An unfair smear against Christians

In the United Kingdom, the main opposition party often assigns members to policy roles that mirror the structure of government ministries. Thus, the majority party appoints a health secretary and the opposition party appoints a “shadow” health secretary. Wes Streeting, the current shadow health secretary, said in the Telegraph last week that Christians against gay marriage have a “pick and mix” approach to faith. He said those who argue homosexuality is sinful cannot choose which ten commandments they like or don’t like.

Well, Mr. Streeting raises an interesting argument. His ignorant statement is rooted in Biblical illiteracy, but in his poor attempt to disparage Christians, he makes a fair point.

Yes, Christians are called to obey all Ten Commandments. We cannot pick and choose which commandments we observe or ignore any of them. To break one is to break them all.

James 2:10 reads, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point has become guilty of all of it.”

However, Mr. Streeting seems confused when he speaks of Christians opposed to gay marriage. The Bible’s teaching on issues of holy matrimony and sexuality are not found exclusively in the Ten Commandments. The Seventh Commandment is “thou shalt not commit adultery,” which means one should not cheat on one’s spouse or have intercourse with anyone else’s spouse. That would be a sin. But the Bible also teaches that fornication is a sin, which means that any sex outside of marriage is a sin. Additionally, the Bible teaches that sodomy is a sin, as are other homosexual activities.

It is important to be clear on this. Describing something as “sinful” isn’t a judgment from one man to another. It is God’s Word that explains which actions or thoughts separate us from our Creator. God is love, and God wants the best for us. He teaches us, as any father would, what is good and what is not good for us. He gave us His Word so that we might know how to follow His divine order. We have free will, so we may choose not to, and that is sinning.

The Bible also teaches that marriage is between one man and one woman. It is monogamous and heterosexual. That is a definition shared with pretty much all of human history, Christians, atheists, and those of other faiths, until about five minutes ago.

It used to be that words had meanings, and we all knew what marriage meant. Christians are against gay “marriage” because Christians are in favor of marriage, and Christians understand that gay marriage is an oxymoron.

Don’t get me wrong, some people are same-sex attracted, and there is something to be said for those who are and manage to follow the teachings of the Scriptures and live a chaste life. Singleness can be a good and holy thing for those who are not called to marriage.

But in a Christian context there is no such thing as gay marriage, and any sexual activity outside marriage is sinful. That is the Christian faith. There is nothing cherry-picked about it, and it is high time our politicians stopped attacking Christians for following the British national faith as we have for nearly 2,000 years. Western society was built on Christian values, and suddenly they are seen as anathema. It is sad to see such low Biblical understanding in our politicians, but it is unsurprising due to their caliber.

Would we see a shadow minister attacking Muslims, Sikhs, and Hindus in the same way they attack Christians? I highly doubt it, somehow. Then why do we let them continue to undermine the Christian faith, our Lord, and His teachings? Perhaps we need to reeducate the political classes and remind them that they are only in positions of authority because our Lord allows them to be and that they would do well to remember the United Kingdom is still a Christian country. We have protection in law for our religious beliefs, whether they’re currently fashionable or not.

The message isn’t that some people are sinners, and we should judge them for it. The message is that we are all sinners, in different ways, and we must repent of our sins and have faith in Christ. That is how we are saved, not by affirming our sinful ways but by helping each other sin no more.