this article is a prime example. Mohler doesn't know what
to do.
who are committed to victory, whatever it takes.
What a difference a decade makes. Just consider the fact
that, just 10 years ago,
a vast majority of
Americans opposed the legalization of same-sex marriage. Now
we are told that a
slim majority of
Americans is ready to make same-sex marriage legal.
Homosexuality is now at the center of American life, and the
full normalization of homosexual relationships seems just
around the corner.
The pace of moral change has been breathtaking. Go back less than one year, and
President Obama opposed same-sex marriage, even as he
said he was “evolving” on the
issue. Now, the president is a vocal advocate for same-sex
marriage, even going so far as to call for full equality of gays
and lesbians in his inaugural address, delivered last
month.
In the run-up to the inauguration, an evangelical preacher
had to withdraw from delivering
a prayer at the ceremony when controversy broke out
over a sermon on homosexuality he had delivered almost
twenty years ago. This month, it is the Boy Scouts of America
in the midst of this moral revolution. Within a few months,
the Supreme Court is to
take up two different cases, either of which could
fundamentally alter the moral and legal landscape on
same-sex marriage. This week, the British Parliament
approved the legalization of same-sex marriage and the
government of France is poised to do
the same. Before you finish reading this column,
another major development may well have taken place. The
pace of this moral revolution is just that swift.
Where does this leave America’s conservative Christians?
Just over eight years ago, the nation re-elected an openly
evangelical president. This past November, America elected
an avowed and determined advocate of the full normalization
of homosexual conduct and relationships. Evangelicals
watched as three states voted to
legalize same-sex marriage.
In terms of the cultural tide, evangelical Christians have
every reason to feel left behind. Thoughtful evangelicals
must realize the depth of our predicament. Political parties
have platforms, but Christians must be driven by biblical
convictions. Platforms may change, but convictions remain.
Evangelicals do not believe that homosexuality is sinful
because it is part of our platform, but because it is a
conviction drawn from Scripture.
Evangelicals cannot join the moral revolution on
homosexuality, but it seems unlikely that we can stop it,
either. The issue of homosexuality, by itself and in tandem
with other moral issues, may well lead to the
marginalization of evangelical Christians within the larger
society. This is already the case in secular Europe and,
increasingly, in Great Britain and Canada as well. Churches
and other groups that cannot accept the full normalization
of same-sex relationships will find themselves driven
further and further from the cultural mainstream.
This is going to be particularly difficult for America’s
evangelical Christians. We are accustomed to standing within
the political and cultural mainstream, comfortable in an
America that shared much of our moral worldview. Those days
are over. Preaching a sermon on homosexuality - even twenty
years ago - will get you thrown off of the inaugural
platform. Conservative religious groups may sponsor the
majority of Boy Scout troops, but the Boy Scouts of America
appear to be moving in a very different direction.
Conservative Christians are a bit shell-shocked.
Much has been made of the fact that evangelicals are losing
political clout, but the much greater loss is measured in
cultural influence. Furthermore, the reason for this loss of
influence in the culture goes far beyond the issue of
homosexuality. Evangelicals are increasingly out of step
with the cultural creatives, Millennials and an electorate
that is trending libertarian. We have shifted from pushing
for legislation we supported to doing our best to protect
religious liberty in the face of legislation and regulation
we cannot stop.
Oddly enough, liberal Protestantism seems to be riding in
the saddle again. They may have lost multiple millions of
members, but the old Protestant mainline seems to stand in
the cultural mainstream once again.
Evangelicals appear to be headed for some kind of
marginalization, and this will hurt. Nevertheless,
evangelical Christianity began on the margins of society and
only in fairly recent decades moved into the mainstream. As
it turns out, our cultural influence may wane and our
options for recovering that influence may be both few and
ineffectual.
Thrown back to a posture of working from the margins,
evangelical Christians will find themselves in familiar
territory. Our task will be to bear witness to the truth, to
tell the Good News about Jesus Christ, to be faithful in our
marriages, to raise our children and to reach out to a world
filled with people --gay and straight -- who desperately
need our message of God’s redeeming love. We don’t need a
slot on the inaugural platform in order to be faithful to
Christ.
R. Albert Mohler, Jr., is president of the Southern
Baptist Theological Seminary.
