Colossians 4:5-6 (NASB)
5 Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity. 6 Let your speech always be with grace, as though seasoned with salt, so that you will know how you should respond to each person.
1 Corinthians 5:9-13
(NASB) 9 I wrote you in my letter not to associate with immoral people; 10 I did not at all mean with the immoral people of this world, or with the covetous and swindlers, or with idolaters, for then you would have to go out of the world. 11 But actually, I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. 12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? 13 But those who are outside, God judges. Remove the wicked man from among yourselves.
Christians failed the marriage debate when they based their case on "the Bible says so." Where in the Bible are those outside the church expected to live and behave as though they were inside the church? Yes, in the USA we have an opportunity, and even a responsibility as citizens, to vote and protest and speak out, but you engage the society with arguments that have meaning to that society. There were good arguments favoring "traditional" marriage made by Atheists and even some homosexuals but they got drowned out by the loudmouthed cries of the political "Christian" activists screaming "the Bible says" to a crowd that sees the Bible as quaint literature at best. Meanwhile the laser beam focus on the world outside the Church has left room for stink to settle inside the church. Stop obsessing on what secular society does and start cleaning the stink off the church walls.
