There seems to be little else on Facebook at the moment than people on both sides of the same-sex marriage (SSM) debate making statements about whatever side they are on.  I fear that perhaps as Christians we have lost the wood for the trees.  SSM discussions by liberal Christians ignore the biblical injunctions against homosexual activity altogether.  And SSM discussions by conservative Christians seem to be arguments based on morality and the supposed foundation of Christian values in our country.

Both of these assume that the Bible is a book of morals.  The liberal position seems to assume that the morals given in the Bible are actually outdated, perhaps due to supposed scientific advances made in understanding same-sex attraction.  (The supposed science is debatable, but not my point.)  The conservatives are also arguing from a moral standpoint, albeit a different one.  The Bible is opposed to the practice of homosexual sex and therefore Australians must vote No in the plebiscite (if we have one).

But what if the Bible is not a book of moral commands?  Indeed it is not.  Rather the Bible is a book about God’s redemptive acts, culminating in sending his Son into the world in the person of Jesus Christ.  The Bible does not primarily set out a list of moral codes for humans to obey.  Instead, the Bible begins with God’s covenant with humanity.  He offers us his grace and relationship with him before he ever asks us to do anything at all.

It may be that in the public sphere Christians need to argue about SSM for the sake of free-speech and for the sake of the potential consequences to children of such marriages.  However, within the church our task is not to come up with moral judgements about how to live.  We are not given a set of rules to obey as a way to please God.  Rather we are offered life through Christ.  From the starting point of relationship with the Father, through Jesus Christ and in the Holy Spirit, we then live according to the Spirit and not the flesh.  Ours is a response to the love of God.  It is not a set of moral obligations that make us Christians.  Yet this is the impression that one might get from listening to the onslaught of discussion about SSM.

Australia is not so much in need of better morality, which legislation could never bring about anyway, but in need of Jesus.  Proclaiming the gospel to a nation of lost people is far more important than winning the SSM debate.  When lost people encounter Jesus then there is time to show them how to live as kingdom people.  We cannot save Australia by proclaiming heterosexual marriage.  Even if we win, we will still have a country full of lost people, and those lost people with still think that Christianity is a set of moral strictures that no one can be bothered with anymore.

For this reason, the church needs to get back to its true focus, which is Christ, and proclaim the grace of God.  When the gospel of Christ is preached, then people are freed to live in obedience to God.  Without grace, no matter how moral our country may be, people will still be rebellious towards God and in bondage to sin.  So let’s refocus the whole conversation.