The Slippery Slope Is Undefeated (but not forever)

In my lifetime, short as it seems, there have been several occasions where Christians sounded the alarm. Some new event happened and we were concerned about the ramifications. If this were allowed to stand, there would be no logical reason for another event to be allowed and celebrated. And time after time we were dismissed as slippery slope worry warts, only interested in interfering with the “rights” of others. How hateful!

You know the kinds of occasions. Gay “marriage” was allowed in one state or another, later nationwide by Supreme Court edict, and Christians warned of logical problems with basing who you were allowed to marry by something as fickle as love. What would prevent polygamy? What would prevent incest? We were shouted down, labeled as hateful fear mongers, and told that our slippery slope arguments were illegitimate. God was seen as intolerant for disallowing certain unions as the state was interposed between God and man in order to give man a greater sense of autonomy. Which is ultimately where this is going, but then that sounds too much like a slippery slope…

I really don’t want to be the guy to say that I told you so, but… well… the slippery slope has proven to be an extremely accurate indicator of future events because the doctrine of Total Depravity has been proven time and again. Humans are fallen, and do not seek after God. (Romans 3:11) So you can look at the logical conclusions of any God-rejecting societal event in the most negative ways, and given a little time these slippery slope conclusions are what happens. Without fail. Demons can’t help but demon, if i could coin a verb here.

So now we have a case where some pervert wants to enter into a legally recognized mirage with their own biological descendents. Because love is love, right? And they aren’t planning to procreate and bear any children. So why shouldn’t we all just mind our own business? Because what happens in their bedroom has no effect on your life, right? Right?? RIGHT???

Do any of these shaming statements sound familiar? They were all used when gay mirage was being shoved down our throats. Christians have tried to argue against such things using secular sandy arguments like the chromosomal health of resulting children or societal norms vs “ickyness” when we should have pointed to the bedrock of the Bible as the fount of our reason to make such determinations. Do we agree with the unbelieving opponents when they say that Leviticus 20:10-16 is a hateful section of the Bible? If not, then perhaps it is time for us to stop assuming the validity of argumentation brought about by people lacking any spiritual awakening. If we have been given the mind of Christ, then perhaps we ought to try using it. Just an idea.

And since this blog is ultimately based on biblical fealty and my love for the church, it would be out of character if I didn’t close with a few… ahem… suggestions for the church, both local and universal.

1. Churches and church leaders need to resign their status as marrying agencies with the state. Individuals are licensed by the state to preside over legally binding marriages, based on standards that the state chooses to recognize. You may have a marriage that was performed by your pastor in your church, but in order for that marriage to be recognized legally, the state had to approve it. So ultimately, the pastor and the church are operating as agents of the state. I am not trying to undermine the legitimacy of your marriage. I am just stating facts. My solution is simple. Your pastor should refuse to fill out any paperwork for the state and should request to have their legal standing to perform marriages be rescinded. Marriage doesn’t belong to the state, i.e. the Beast. Marriage belongs to God. Retaining a state license may be super convenient to the young lovebirds in your church, but that convenience will eventually come with the horrible price of coercion or penalty. It’s better to just get ahead of it.
2. Churches need to only recognize marriages that are God honoring. To hell with the emotional outbursts that will result. For thousands of years, there was no organized religion as we would recognize it. There were those who called upon the Lord and there was Melchizedek, who was given a tenth of all that Abram had after bringing out bread and wine. After that a formal priesthood was not constituted until three generations plus 400 years had passed. And yet there was marriage and giving in marriage, with the first marriage recorded in Genesis 2:18-25. Based on the universal gift of marriage from God to our covenant head, we are able to respect any marriage that meets the criteria revealed in scripture. So if an eligible couple is married before a justice of the peace, the church should honor that marriage. Likewise, if any eligible couple wishes to be married in the church the church should celebrate their nuptials. But in so doing, the couple should be told that the church is not recognized by the state. God will honor their marriage, but the state will not, so a follow up with a judge or other person with state credentials might be a good idea at some point. As far as the church is concerned, these people are not living in sin. Radical, right?
3. Churches need to proceed with confidence, knowing that ultimately the foes who are attacking her will not prevail over her. That’s right. Confidence. Our bridegroom sees what is being done to his bride and He is returning. Even now He is battling a foe that knows it is defeated, but rages all the more. (Revelation 12:12:) And when He comes those who have persecuted the church will know that they were actually persecuting Jesus. (Acts 9:1-6) We have confidence in the future sense, but we also need to maintain perspective that these troubles are the rumblings of Jesus placing every enemy under His feet. 1 Corinthians 15 is a chapter that deals mainly with the topic of resurrection, first of the resurrection of Jesus and then of the general resurrection. This resurrection takes place at the end of this age, coinciding with Jesus returning to deal with those who honored Him as well as those who persecuted Him. (Matthew 25:31-46) That makes 1 Corinthians 15 an explicitly eschatological chapter of the Bible. In closing, I’ll share from this chapter in the ESV, which is my preferred translation. Emphasis mine.

²² For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. ²³ But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. ²⁴ Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. ²⁵ For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. ²⁶ The last enemy to be destroyed is death. 

At the last day, Jesus will DELIVER a completed kingdom to God the Father. This happens AFTER he has destroyed every enemy and foe. This battle wages right now. To realize this and not expect a little blowback would be wishful thinking indeed. Also, Jesus is reigning right now and will continue to reign and to do battle until all of his enemies are under his feet (Psalm 110:1) and we will know when that battle is concluded when the final enemy, death, is destroyed. This optimistic view of eschatology does not require a steady stream of awesomeness as we draw closer to the return. It does provide a lens by which we can understand the present trials and tribulations as the thrashings of enemies who know they are defeated, and are just hoping to do as much damage as possible on the way down.

At this point, I’m only confused when I ponder whether we should refer to these pushes against Christian and societal norms as the Gaystapo or as the Rainbow Jihad. They both have such a nice ring to them.