I've heard of that before: it's called "welcoming and affirming," but it's usually applied to something just a little bit different.
"In many cases, divorce is indefensible, bringing serious consequences to adults and children. It should not be taken lightly. Yet to deny somone full forgiveness and the right to live life to the fullest in Jesus Christ denies the healing power of the Cross."Denying the Christian legitimacy of a divorce and remarriage is a denial of the healing power of the cross? That's a stunning accusation. There's not a single nod in the article to the idea that Christian discipleship requires some basic decisions for self-denial.
Ron Deal's article, "Redeeming the Remarried" is a nearly identical to most arguments for churches celebrating same-sex unions. One of the really fun things about talking with evangelical Christians who are in favor of serial monogamy is that by the time they offer all of their conditions and caveats, they've left the door wide open in their theological house for the legitimation of same-sex unions.
Of course I also watch people go in one of two ways with this (if they don't ignore it altogether): 1) since we're obviously not going to be so draconian as to turn back the clock on our practices of divorce and remarriage, we should bless same sex unions, or 2) maybe if we're going to claim a theology of marriage, perhaps we should have one and quit legitimating the notion that everybody gets to define the meaning and boundaries of their own relationships with no real reference to the Christian tradition.
Option 1 would at least be honest, and option 2 would be a miracle.
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