Volume 3 Number 22 November 26, 2008

MarketFaith Ministries is an equipping ministry which is focused on helping Christians become more effective
in living out their faith in the midst of the increasingly diverse worldview environment of modern society.
Introduction

The recent elections were historic for a number of reasons. Of course, the election of our first black president lists quite
high among those reasons. Another is the passage of marriage amendments in three more states. But perhaps one of the
biggest stories in all of this is something that has happened since the election but is related to its results. It seems that
there is a segment of our society who do not like the result of the marriage amendment votes and are working to overturn
the express will of the people. Day after day, we are continuing to see protests and other actions against people who sup-
ported the amendments – even to the point of violence, defacing property and having people fired from their jobs.

How can it be that this kind of thing can go on in America? The simple answer is that there is a different set of worldview
assumptions which have become prominent in the public square – a set of beliefs which are completely foreign to the
foundation of this country. This worldview is particularly prominent among those who would seek to overturn the will of the
people by force. Today, we will take a brief look at what is going on in this arena.

This topic is particularly pertinent for us as Christians as we are the ones who are going to take the brunt of the abuse
which results from this kind of thinking. Already, there are businesses who are being forced to provide services which go
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What is the Worldview Basis of Homosexual Marriage ?

Marriage amendments have just passed in three more
states. Up until now, we have not seen much backlash from
the militant homosexual community. But with the recent
passage in Florida, California and Arizona, the militants are
up in arms. In some cases the response has even turned
violent.
Shortly after the election, there was an article in my local
newspaper about a protest planned in Tallahassee. In the
online version of the paper it is possible to respond to pub-
lished articles, and with this one there was quite a lively dis-
cussion concerning the passage of the amendment. I
decided to put in my two cents worth and gave a very calm
and reasoned explanation as to why homosexual marriage
is not good for society.
Even though I did not attack anyone, I was roundly attacked
with emotional outbursts and even lies. People were delib-
erately misrepresenting the things I said. On top of that,
they were interjecting new topics into the discussion which
had nothing to do with my points in order to try and discredit
the Christian viewpoint.
So, just what was going on with this? Why the emotional
outburst? Why the attempt to lie about what I had said and
discredit me? After all, this was supposed to be an open
forum to share diverse ideas, right?
The simple answer is that the Christian position I was advo-
cating struck a nerve with a group of people who were oper-
ating from an entirely different worldview platform.
Basically, I was threatening their “religion” by expressing
my point of view. A worldview position is the basis for a
person’s faith, even if that faith is “secular” in nature. In this
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against their core principles and beliefs. Making churches hire people who have beliefs and lifestyles which run contrary
to Biblical teachings and forcing pastors to perform homosexual weddings can’t be far behind. We must understand
what is going on.

As MarketFaith Ministries continues preparation for the Worldview Summit for Ministry Professionals in January of 2009,
we are seeking to share the principles of worldview with pastors in order to help them become better able to equip their
own constituents. We are working to do this for these leaders without any cost to them. To do this, we are seeking the
support of Christians who believe in what we are doing. If you would be willing to help us with this project, please send
your tax deductible donation to MarketFaith Ministries, 321 Anton Dr., Tallahassee, FL 32312. It is also possible to do-
nate online at the MarketFaith Ministries website at www.marketfaith.org. Simply click on the “donate” button. Thanks so
much for your support.

Please feel free to contact me at any time with your thoughts, opinions and suggestions. I always love to hear from you.
God bless,
Freddy

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case, it was not simply a matter that my beliefs were different than theirs, my disagreement was actually seen as a
threat.

But there is a tricky element here. Many people who are homosexual claim that they are Christians and that they love
God. They also reason that since “God made me this way,” he is not upset when they live a homosexual lifestyle.

This is where our understanding of worldview becomes so critical. When we examine a worldview position, the first place
we have to look is the authority source. For Christians, our authority is the Bible. Scripture clearly teaches that homosex-
ual activity is contrary to God’s intention. So, when homosexuals say that God does not object, where does that view-
point come from? It is clearly not from the Bible. In fact, it comes directly from their own personal reasoning. By that, they
have made their reasoning to be an authority equal to the Bible.

So, what worldview is represented by homosexual activists? Basically, it represents a Naturalistic point of view – the be-
lief that there is no supernatural reality. As such, they believe that there is no one outside of the human race available to
reveal a moral code, so humans have to make up their own.

Some homosexuals may claim to love God and that they are Christians. But they make that assertion based on beliefs
which are outside of Christianity. They want to be included in the Christian camp and express homosexual behavior at
the same time. So to justify that, they try to create a new hybrid belief that accommodates their viewpoint – one which is
not purely Christian or Naturalist. It calls itself Christian but uses a Naturalistic authority source to redefine the term
Christian.

If that were the only issue it would be bad enough. But this kind of thinking is not uncommon even among many in our
Christian churches. Modern America has become so saturated with Naturalistic thought that many Christians do not even
recognize that their faith has gone off course. It is not at all unusual to hear Christians say that they like their Christianity,
but if other people want to follow another belief, that is just as valid.

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Find these books along with other

great worldview resources at
www.marketfaith.org

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This is a very charitable point of view, but it flies in the face of reality. There is a way that reality is actually structured and
it is not structured in any other way. If the Bible does not express the truth about that reality, then what the homosexual
activist asserts possibly could be true. But the evidence shows that Bible does represent the truth and that those trying to
redefine Christianity to include acceptance of homosexual behavior are found to be separated from God.

So just how do we, as Christians, deal with this? We have to get up to speed regarding our understanding of the world-
view possibilities. We need to know what we believe, what other people believe and why our faith is the truth. Armed with
this knowledge, we put ourselves in a position which gives us confidence in our own faith and the tools we need to effec-
tively share Christ with those separated from him.

So, just what are the reasons why homosexual marriage is damaging to society? There are two categories of reasoning
where this plays out. There is one line of logic based on a secular approach to understanding the problem and another
based on a Biblical understanding.

Secular Reasoning
Many Christians may, at first, resist the secular logic not seeing any particular reason to use this approach. After all, if
God says it in the Bible that ought to be enough, right? Well perhaps so, but if we are trying to convince people who do
not accept a Biblical approach we must have a different set of tools if we want to get a hearing. As the percentage of peo-
ple declines who are willing to accept a purely Biblical answer, we must have a way of presenting our argument which has
a different basis. Be aware, though, that even this secular argument is based on Biblical principles. It is just that it is pre-
sented in a way which uses a secular approach rather than
a religious one.

The first thing that must be established is the very purpose
of marriage. The purpose of marriage is not to give people
rights but to create an environment where children can be
raised to become healthy adults. If you examine the main
arguments of the homosexual activists, you will notice that
the entire topic of discussion has shifted from the that of
raising a family to the denial of rights for a certain group of
people.
In order for homosexual advocates to make this shift, the
first thing they do is tamper with the language. The very
concept of homosexual marriage requires that we change
the definition of the word marriage. Marriage, by definition,
requires one man and one woman. Changing the definition
turns marriage into something that did not previously exist.
It also shifts the purpose of marriage from raising a family
to the acquisition of a set of “rights.”
But marriage is not about rights. Making it about “rights”
puts the focus on self-centered individuals and takes it off
of the children it is meant to foster. Rather, marriage is
about forming society in a way which provides stability for
the social order into the future.
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When the family breaks down, society breaks down. In or-

Support MarketFaith Ministries
der to have a stable family situation, and thus a stable soci-
ety, children need a mom and dad living together in a
The purpose of MarketFaith Ministries is to equip the Body
committed relationship. When families do not have this ar-
of Christ to become more effective by sharing the practical
rangement, children are damaged. This is true whether the
applications of worldview. We are involved in developing
situation relates to divorced or separated parents, hetero-
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Unfortunately, there are some situations which have oc-
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(Continued on page 4)
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(Homosexual Marriage - Continued from page 3)

and deal with an undesirable family situation. Sometimes a parent will die or leave their spouse. But while sometimes
these things happen, most bad situations result from deliberate choices people make to divorce or live together outside of
marriage.

The fact is, society has a vested interest in promoting strong families. This promotion can be done in a couple of different
ways. First, governments can discourage acts and lifestyles which damage the family. A second approach is that they can
incentivise acts and lifestyles which promote healthy families. The benefits the state provides married heterosexual cou-
ples is a just and right means of promoting healthy families.

Christian Reasoning
While the secular reasoning is important when taking our case to society, Christians must also remember that our ultimate
reason for not accepting homosexual marriage is because God has revealed to us that this goes contrary to his purpose
and his plan for mankind.

When God created the world, he created it to operate in a particular way. There is a natural way that things exist and this
represents the reality that God created. Those who live contrary to God’s way may get away with it for a time, but will ulti-
mately destroy themselves and others, including the next generation of children, by their rebellion against the natural or-
der.

The structure of God’s creation involves using the family as the basic platform for carrying out his plan. In addition to the
ability to express the ultimate form of relationship, the family exists to produce individuals to populate God’s kingdom.

In specifying the structure of the family, he specifically sanctioned marriage as the union of one man and one woman to
produce this population. As such, the creation of family is an element of nature – that is, procreation is a natural, biological
process. Homosexual relationships run contrary to the natural order.

Marriage certainly involves a sexual joining of a man and woman, but it goes way beyond that. It also expresses an ele-
ment of the very image of God in mankind. Gender is an element of the personhood of God, but he, himself, is neither
male nor female. Male and female together represent the fullness of this gender characteristic. Human beings, though,
find themselves representing one gender or the other. In humanity, it is only by the joining of a man and a woman in mar-
riage that the ultimate expression of gender, as it relates to the image of God, is able to be displayed.

Marriage, then, is such a central part of God’s plan that he declared all non-married sexual unions to be contrary to his will
(sin). This includes heterosexual relationships as well as homosexual.

Conclusion
The issue of homosexual marriage is not simply a matter of the rights of individuals. It involves the fulfillment of the very
purpose for man’s existence. A Naturalistic worldview begins by denying the existence of God and his purpose. As a re-
sult, it does not acknowledge any reason why homosexual marriage should not be advanced. A Christian worldview, on
the other hand, not only acknowledges God’s purposes, but provides motivation to see that it is carried out in the world.

As long as the Christian and Naturalistic worldviews exist side by side in society, there will be conflict. But Christians must
be willing to strand strong for our position. The consequences of losing this battle in society is the destruction of the fami-
ly. Along with this comes the destruction of many lives as the next generation suffers the consequences of a society with-
out a foundation based on reality.

In the next Issue: Fighting the Culture War Against the Odds