United Methodists Vote to Uphold Biblical Truth
After a three-day meeting this past Tuesday, the United Methodist Church (UMC) voted on a very important issue: whether or not the church would support same-sex marriage and ordain LGBT clergy. Though the vote was close (53% vs. 47%), the majority did vote to uphold the biblical teaching that marriage is designed only for one man and one woman.
As the percentages show, the UMC was almost divided exactly in half on this issue. This is because for a while now the UMC has been largely divided between those who hold to a conservative understanding of scripture and those who hold to a liberal understanding of scripture. Thus, the vote was inevitable and necessary.
For biblically minded Christians, this is a victory. The UMC was certainly not the first Christian denomination to vote on this issue. Sadly, over the past few decades, many have decided to depart from the biblical teachings on marriage. But when denominations do not, we should take notice.
Let us remember that the view that marriage is between one man and one woman is not some new thing Christians are beginning to teach. This has been the teaching of the Christian church from the very beginning of creation and has remained so all throughout church history.
If this is no new teaching, why does the media portray it as such a horrifying view? The New York Times titled their article covering the topic, “United Methodists Tighten Ban on Same-Sex Marriage and Gay Clergy” while the Washington Post titled theirs, “United Methodist Church votes to maintain its opposition to same-sex marriage, gay clergy” (italics mine). Just by the titles, one can see that the mainstream media think Christians should stop resisting and catch up with the movement already.
This is also clearly seen with regard to the opposition that Karen Pence, the Vice President’s wife, faced in January when she accepted a teaching position at an evangelical Christian School. The controversy was that the school requires all teachers and students to affirm that homosexuality is contrary to God’s design and that marriage is between one man and one woman. The response from the Washington Post was that of absolute shock. They were surprised that a Christian would do such a thing. It was also as though their intention was to get readers to walk away from the article thinking “How does such a school even exist?”
What is clear is that we are witnessing an all-out moral revolution in our culture. The goal of this revolution is to pressure our entire society to embrace all thing LGBT. That the traditional view of sex and marriage is outdated and it must go.
That is why what took place this past Tuesday in the United Methodist Church was a clear victory. It was a display of Christians yet again affirming biblical truth. In an age full of cultural pressure to conform to a new morality, this should serve as an example for us all.