First of all, because this is such a hot-button topic, I will lay out several items. 1) I have a close family member who is gay, and who has been in several monogamous relationships, including at least one that she considered to be “marriage” before this was even a dream in the heart of legislators. I love her dearly; she is important to me, and I have no intention of causing her heartache. This is ultimately an issue between her and the Lord. 2) Having attended eight years of art school and being in the art-making business for over ten years, I have had friendships, some very close, with several peers that self-identify as gay or lesbian. Some are still following that lifestyle; some are not. Not all that have left it have done so because of spiritual conviction. I believe firmly in taking people at face value, protecting their dignity and loving them unconditionally. I have never, and will never, shun or attack someone because of their sexual orientation. 3) I am intentionally not posting this on my facebook or twitter because I don’t believe that a one-liner world is the place to have an intelligent discussion about this. Because a blog from a teeny church in New Jersey is. Ha ha. 4) Be it ever so unpopular, I know Whom I have believed, and believe that His Word is unchanging, true for all time, and I am always seeking to become more literate in the Biblical narrative and underlying meaning as a whole. I am committed to Jesus Christ, and I believe His is the way of Truth and Love.

Now. I’ve been very troubled by the growing wave of believers in Christ that are willing to go along with the movement to legalize same-sex marriage. Somehow we have believed the age old half-truth about God being a God of love and acceptance. “Isn’t God a God of love?” we hear the pundits say (most recently, Brian Lehrer from WNYC in his completely irresponsible and sensational coverage of the NY situation). And then a well-meaning person on the other side will say, “Well, that’s the way marriage has always been.” Then Brian will invoke the example of slavery in the Bible. And the whole argument goes down the tubes.

I want to offer my clear, cut-and-dry reason why I believe that no Christian should support so-called “Marriage Equality”, however loving it seems to be. The legislature can take care of itself on this one; we are already a post-Christian society. But the Church must get its head on straight. The issue at hand, and the reason we must care and must stand against this, is because of the importance of God’s Image.

Marriage is not just a cultural institution. If it were, it would be fine if same-sex couples married; it would be fine if people married their dogs; it would be fine if parents married their adult children. But in the beginning, God made Adam and Eve male and female. Why? Because He wanted to create a unique expression of His image. When God said “Let us make Man in Our image”, He proceeded to create them male and female. Do we care about how God chose to reveal Himself to the world? This was before sin entered the equation–when nothing hindered God from doing things exactly as He wanted. We believe that God became a person, yes, to die for our sins, but also to show us, as Hebrews 1 puts it, “the exact representation of the Father.” Is that image worth caring about? Yes! So if the way that God revealed Himself in Christ is important, what about the way He chose to do so at the beginning of human history itself? He carries that image of male and female, and of marriage, through the whole biblical narrative. A rule, as I understand, of biblical interpretation, is that if in a passage or over the whole Bible a concept is repeated more than once, it bears paying attention to. Ultimately, toward the end of that narrative, we read about Christ and His Church–Christ as a Bridegroom, and the Church as the Bride. In fact, the whole Bible is bookended by the male-female marriage paradigm: Adam and Eve as His Image personified in the Garden; and the union of Christ and His Church at the end of history. Important?

We as believers need to be absolutely honest about God’s image and His revelation of Himself. He has chosen to reveal something of His nature by the union of compliments and counterparts–male and female being, I believe, the ultimate earthly expression of that nature. If God cared so much about revealing Himself in a certain way that He created the archtypical expression of it at the very beginning, how dare we stand in judgment of Him? We pat Him on the head like a kindly old grandfather, and say, “Oh, Lord, we know you did it this way before anybody knew better, but we’ve evolved as a society, and we know what is loving more than you do. Don’t worry, it’ll be OK. Who does it really hurt, anyway, if two people want to love each other?” Who does it hurt? It hurts the image of God. And all other arguments aside, that should cause us to tremble.

When I say this, take it with a huge grain of salt–try to forget the messenger for a minute. I’m so at the beginning stages of this, that it’s only 1% past theory for me. But it’s something that God is pressing home. He’s been bringing this “five fold ministry” thing up over and over, and the thing that really gets me is that with all of these gifts, Paul tells us that the whole reason that gifts exist is “to equip the saints for ministry”. The saints–you and me, the “non-professional clergy”. See, we’ve (not just Lamb, but the Church at large) been sitting in the pews for so long being spoken to, watching the “worship show”, expecting to get “fed”, that we’re totally unaware of the fact that God’s whole intention was to raise up an army. An army of lovers, who wield things like swords and shields (Ephesians 6, just a page away from the five fold thing).

For leaders, frustration comes when much of the time is spent simply teaching folks how to stand up on their own two feet. Put a sword in that hand? Are you serious? That person’s got broken bones that won’t heal! (Short disclaimer: I am not privy to confidential information from the pastoral care that my husband gives.) But it begs the question: for which purpose do leaders exist? To “feed” us? To clean up our messes? To keep slathering and slathering the “balm of Gilead” until we’re greasy and fat? Yes, when necessary–but ultimately, NO! The job of leaders is to “equip the saints”. And this is not an indictment toward the leaders. It’s a call to shake ourselves awake and realize what they’re already trying to do for us: to equip the saints for ministry.

Why do we seek things like, for example, physical healing? At the time of my last post, I had a thrown back that just wouldn’t quit. I wanted to be healed. Why? Just so I can feel better? And so that I can stand up in church and give a nice testimony? NO! It’s so I can be a soldier. So that I can be undistracted by pain.

The need for ministers to take their servant leadership seriously–not just to clean up messes, but to equip the saints to move out and build the kingdom–applies to each and every one of us in the church. We all know this, but we are called “the priesthood of believers”. That means each one of us has a vital role to play. Paul tells us in Titus that each believer is to bring alongside another believer and train them up. I have been convicted of that recently–my “loner” tendencies are very strong. But I need not only to be under mentorship, but to seek out others in stages of life that I’ve already been through, and be available to equip those saints.

One thing that Ben and I are trying to concentrate on when we lead worship is equiping you by offering opportunities for all of you to pray together during worship. We equip each other by being in each other’s lives, even if it’s just a weekly touch point in the service. So look out for those opportunities more and more. It is part of the way that we, as worship leaders, are looking to equip the saints that are in our charge. I sense my responsibility to do that. I do not ever want your eyes on me, the worship team, etc.–I want to equip each of you to see more of Christ and to love Him more through the Word and through that wonderful vehicle we call Music.

So, in your own life, I encourage you to look at those in your sphere and ask, “How can I equip the saints?” And be encouraged that God will bring alongside those who will seek to equip you.