Whether coming from a spirit of honest curiosity or agitated defensiveness, it’s a common question: How can homosexuality—and same-sex “marriage” in particular—be wrong if it doesn’t hurt anyone?
In a new video, Russell Moore, J. D. Greear, and Voddie Baucham tackle this complex and critical topic. Our starting point, Moore observes, must be determining what sexuality is for. “If God designed it,” he says, “then there’s a purpose to it.” And, contrary to popular belief, Moore insists, we aren’t trying to disappoint our gay and lesbian neighbors, nor to “restrict” or “keep” marriage from them. We’re simply observing that, based on what sexuality and marriage are, same-sex marriage is impossible.
Reducing immorality to harm is a principle that must be challenged, Greear contends. What about the man who cheats on his wife, but she never finds out due to deft deceit? Are we really willing to deny that’s wrong? Or that the harm will eventually become apparent in many cases?
Moreover, Baucham points out, the pressingly public nature of today’s marriage debate “explodes the myth” that the issue is really just about “what I do in my bedroom.” This debate especially confuses evangelical teenagers, Moore explains, because we in the church have for so long talked as if marriage is a merely individual matter. “We have to back up and root our vision of marriage in Ephesians 5,” he says, for a wedding is far more than just celebrating “a relationship between two people.”
But why not let those outside the church redefine marriage so long as we maintain a Christian view inside? We tried that with the divorce culture, Moore recalls, and it was disastrous—not to mention unloving to our neighbors. Watch the full 10-minute video to see how they respond to the argument that the state should get out of the marriage business.
