I have reasons the church should comment:
If you listen to national denominational meetings, gay marriage / gay rights / ordaining gays is always a subject of conversation.
If our local church is sent a gay pastor, all of a sudden the instructions for your life will probably have gay slants. How to raise your children will be slanted.
If you go in for counseling you probably will get an earfull.
Thus I think the church should be concerned.
God is the one who judges things as to right and wrong. If we go against those judgements we become a judge. If we agree with Gods judgement we are not a judge but just obedient. IMHO a gay / gay surporter is becoming a judge.
I absolutely want to just agree with God and not set myself up as a judge. I need to confess my sins and then pray for others.
eddif
Oh, when it comes to within the Church... Yes, yes, yes, we need to be active and working against this cancer that has crept in...
But, that is an in-family problem.
This is the problem with the Church lately... we stand up to judge the world and non-Christians and unbelievers about gay and lesbian rights, abortion rights, etc...
And then turn a blind eye to the fact that the Church has been allowing rank sin to stand within the congregations for years... I'm talking about things like divorce, bigotry, gossip, greed etc.
Listen, if we succeed in keeping Adam from marrying Steve yet do not effectively share the gospel with them, they are still destined for hell.
If we succeed in banning Alice from aborting her baby, and yet do not effectively share the gospel with her, she is still going to hell.
(And yelling "God Hates Fags" from street corners and waving placards in front of Planned Parenthood is NOT effectively sharing the gospel! Nor is voting against gay marriage. Nor is having a really, really cool rock band play on Sunday morning so we can show the world how hip we are.)
Jesus said to look upon the field, that it was ripe for harvest... We in the Church seem to think that He meant bulldoze over the field and build a cushy church building so that we Christians can be comfortable.
Actively working against the growing acceptence of homosexuality within the Church has nothing to do with whether or not gays and lesbians achieve the same
legal status as hetrosexual couples.
But, far more are interested in working against same-sex marriage than standing strong and firm against denominations like the Epsicopalian and ELCA.
If we keep our own house clean, keep our own brothers and sisters held to God's standards and share the gospel of salvation from sins and God's love with unbelievers, many of these issues would be resolved...
But we don't. We want to stand in judgment when the World decides to allow gays and lesbians a legal status that hetros have had... and yet want to turn a blind eye to the vast amount of divorce and remarriage within the Church.
As Paul said, we are to judge each other within the Church. My husband and I had to judge our church by leaving it when the ELCA voted to ordain gays and lesbians.
But, we aren't the judges of the World. God judges the world, not us.
I'm not saying that Christians should vote to allow gay marriage... I certainly am never going to if presented with a vote. I'm saying that we need to clean our own house and stand firm against those who are leven within, rather than try to shout down those who are without.