This Sunday's reading from 1 Corinthians 8:1-13 was mentioned at the recent Mere Anglicanism conference when talking about living in a secular world and being asked to do things that might compromise our Christian faith. We were told to stand firm. I suggest this passage is applicable to the question of attending a same-sex wedding.
Now concerning food sacrificed to idols: we know that ‘all of us possess knowledge.’ Knowledge puffs up, but love builds up. Anyone who claims to know something does not yet have the necessary knowledge; but anyone who loves God is known by him.
Hence, as to the eating of food offered to idols, we know that ‘no idol in the world really exists’, and that ‘there is no God but one.’ Indeed, even though there may be so-called gods in heaven or on earth—as in fact there are many gods and many lords— yet for us there is one God, the Father, from whom are all things and for whom we exist, and one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom are all things and through whom we exist.
It is not everyone, however, who has this knowledge. Since some have become so accustomed to idols until now, they still think of the food they eat as food offered to an idol; and their conscience, being weak, is defiled. ‘Food will not bring us close to God.’ We are no worse off if we do not eat, and no better off if we do. But take care that this liberty of yours does not somehow become a stumbling-block to the weak. For if others see you, who possess knowledge, eating in the temple of an idol, might they not, since their conscience is weak, be encouraged to the point of eating food sacrificed to idols? So by your knowledge those weak believers for whom Christ died are destroyed. But when you thus sin against members of your family, and wound their conscience when it is weak, you sin against Christ. Therefore, if food is a cause of their falling, I will never eat meat, so that I may not cause one of them to fall.
So basically, while it would not harm my faith to attend a same sex wedding like
Paul would not be shaken if he ate meat sacrificed to an idol, I will never attend such a thing because of the harm it may do to others by sending a message that I was approving of the "marriage".
Carl Trueman (one of our speakers) at First Things put it this way,
"There are also obvious reasons why a Christian should never attend a gay wedding. Many wedding liturgies, including that of the Book of Common Prayer, require the officiant to ask early in the service if anyone present knows any reason why the couple should not be joined together in matrimony. A Christian is at that point obliged to speak up."
"In short, attending a gay wedding involves remaining silent when one should speak. It involves a concession on bodily sex that undermines any attempt to hold fast to the importance of the biological distinction between men and women. And it involves approving of a ceremony that makes a mockery of a central New Testament teaching and of Christ himself. That’s a very high price tag for avoiding hurting someone’s feelings. And if Christians still think it worth paying, the future of the Church is bleak indeed."
Indeed, I have already declined to attend a same-sex wedding involving a family member.
No harm done.
Posts
Yes. When we lived in India, we declined to attend "Pujas," that is, dinners at which food is offered to the gods and then eaten. We felt that our presence would indicate acceptance of the religious aspect, and that is in fact how it would have been regarded by our Hindu friends. We did attend several Hindu weddings, because the point was the marriage and not idol worship.
ReplyDeleteWe would decline to attend a "gay marriage," because it isn't a marriage. If our family member, we'd make it clear that we love our family, but cannot violate our consciences.