Our Call to Fellowship (Part IV)

Sexuality in our culture today is one of the most difficult areas to discuss for Bible believing Christians.  One reason for this is because there are so many voices and opinions on the subject.  Whether it is the voice of the LBGT community, the voice of various social scientists, or simply a media that wants to affirm the LBGT viewpoint, for a Christian to expound on a conservative biblical viewpoint is lined with many hazards. 

One danger is that we would be to be falsely accused of being hateful, bigoted or simply mean.  If God is calling us to love our neighbors as ourselves, to come across that way should be one of the last things a true Christian would want to do.  Unfortunately, there have been many Christians that come across this way, despite God’s call to respond to our world with His love.  

Another danger for a Christian is that we would be misunderstood.  That our words would be twisted and taken out of context.  That we might say one thing, but then those portrayed in a way we never intended.  Within almost all of us is a desire that people would affirm and accept us and the threat of being falsely accused often paralyzes us from speaking the truth in love.

How do we wrestle through this confusion?  First we begin by reminding ourselves that the basis of our worldview comes through the lens of God’s word.  In philosophy, this would be called epistemology, or the basis of knowledge.  The reasons we claim to know is not based on ourselves, but on the belief that God has spoken and has revealed what is true, right and pure. 

If the basis of our knowledge is the majority opinion or the shifting ideas of culture, then we only know what others are saying.  Morally, what is right and wrong would be relative and decided by a democratic process.  If I am in the minority, than I would be wrong and should be even prosecuted for my opinion.  This is actually happening in many places in the western world for those who would dissent by voicing a different view point by those in the LBGT community.

But what we discover from God’s word is that God who created the heavens and earth and brought all things into existence spoke.  In fact these are some of the first words in the creation account in Genesis 1:3, “God said.”  What this means is the One who is the ruler of the universe, the One who is All-powerful, All-knowing and All-present, spoke—this is what the Bible is, a word from God to man. 

The word of God guides the believer to “know” where men and women came from, why we are here, and where we are going.  God’s word also tells us the reason why this world is filled with injustice, evil and bigotry.   This is why Jesus came, to save man from sin and give us a new life here and forever. 

But God’s word also gives us guidance to understand morality and human sexuality.  According to God’s word in Genesis 1:16, God said, “Let us make man in our image.”  And we know that God who is Father, Son and Holy Spirit, who is in loving relation with Himself, created us in His image with this same ability to love. 

For that reason, on each of the 6 days God created the heavens and earth, He declared, “it is good.” Only one time God said “not good” when He saw Adam alone.  And so we read in Genesis 2:18 that God created “woman, a helper suitable for him.” God did not do this to primarily satisfy man’s loneliness, but to fulfill God’s design to love and learn to love.  To bring others into the world with that same potential.  That is the basis of human sexuality—God created man and woman in His image to be in loving fellowship with Himself and then with one another, learning to love as God loves Himself is love.  And then reflecting that love through marriage their children.

When sin entered the world, it marred God’s image in us. Now instead of love, we often experience selfishness, abuse and evil.   We see this in in families, communities, nations and especially in the area of human sexuality.  This is why Jesus came, to save us from sin and give us new life.  The new life is to restore God’s mandate to love Him and learn to love one another in every area of life. 

This mandate to love one another includes learning to live and love within the commands of God’s word.  The Scripture and 3000 years Judea-Christianity doctrine teach that God created the human race biologically as man and woman.  The Bible also teaches that marriage is a monogamous union between man and a woman.  All other lifestyles outside of this pattern is sin and lies outside of the commands of God.  Remember, these commands are there to give us the boundaries and guidelines to love God and love one another.  

It is important to understand sexuality as a temporary assignment by God that we may learn about His love.  When Jesus was asked hypothetically by some teachers of the law, whose wife would a woman become in heaven if she married seven different men on earth, Jesus said “You are in error because you do not know the Scriptures or the power of God.  At the resurrection people will neither marry nor be given in marriage; they will be like angels in heaven.”  (Matt 22:23-30)

This tells us that that a person’s primary identity is not to be found in one’s sexuality.  The Scripture is inviting us to make our identity His children, where we live in relationship with God and loving relationship with others.  A person who is looking for that identity in a gay or transgender lifestyle or even a monogamous marriage with a man or woman, does not have an understanding of what the future the reality holds.  Based on Jesus’ teaching, we will be asexual. 

God has put these truths and parameters before us because He loves us.  He wants us to find our identity and future hope in Him.  That is why Jesus came, that the power of sin may be broken and that we may live in loving relationship with God with others.  When I look for my identity elsewhere, I am trying to find it in something that is temporary, fleeting and one day be no more. 

Every believer is called to love those within the gay or transgender community.  This love entails gentleness, kindness, and a listening heart.  But love also means to tell those within that lifestyle of what God has said.  That sin alienates us from God and that when we look for our identity outside of the place God is inviting us, it will only lead to separation from Him for all eternity.  That is why Jesus came to give us a new life, a new perspective and a heart to see things from an eternal point of view. 

This mandate about human sexuality not only applies to those within the LBGT community, but also to those caught up in adultery, pornography, a lustful heart or any other pattern of sexuality immorality. True love points a person to things that are everlasting and affirmed by God Himself.  And while we show tolerance, love, and kindness to all people, we are also called to speak truth that those around us may understand what God’s desire is for their lives forever.

Let me finish with some of the last words of the Bible by Jesus Himself, “Behold, I am coming soon, bringing my recompense with me, to repay each one for what he has done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.” Blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they may have the right to the tree of life and that they may enter the city by the gates. Outside are the dogs and sorcerers and the sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.   “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify to you about these things…”  (Rev 22:12-16)