Same sex marriage, love and refugees...

A hot topic currently is 'same sex marriage', with people from all sorts of fields being asked to make comment on it... politicians, church ministers, celebrities, even footballers (just to add the surreal to the situation).

And lately I am being asked what I think.

Straight off the top of my head I think, 'Who cares what I think. What possible relevance does my opinion have?' The facts are, some people of the same sex fall in love, some have affairs, some live together, some want to legalise their relationship. My opinion is of negligible consequence to all of that. Yet the questions keep coming.

So for what it's worth (very little actually) here's what I think.

It's a topic that is being pushed to the fore at the expense of what I consider far more weighty issues in our society, like Australia's inhumane treatment of refugees. The breakdown of families and the consequent problems that causes young people. The selfish vapid and empty 'look at me' ethos of the celebrity that our media pander to and our young people aspire to.

Against this, how my friends Joey and Peter want to live is small potatoes to me. What they want won't bring Australia into a moral morass. We're doing that fine just on the refugee issue thanks very much.

Then there's my friends who say 'But you're a christian, shouldn't you be toeing the church line?' Well, yes I am a christian, in that I have surrendered my life, present and future to God and His grace. And what I read in His word are things like "Do not judge, lest you be judged", "God loved the world so much He sent His Son so that we may be saved", "He who is without sin may cast the first stone", "Come to Me all who are weary and heavy laden and I will give you rest", "And they shall know you are Christians by your love".

So, as a christian, I'm all about emulating the very basis of God's character - Love. Yes, there is judgement in the Bible, but that's not my job, and I am in no way qualified to judge ANYONE, being just a sinner saved by grace myself. And I don't know a single other christian that is any better equipped than I am to do God's job for Him.

I've had friends who are so riled up about it from the other end of the scale too, saying things along the line of "I believe in equality and if you are against same-sex marriage then you are no friend of mine and you are a bigot." Well, from my vantage point, that's bigotry itself.... saying 'if you don't agree with my opinion on this topic then I have no time or place for you in my life, as your opinion goes against my opinion'. Yet they seem to think that gives them the moral high ground, when all it does is potentially drive otherwise good caring people away with hatred and hostility. 

You may have noticed that I haven't stated unequivocally whether or not I support same-sex marriage. I could cover all sorts of arguments, like is marriage a legal or religious institute... what parts of the Bible are relevant today?... Are we a christian nation?... 

All these are furphies, like having a theological debate over should we help the homeless. It turns into a wordfest. So I will reiterate... Why do you think my opinion is so important that you need to know. How I live is far more important than what I think about one issue. And here is how I endevour to live - Love God, love others.

If you don't understand that answer, then I suggest you put aside all thought of these 'hot topic' issues like same-sex marriage, and meditate for months on just how you live, and whether or not love is the basis of all that you do.

Peace,
Greg Carrick

What's the big deal about crucifying Christ?

Well, yeah, crucifixion is a horrible way to die.... first you would be beaten, whipped, kicked, punched and tortured by the prison screws (John 19:1-5), then you would have to carry the cross you were going to be executed on to the killing field (John 19:17), you would be in severe pain and dehydrated, weak, stumbling and distraught.

You would then be stripped, forced to lay on the cross on the ground and nailed to it. Then the cross would be hoisted up and dropped into a hole and fixed there. Now it was just a matter of time. Near impossible to keep breathing as you got weaker, previous trauma from the torture untreated, the lack of water would accelerate your demise, and help drive you into even greater despair. If time wasn't pressing, you would be left there to die over the next few days. If they wanted you dead quickly, your legs would be broken, and you would no longer be able to lift yourself up enough to take in more air.

So, not a pretty site, but the Romans crucified thousands. So what was so special about Jesus being killed in this way?

The unique point about the death of Jesus was not just the horrible way he was killed, but the way God put the sin of the world on him. This was the whole point of the death of the eternal Son of God. Jesus was the 'sin-bearer', and that aspect of his death sets him apart from any other sacrifice ever made.

We are told, "He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed." (1 Peter 2:24)

Jesus went to the cross knowing that he would become the target for God's dealing with sin. Job describes it in this way, "God has shriveled me up... his anger has torn me and hunted me down... God hands me over.. and tosses me into the hands of the wicked... He shattered me... He has grasped me by the neck and shaken me to pieces... He has also set me up as His target... He breaks through me with breach after breach" (Job 16). While suffering on the cross Jesus cries out, "Why have you forsaken me?" Christ was bearing the due process of God's law against sin, SO THAT WE COULD ESCAPE AND BE SAFE.

The ultimate torture that Jesus suffered wasn't the whips, the thorns into his flesh, the vinegar for his thirst, the nails pinning him to the wood, the desertion by his followers, or the jeers of the crowd, but the sin and separation he went through for us. And that final battle against our fallen nature was when God won the war to bring us back into His realm.

Christ became sin so that we could become righteous.