Joint Statement on Marriage

The content of this Statement was published before our re-organization as the Greater Lafayette Gospel Association. At the time, we were called the Tippecanoe Evangelical Association of Ministers and Ministries or TEAMM. Nevertheless, our convictions remain the same now as they were then.

Our Position on Marriage

As ministers of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is our responsibility to faithfully uphold the truth of God’s Word for the age in which we live. Therefore, humbly and joyfully, we affirm…

that God loves all people without discrimination,

Because He is loving, God makes His love available to all who put their confidence in Jesus Christ, regardless of age, race, nationality, or gender.

You are all children of God through faith in Jesus Christ. . . . There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3.26, 28

that God does not accept all behavior without discrimination,

Because He is holy, God distinguishes between behavior that conforms to His holy character and behavior which does not. 

You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor. Exodus 20.13-16

that God has revealed to humanity His intentions for our behavior,

Because He desires to be known, God has given us in the Bible a faithful and trustworthy record of how God would have us live. 

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness. 2 Timothy 3.16

that God has revealed to humanity His intentions concerning marriage,

Because He desires our best, God created the gift of marriage, and intends that we should either live in fidelity within marriage between a man and a woman, confining our sexual expression to that relationship, or in chastity as a single person, abstaining from all sexual expression with others.

At the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’ Mark 10.6-9

and that a society which follows the moral principles contained in the Bible honors God and invites His blessing.

Those who honor Me I will honor. . . 1 Samuel 2:30

While standing firmly on this moral foundation we also extend to all in our community the redemptive and transforming message of the good news in Jesus Christ.

But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. And not only this, but we also exult in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received the reconciliation. Romans 5:8-11 

A Statement of Affirmation and Repentance

We the members of the Tippecanoe Evangelical Association of Ministers and Ministries lament our failure to consistently practice what we preach in the important area of sexuality, and the fact that we have often failed to promote our view of sexuality in a loving, Christ-like manner to all persons.

Moreover, we remain fully united in our firm commitment to proclaiming and living out the biblical principles of sexuality and marriage—namely that sexual fidelity is to be maintained within the covenant of marriage between a man and a woman and that sexual abstinence is to be practiced by all persons living outside of such a marriage covenant.

Because our unity in Christ transcends our political opinions, we acknowledge our different views regarding what specific role, if any, the civil government should play in promoting the biblical view of sexuality and marriage, and we respect one another as brothers and sisters in Christ despite these differences of opinion.