How do I explain why I didn’t attend the wedding of my gay cousin?

Question:

How do I respond to my sister regarding not attending my cousin's gay wedding? I have been in the church for nearly twenty years. This past summer, I was invited to my cousins' wedding. I choose not to attend. Now my cousin and his side of the family are choosing to not participate in making Christmas meals with my side of the family. My sister, who now worships at a new denomination, disagrees with my decision and is upset that it is disrupting the family. She said that a woman who goes to her church has a brother who is gay and says that it is OK to support her gay brother. I almost went to the wedding since everyone who gets married is a sinner, but I felt it wrong to support this anti-God movement that is growing exponentially. I am not sure how to best educate my sister regarding my decision and am looking for advice?

Answer:

In society, we understand that supporting a crime is wrong. The driver of the getaway car is held accountable even though he didn't hold up the bank. In the same way, God holds us accountable if we support sin. "... who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them" (Romans 1:32). Prior to this statement, Paul said, "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against natureLikewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due" (Romans 1:26). Denying the fact that homosexuality is a sin doesn't make it less of a sin.

I know it is hard to take a stand against those you love. I have some dear friends who have gone off into drugs. I haven't stopped caring for them or trying to persuade them to return to righteous living, but I don't help them be druggies. "If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple" (Luke 14:26).

Going to a wedding of homosexuals is volunteering to be a witness to two sinners pretending that their sin is equivalent to a man and woman joining in marriage before God. It would not bother me not to attend such a wedding. Clearly, you made an impact on your cousin and his family. They knew that you saw their act as sinful. You stood for God, and I can't think of a better position to hold. You might lose contact with some worldly members of your family, but you still have more family than you can name. "So Jesus answered and said, "Assuredly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or father or mother or wife or children or lands, for My sake and the gospel's, who shall not receive a hundredfold now in this time -- houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions -- and in the age to come, eternal life" " (Mark 10:29-30).

Persecution of the righteous is once again raising its ugly head. "Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, For theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:10-12).

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