Is Morality Relative When It Comes to Relatives?:
"This new development raises a problem that may hit many evangelical Christians closer to home than we would like to admit. Most evangelicals know enough to resist the ideological allure of moral relativism. Nevertheless, when a relative becomes involved, even many evangelicals blink and become moral relativists of a very different sort.
In order to keep family peace, show love to a loved one, or avoid awkward conversations, major moral issues are simply overlooked. Some even change their position on questions of grave moral significance, only because a relative is involved.
This happens with reference to divorce, cohabitation, homosexuality, adultery, and any number of other issues. It is a habit we must break.
Moral integrity demands clear and convictional moral thinking, based in the infallible wisdom of God's perfect Word. Love demands that we love persons, no matter what their sin may be. Honesty demands that we admit the difficulty of knowing how to combine moral integrity and love with perfect pitch. The Gospel demands that we tell the truth with love.
No one ever said this was going to be easy. But becoming a moral relativist when a relative is involved is a path the faithful Christian cannot take. We must resist moral relativism -- even with relatives."
"No one ever said this was going to be easy."
ReplyDeleteAmen to that! My wife and I are struggling with a gay family member's new partner. (Not with the partner, of course, but with the relationship.) After pretty much shutting out the previous partner because we had no idea how to accept them without implying our blessing, we've decided we're going to love them first and deal with the rest as we're able.
We learned it's hard to "speak the truth in love" when you're not on speaking terms. Now, there's no doubt about whether we approve of this relationship - everybody knows the score - but that's been said so now we need to not be clanging cymbals. No, it's not easy, not by a long shot. But we find it's necessary to make love the first thing they see, not the last.