I recently argued with a friend about marriage. He says he is tired of people arguing over gay marriage. To him, the real argument should be the state's having a role in marriage at all. In short, he is a libertarian and truly believes that the state has no business being involved in the institution of marriage. I have heard more than one friend make this argument before, so I decided to write about it tonight.
The libertarian argument is a cop-out. It is uncool, even for Christians, to speak against gay marriage so they compromise in speaking against the government (which is always cool). The libertarian argument has many flaws, though.
In the Bible, and in God's eyes today, marriage begins when two people enter into covenant with each other. A covenant is a legal relationship between two parties, each with specific roles to fulfill. In the Bible, for instance, children and parents had a duty to each other; children to obey their parents (Exod. 20:12) and parents to provide for and educate their children (Deut. 6:6-9; 11:18-21). Children and parents continued in this covenant relationship until the children got married. The concept of “leave and cleave” comes from Genesis 2:24, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh.” This verse shows the proper termination of the covenant between children and parents (leaving) and the binding of a new covenant between “man” and “wife” (cleaving). This newer covenant is similar to the older covenant, in that, both man and wife still have roles to execute faithfully, but the new covenant is better than the old one because it is permanent.
As we can see, God is the author of marriage, not the state and not the church. However, when a man and wife are married, He decrees from heaven that it is so and, therefore, expects His earthly institutions (the family, church, and state) to recognize and protect, not just each particular marriage covenant but the institution of marriage in general. Church and state are not in charge of making the couple married, only God can see to that. They are merely responsible for validating on earth what God has already validated in heaven. As Jesus prayed, “let your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Marriage is a societal institution, so it involves God's ordained earthly institutions; the family, church, and state. In Bible times, as it often is today, the families decided on a contract, the priest officiated the ceremony, and agents of the state were involved in changing the wife's name and making the covenant legally binding. The husband's role was to provide for and love his wife, spiritually leading his family to live in accordance with God's laws. The wife was to love him and submit to his Godly leading. A brief study on marriage in the Bible will reveal that the state played a role, albeit a minor one, in marriage.
Another thing I noticed about the libertarian view of marriage is that Christians separate their personal views of Scripture from their public policy view. One is personally against gay marriage, but as a matter of public policy okay with having gay and any other kind of redefined marriage in society it if it means that the state (civil government) is removed from recognizing the institution of marriage (a societal institution). This raises two questions:
First, how much research have they done in understanding the relationship between a sin (such as homosexuality) and God's wrath on society when such sin is allowed to persist in public policy? I suspect that a lot of Christians do not support the libertarian position because they think that gay marriage will be bad for society (family, church, the culture at large) since the Bible says as much. When a society reaches a certain level of moral depravity, God focuses his wrath less on the individual and more on the society as a whole (Hos. 4:14). When the state stops acting in God's favor, God stops acting in favor of the state. God ends up punishing, not just the particular people who sin, but the whole nation falls. People in favor of same-sex marriage are at war with God, where no negotiations or compromise will be possible. Christian libertarians say they are not in favor of same-sex marriage, yet their position insists on its open existence (and any other kind of marriage people can conceive).
Second, where in Scripture do they see that public policy can be separated from God's policy? I understand the desire to limit the reach of an ever-growing state. In a day when the state has grown so big and overstepped so many bounds it is too much of a temptation to remove it from every aspect of our lives. But the Bible does give some jurisdiction to the state (law enforcement, death penalty, and, yes, marriage). In fact, Romans 13:3-4 states that government officials are supposed to be God's servants, terrorizing those who sin and rewarding those who do good. Leaders of the state are supposed to work for God just as much as church leaders do. That should be every Christian's personal belief as well as their public policy.
Biblical ethics were the basis for much of the foundation of American policy for a long time. The libertarian position suppresses God to one's personal life so that He does not have any impact in the totality of life. If you read Deuteronomy 6:4-9 you will see that God's people were commanded to pass God's law down to their children. This was not personal, quiet morality since the doorposts of the house (family morality) and the gates of the city (political life) were also to be governed by God's law (Deut. 6:9). A brief reading of Deuteronomy 28 reveals the blessings for a nation that obeys these commandments and the curses for disobedience, a passage that George Washington placed his hand on when he was sworn into office because he believed it presently applies to all nations.
That our personal beliefs in God's law should also be the basis for public policy is not just an Old Testament argument. Jesus said we should give to Caesar what is rightfully his, but that we must also give God what is His (Matt. 22:21). Many scholars have warned that we must never give to Caesar what is God's. Since marriage is a God-ordained institution, on what basis would libertarians argue that it is good to remove God's view of marriage out of public policy (Caesar)? Answer: What libertarians really want is anarchy in marriage, allowing anything from gay marriage to incest to pedophilia to technosexuality
(people are already asking for it). They follow the Marquis de Sade, a sadistic masochist who was hostile to everyone including himself who once said, "The rule of law is inferior to that of anarchy." Surely the libertarian position begs for God's judgment.
A study of the first few chapters of Judges makes it apparent that pluralism, the belief that many different faiths should be tolerated in society as if society were religiously neutral, is a great evil in God's sight. God will be against us if we tolerate anti-Christian practices in our midst. Doesn't Jesus command us to disciple the nations (Matt. 28:19)? We are not at liberty to restrict the Great Commission to only the personal and familial level. Indeed, it is all of society in all the world that must be discipled, including modern public policy.
In every age throughout church history the belief persisted that society must be publicly Christian, the civil laws should reflect Biblical laws, and that pagan practices must not be allowed to practice openly. Christianity is supposed to be at war with culture, and it is a war to the death (Psalm 139:19-22). By tolerating compromise and pluralism, we lose the one sword we have to fight with, the intolerant Word of God. We should stand on God's Word at all times during our fight with the world. We should keep it sharpened.
