To the editor:

Southern Baptist North American Mission Board President Robert E. Reccord has called Christians to join the prophet Ezekiel in the role of the “watchman” to proclaim a warning to fellow Christians of the consequences of apathy in submitting to the culture’s moral drift.

“Today, I believe God is calling His leaders afresh to the sobering responsibility of being a watchman in our fractured society,” Reccord said, citing the story of Ezekiel’s call to the prophetic role in Ezekiel 33:1-9.

The Body of Christ, which includes the Rev. Scott Hanks, has an obligation to speak God’s truth in love, with a clear voice. The Bible tells us homosexuality is a sin. Jesus would not be silent! He who says he abides in Him ought himself also to walk, just as He walked (1 John 2:6).

God gave man three great institutions, that of marriage, human government (Gen. 9), and the church (Matt. 16). Marriage is an institution that predates government. Government was created for the benefit of the family, but marriage was before written history, so government does not create marriage but simply affirms it.

Marriage is trying to be redefined as something other than what God intended — the union of one man and one woman. Adam was given a wife (Gen. 2:18-25). A marriage amendment is critical to maintaining Judeo-Christian family values. Christians who understand their biblical obligation to be good citizens (Rom. 13:1-7) must not stand on the sidelines during this critical debate.

Michael McManness,

Lawrence