homosexuality was on the radar of most people in our society. The problem is that love began to be seen as a feeling, rather than the self-giving of one to another (echoing God’s self-giving love in Christ). Thus, our commitments and relationships became as fickle and unreliable as our day-to-day feelings. This has shown itself through increased divorce rates in our society, “open marriages,” and the increased number of children born without a family structure at all. The sexual liberation movement of the 60s and 70s and easy access to birth control divorced sex from the institution of the family. And let’s be honest, the church has really failed in teaching Biblical concept of love. Instead of reminding people of the reality of God’s self-giving in Christ, and its reflection in marriage, the church has sentimentalized its view of God’s love, reinforcing the faulty conception of love within the secular culture. But now that this issue has come to the forefront, the church has the opportunity to reevaluate where we have gone wrong, and again return to the Scriptural teaching of love, marriage, and family.

The issues of marriage and family matter because culture matters. They matter because people matter. Sure, the church could just shut its mouth about these issues, and simply ignore what happens in broader society. But, would that really be loving our neighbors? Would that really be doing what Jesus says when we are called to be “salt and light”? Would that really be caring about the world around us? These issues matter, and the church should care. The well-being of humanity matters, and if the world is promoting that which harms people, it is our duty to speak up.

Whatever the law says or doesn’t say, we have the opportunity to model a traditional family structure within our own lives. By holding to a Biblical view of marriage, and by actually living that out, we can be a witness to our culture, and hopefully, others will follow.

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