One way Preston believes he could go to a gay wedding is if he asked the Lord, “Do you want me to go here?” He continued, “I think it’s a possibility that God can say, ‘Man, in order for you to go to this wedding, you might have to do some hard things.’” And the hard things are what people who are wrestling with attending such a wedding don’t talk about, he explained.
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For example, Preston said that if he attended a gay wedding for a sibling, he’d tell them that the only way he could go is if they understood he doesn’t view it as a wedding. “This is not a wedding in my eyes,” he said. “I don’t care how beautiful your vows are. I don’t care how many tears y’all have. I don’t celebrate this with you.”
Preston said he would also publicly announce, for example on social media, that he doesn’t agree with what is taking place at the ceremony because of his relationship with Jesus. “That I love this person, but I don’t love this event,” he said.
If the person who was inviting him is okay with those two things, then he could potentially attend that particular gay wedding.
“But who would ever be okay with that?” Jackie asked.
Agreeing with his wife, Preston added, “I’m about doing everything I can to to make peace in a relationship without betraying the God that I that I gave my life to.” Preston said, “I personally think that God will honor the fact that I’m honoring him while I’m still trying to keep a door open for that person to come in my life and for me to be light to them.”
Jackie called her husband’s example “honorable” and “thoughtful” because people are prone just to say “yes” or “no” without any conversation when they are invited to a gay wedding.
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Preston said that refusing to have difficult conversations is “cowardly,” adding, “We try to be faithful to Jesus while dishonoring people, and I think God want us to do both.”
“God can use your ‘No,’” Jackie encouraged. “God can use your conversation about why you cannot attend to actually do work in people’s hearts.”
“I have evidence,” she added. “I had a conversation with a young lady once, whose sister got engaged to a woman. And she read my book, ‘Gay Girl, Good God’ before having the conversation with her sister.” Jackie continued, “And that led her to the conclusion, ‘I don’t think I can go to your wedding in good conscience.’”
