June marks the beginning of summer. It is also the month when the many summer weddings occur. It is also the month when many major decisions are made by the Supreme Court of the United States of America (SCOTUS). Each year, some of the decisions address religious liberty. As a reminder, the First Amendment’s Free Exercise Clause states the following: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”

Over the past many years, SCOTUS has time and again made decisions in support of religious liberty. Several examples reflect decisions supporting religious liberty, and here are a few listed (which is selective through representative): religious schools are not exempt from receiving state-funding scholarship programs (2020); “ministerial exception” protects religious schools from employment discrimination lawsuits (2020); a city cannot refuse to work with a Catholic foster agency because they would not certify same-sex couples for foster care (2021); denying public benefits because of a school’s religious status is unconstitutional (2022). 

And yet that same Supreme Court has made tragic decisions related to the family. Some of those decisions have been contrary to God’s design for marriage and the family, and two of them in particular have been family-destroying. 

• On June 26, 2015, Obergefell v. Hodges, SCOTUS established a fundamental right for same-sex couples to “marry,” legally overturning the biblical meaning of marriage. (For our EFCA response to this decision, see here.) 
• On June 15, 2020, Bostock v. Clayton County, SCOTUS concluded that Title VII of the Civil Rights Acts of 1964 protected employees against discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity (concluding the use of the term “sex” in 1964 meant all that it means today), legally overturning the biblical teaching that God created biologically-sexed male and biologically-sexed female. 

Legal decisions like this do not overturn God’s “very good” and purposeful design for men and women and marriage, but they do influence and affect it. These decisions attempt to redefine marriage, parenting, and the family. Glen Stanton writes, “by codifying same-sex families,” such that gender-neutral terms like guardian, non-gestating parent, etc., Obergefell “fundamentally relativized the family and parentage away from what children need most. It erased any consequential meaning of motherhood and fatherhood because it had to.” John Stonestreet appropriately comments, “the Obergefell decision marked a further stage in the evolution of one of the core ideas of the sexual revolution: that men and women are interchangeable, not only in rights but also in social roles and even in reality itself. A legal decision of this magnitude inevitably shapes the cultural imagination, defining down the essential differences between men and women, husbands and wives, and mothers and fathers as mere cultural constructs. And ever since, we’ve been served the narrative that the social innovation of same-sex “marriage” is settled, both in culture and in law. . . . The Supreme Court cannot settle an issue that is so far upstream of its jurisdiction. Obergefell is not the first or only time the Court has gotten an important decision wrong. Like in the past, the moral failure of Obergefell is an expression of bad anthropology. And, like the past, this is no theoretical mess we are in. For children everywhere, it’s personal. We owe it to them to tell the truth, oppose the lies, and convince as many people as we can.”

In this month when SCOTUS decisions are made, defining the meaning of the laws of the land, and bearing in mind some of the earthly laws go contrary to God’s law, and thinking about the summer season when many marriage ceremonies occur, it is important to remember the contrast between two versions of truth. One is that the law of the land is truth, and that is reflected in the month of June celebrated as pride month. Even though that version of truth may have captured the social imaginary narrative, and it has become a secular religion, with its proclaimers and evangelists, it is a deceptive lie. It is a version of what Paul describes in Romans 1. The other is version of truth, which is true Truth, is what God has said and done. Not only did God create male and female (Gen. 1:26-28) to be one flesh (Gen. 2:24), he also provided a way out of spiritual death to spiritual life (1 Cor. 6:9-11), so that through Jesus Christ “they may have life and have it abundantly” (Jn. 10:10).

In the beginning, and in contrast to these two SCOTUS decisions and over against the secular version of religion and the abundant life, God said—and still says, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them. And God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Gen. 1:26-28). In the next chapter, God reveals a close-up of this creation account of Adam and Eve (Gen. 2:18-25). In his response to a question posed to him by the Pharisees, Jesus picks up in this creation account of marriage in his teaching on marriage and divorce (Matt. 19:3-12; Mk. 10:2-12; Lk. 16:18), as does Paul (Rom. 7:1-6; 1 Cor. 7:10-15). The command to “be fruitful and multiply” continues today, and that is only to only with a biologically-sexed husband (male) and wife (female).  

Several years ago, Andreas Kostenberger (JETS 59/1 (2016), 4), wrote, “marriage and the family may not be the gospel – the primary means of salvation – but they are the God-given context in which most persons the world over are called to live out the gospel, for human flourishing and for God’s greater glory, and as such deserve significant and sustained attention.” I heartily agree with him. This is not the prevailing cultural sentiment. Sadly, it is even questioned by those in the church. Those in the church may give lip service to this truth, but they may not live or speak in a way that evidences they believe it. And yet, many of the social ills of the day can be traced back to the demise and disintegration of the family. As is always true, we will never thrive and flourish apart from God’s divine design. 

Please know that in writing this, I am also aware of those who are single, either through the gift of singleness (1 Cor. 7:7), or for some other reason. Even though birth occurs with a husband and a wife, i.e., “be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth,” becoming a father and a mother, and it ought to occur in no other way, there are also those who are single. They, too, reflect an aspect of the gospel. As one has aptly written, “Both marriage and singleness testify to the gospel. Marriage shows us the shape of the gospel in that it models the covenant promises that God has made to us in Christ. Singleness shows us the sufficiency of the gospel because it shows us the reality of what marriage points to—which is our own relationship with Jesus. That is the real marriage. That is the ultimate goal for all of us.” This means the biological family is important as is the spiritual family, the church, which is made up of all kinds of people from all kinds of different families, who have been born again (Jn. 3:3, 5) into a new family, the church. (More can and should be said about this, but that will be for another article.)

 Here is an attempt to capture the essence of God’s truth regarding marriage. 

Statement on Marriage: We believe that God first created man and then created woman, from the man, as a complement to the man. God established marriage as a one-flesh union between the man and the woman, the husband and the wife. As ordained by God, this covenantal relationship known as marriage is the union of a man and woman-husband and wife that is life-long (permanent, i.e., until separated by death), exclusive (monogamy and fidelity), and generative which is fulfilled by bearing and rearing children together (be fruitful and multiply). Marriage and the relationship of husband and wife is to reflect the relationship between Christ and the Church. Marriage is the original and most important institution of human society, and the one on which all other human institutions have their foundation. Because God is good and his design for marriage is good, and because this is the foundation of human and societal flourishing, we strongly affirm the one-flesh union of husband and wife which glorifies God, serves the good of spouses, the good of children, and the common good of society.

This is God’s divine design for marriage and the family. Notice this is first covenantal, not contractual. That does not mean a civil marriage license is wrong. It simply puts the marriage relationship in a covenant with one another and with the one-flesh union with God. This is much more than a secular matter. In addition to this foundational truth, there are three statements made about marriage: (1) permanency, and since this is God’s divine design, it does not include divorce, though that can be an allowable exception, but it was not the way it was intended to be but was an exception because of “the hardness of heart,” (2) exclusive, it is between one man and one woman, and (3) generative, this is one of the purposes of marriage, the means of fulfilling God’s command to be fruitful and multiply, though this does not address those unable to bear children, which is quite different from those who want marriage without children, which is contrary to God’s divine design. As the beginning of the statement is grounded in a covenant with God, it concludes affirming that marriage is a reflection of Christ and the church. This is God’s good design for marriage, and the means by which God is glorified, family relationships thrive, and this is for the good of society. 

These truths are important to remember. As importantly, these truths are to be lived. How do we affirm this truth? How do we live this truth in our lives? How do we foster and nourish this truth in our families? How do we teach and model this truth in the church such that marriage and family is seen to be true, good, and beautiful?

Let’s hear and heed these words from God the Father, “they shall become one flesh . . . be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it,” these words from God the Son incarnate, Jesus Christ, “what therefore God has joined together, let not man separate,” and we trust God the Holy Spirit will empower us to speak and live in a way that reflects Christ’s love for the church.