Jesus & Polygamy?
Janelle and Christine desperately want to be married.[i]
In order for them to get what they want, they need to argue for a redefinition of marriage.
Since they're consenting adults and it's legal to live and sleep with any gender they want…
or any quantities they want…
why shouldn't they be allowed to formalize the marriage they want?
Isn't it better to let them have access to mutual financial resources, health insurance, hospital visitation, and tax benefits?
Isn't it better to allow them to raise their children in a secure and committed home?
After all, if they're married, their marriage doesn't hurt anybody else's marriage.
And isn't it a violation of privacy for outsiders to legislate the relationships of consenting adults?
Besides, who are you or anybody else to stand in the way of their love?
So, why can't Janelle and Christine get married…
To Kody…
At the same time?
The story you just read is a true story.
On December 16, 2013, polygamist Kody Brown, from the TLC show Sister Wives, sued the state of Utah for discrimination because it does not recognize the relationship between him and his four wives, Christine, Janelle, Meri, and Robyn. A federal judge struck down part of the state's ban on polygamy, paving the way for the eventual legalization of polygamous unions.
Even as the courts are rapidly redefining the institution of marriage, the cultural elite across America are calling for, not just the legalization of same-sex marriage, but the legalization of polygamy. Articles in The Atlantic,[ii] Slate.com,[iii] Smithsonian Magazine, [iv] The Wall Street Journal,[v] are all pushing for the acceptance of polygamy.
In a country confused about marriage, where do we turn?
The words of Jesus.
Many years ago, Mark Twain—the beloved American author—was lecturing in Utah. After his lectures, a Mormon acquaintance began arguing with him on the subject of polygamy. After a long and rather heated debate, the Mormon finally said, “Can you find for me a single passage of Scripture where Jesus forbids polygamy?”
“Certainly,” replied Twain. "'No man can serve two masters.'"[vi]
Twain’s tongue-in-cheek response is good for a laugh, but it’s not enough is it? Did Jesus tell us anything to help us think through this issue?
In Mark 10, Jesus is approached by a group of Pharisees who are looking to redefine marriage. They're not asking Jesus to tolerate simultaneous polygamy (having multiple spouses at the same time), but serial polygamy (going from one spouse to another to another).Their question is about the issue of divorce. Some religious leaders in that day were arguing that one could divorce his wife for any reason, creating a culture of rampant divorce and remarriage. And they approach Jesus looking for his approval of their actions.
Mark 10:1-12—And he left there and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan, and crowds gathered to him again. And again, as was his custom, he taught them. 2 And Pharisees came up and in order to test him asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of divorce and to send her away.” 5 And Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote you this commandment. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh. 9 What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 10 And in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 And he said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her, 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Verses 7-8 are clear: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two but one flesh.”
“Two become one.” Once again Jesus returns to the creation account. It is God’s design, not man’s corruption, that matters most. If God wanted to promote polygamy, wouldn't he have given Adam multiple wives? After all, that'd be a more sure way to populate the earth. But He didn’t do that, because God’s pattern for marriage is monogamy.
[i] Adapted from Hershael York, Why A Christian Cannot Support Gay Marriage (Matthew 9:3-12). Sermon preached April 28, 2013. Based on the Sister Wives ruling in Utah. http://www.cnn.com/2013/12/14/justice/utah-polygamy-law/
[ii]http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/02/up-for-polyamory-creating-alternatives-to-marriage/283920/
[iii]http://www.slate.com/articles/double_x/doublex/2013/04/legalize_polygamy_marriage_equality_for_all.html
[iv] Smithsonian Magazine, February 2014, page 47
[v]http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304104504579374872476645630 [
vi] Louis Utermeyer in A Treasury of Laughter (Simon & Schuster)