Christian Thoughts on Hosting a Gay Wedding
Thoughts on Hosting a Gay Wedding
In May, 2015, I hosted a wedding for two women in the restaurant I ran at the time. As opposed to denying them, we treated them with the utmost respect, and they raved about our hospitality. The wedding reception took up the upper level of the restaurant in full view of the rest of the eatery and its guests. Ironically, one of the ladies, the more masculine one, dressed as the groom and the more feminine one dressed as the bride. No one outside of the party realized it was a gay wedding.
In the hospitality industry there has been a lot of controversy over Christians baking cakes for gay weddings; i.e. being asked to sell a product or service for a gay wedding event. While I believe that it is right to honor God's commands regarding marriage, I disagree with the refusal to serve the gay potential customer's request. We are a third party and Jesus does not mention a third party when he said, "If you can follow these commands, you should." In fact, When talking about third parties, Jesus taught us to love our neighbor as ourselves and even to love our enemies. So the denial of a cake for a gay wedding isn't a direct emanation from Scripture even if it's aligned with God's commands.
In short, the Bible teaches us to be more concerned with a different marriage that will usher in a new order, a new era of transformation in our souls; that is our marriage to Jesus the Son. The marriage to Jesus is the only marriage that has resurrection power. All marriages on earth, straight or gay, will end. "Till death do us part" means exactly that! Remember that the widow in Jesus' answer to the religious people - she was married to seven men, all deceased, yet she will be "like the angels" in heaven. None of the seven men she had married would be her eternal lover.
There is only one bridegroom in heaven and he has more brides than there are stars in the sky or sand on the seashore. His brides are male and female. The whole message of the Bible is this love affair between God and His people. "I was like a husband to you." Isaiah 54:4 reads, "For your Maker is your husband-- the LORD Almighty is his name-- the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth." Hosea gives us a picture of God as the husband and sinful Israel as His bride whom He redeems. Song of Solomon 4 is a wonderful statement on God's love for His bride. "You are as beautiful as Tirzah, as lovely as Jerusalem!" That's what God says about His lover. Finally, the gospels make it perfectly clear who our bridegroom is.
I am a man forever married to another man named Jesus. His love has transformed me into a new creation trusting in Him over any person or thing in this world. Forever I will cling to His side and seek His will in everything. At my restaurant, we are serving a party celebrating the earthly marriage of two women today and this born-again Christian did not refuse hospitality to them. My Bible teaches me that the only marriage that counts is to Jesus the Son. And this bride would love to know that those brides know that also.
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