What in Heaven's name is going on in Iowa?

After Kevin Costner's Ray Kinsiella has completed his "Field of Dreams," the ghost of Shoeless Joe Jackson queries him as to if this baseball paradise in the middle of a cornfield is indeed "Heaven." Ray famously replies, "No, it's Iowa."

After this week's Iowa Supreme Court ruling allowing same sex marriages, the gulf between the standards of Heaven and those in Iowa couldn't be greater. Unsurprisingly, yet another state's Supreme Court has struck down the traditional definition of marriage and allowed that term to be applied to same sex couples. Christians everywhere are up in arms as they see the foundations of the faith, the very foundations which have also provided for the success of this nation, come under attack at every corner. What is not clear is what we should do about it.

I think it has become all too clear that the effort of Christian America to preserve and defend the faith through the political process is in vain. This should be axiomatic, both from a scriptural perspective and a common sense one.

After all, Jesus himself had access to political figures. He very well could have chosen to advance His Kingdom through political means. His ministry could have focused on reforming the Pharisees and Saducees, the political "machine" in the region. He had an audience with Pilate, the Roman governor in which he could have proclaimed his opposition to the abuses of the Roman Empire. No, instead, he chose to build "ecclesia," His church, a body of believers acting on the local level, as the instrument of change. What Jesus, in His perfect wisdom saw, was the power of "grass roots" change. To paraphrase the nature of some parables, "if the lawn is dying, you don't just mow it and cut off the dead tips. You treat the root system. If necessary, you dig it up and put in new sod."

Christians have been attempting for decades now to engage change through the political system, to little or no avail. Cal Thomas puts it well in his column this week about the events in Iowa:

"To those on the political and religious right who are intent on continuing the battle to preserve "traditional marriage" in a nation that is rapidly discarding its traditions, I would ask this question: what poses a greater threat to our remaining moral underpinnings? Is it two homosexuals living together, or is it the number of heterosexuals who are divorcing and the increasing number of children born to unmarried women, now at nearly 40 percent, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention?
Most of those who are disturbed about same-sex marriage are not as exercised about preserving heterosexual marriage. That's because it doesn't raise money and won't get them on TV. Some preachers would rather demonize gays than oppose heterosexuals who violate their vows by divorcing, often causing harm to their children. That's because so many in their congregations have been divorced and preaching against divorce might cause some to leave and take their contributions with them.
The battle over same-sex marriage is on the way to being lost. For conservatives who still have faith in the political system to reverse the momentum, you are -- to recall Harold Hill -- "closing your eyes to a situation you do not wish to acknowledge.'"

http://townhall.com/columnists/CalThomas/2009/04/07/trouble_in_river_city?page=full&comments=true

The power to change and revolutionize our culture for the cause of Christ can no more be found in Washington, D.C. than it was in Rome. What is demanded by Christ, the lifestyle of personal sacrifice, of loving one's enemies, of true "agape" love, run contrary to our sinful human nature, and thus will never be a platform from which populist politicians can benefit. Politicians, by nature, soothe the "itching ears" of their short-sighted constituents. The gospel message, while indeed "good news" to all who will hear it, is not good news at all to those who insist on living self-absorbed lives.

More troubling is the fact that the church is not living out this message herself. How can we expect non-believers to respect the Word of God when we are living in violation of it ourselves. As Thomas mentions above, it's more than a little difficult for the church to take a stand on the sanctity of marriage when Christian marriages are failing at the same rate as the rest of society. Until we as Christians get our house in order, we're not going to be able to advocate effectively for others to clean up their houses. I believe Jesus had something to say about that as well.

Yes, the Iowa ruling is disturbing, as were the rulings in Massachusetts, Vermont, and Hawaii. I really doubt this will be the last one. What Christian can honestly read the scripture and have faith in the civil government to save this world? More likely to happen (what has happened) is for the corruption of the political process to poison the church.

If we want to do something about the sanctity of marriage, let's begin in our own homes. Wives, submit to your husbands. Husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church. (Submission becomes easy when your spouse is willing to die for you). Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, but instead bring them up in the fear and admonition of the Lord.

The Christian community must stabilize its own homes. Only then will we become the "city on a hill" that Jesus calls us to be. When we, through our lives, are able to show the light of Christ, there will be no need to engage in politics. Those in power will engage us, seeing the brilliance of the light we're producing.

So don't fret about what's happening in Iowa or D.C. Take care of your home and display authentic Christian leadership.