What are we to make of this? After all, as Stonestreet writes, more and
more within the evangelical church it is being accepted that a person can
identify as LGBTQ and still be a Christian who is following God’s will. Do we
counter the biblical arguments for this position and if so, how do we counter
them?
Here is the interesting twist: Biblical
arguments typically are not offered. Much of the point of Stonestreet’s
commentary is that the usual argument comes from experience, not from Scripture.
Usually a person will say they believe an LGBTQ person can be a Christian
following God’s will because they have known good LGBTQ people. Or an LGBTQ
person will talk about their own experience of feeling it is right or even a
supposed encounter with God in which he told them, “I made you this way.”
Hopefully we can see the problem with this
thinking by this time in our series of blog posts on justice. We have
discovered that biblical justice is the equitable and impartial application of
the rule of God’s moral law (his wisdom) in the social realm. We also have
learned that this application of God’s wisdom is the very best way to live and
flourish for all people. So, what we need to do with SOGI issues is not base
our beliefs or our pursuit of justice on feelings, but what God has revealed.
When we look to God’s Word for our guidance
we first discover there are no second-class Christians or no people who cannot
experience God’s grace. In other words, God works so powerfully through the
gospel to save people (Rom. 1:16; Jam. 1:18) that he can save all kinds of
people (Ac. 9:1-19; Rom. 10:13; Rev. 5:9-10; 7:9), including those struggling
with sexual orientation and gender identity issues, and when such persons are
saved they take their full place in the body of Christ next to all other
sinners redeemed by grace.
In addition to this very important starting
point, there are at least nine other points we can make about a truly biblical
and just view of SOGI issues.
1.
God Created Humans Male And Female.
In statements about creation in Genesis
this is made clear: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God
he created him; male and female he created them” (Gen. 1:27); “When God created
man, he made him in the likeness of God. Male and female he created them, and
he blessed them and named them Man” (Gen. 5:1-2).
Related to this, God instituted marriage
for a male and a female: “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother
and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh” (Gen. 2:24).
2. There Are Unchanging
Theological Purposes For This Creation Of Humans As Male And Female.
Part of what it means that God created
humans in his image is that they resemble and reflect him in ways that the rest
of his creation cannot. This is true of each person, but it is also true of
humans as created male and female—those who can engage in marriage that is
procreative-in-kind (in other words, a relationship that typically produces
children).
Some of the ways that male and female
resemble and reflect God and thus fulfill God’s theological purposes for this
binary creation include:
- Male and female in marriage, with their different God-given roles, reflect the diversity and unity in the trinity, that is, different persons and roles, but equality in substance, glory, and significance: “But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, the head of a wife is her husband, and the head of Christ is God. (1 Cor. 11:3)
- Male and female in marriage, with their different God-given roles, not only provide a picture of God’s relationship with those whom he has saved (Is. 54:1-10; Jer. 2:2; Ezek. 16; Hos. 2:16), but more specifically, the relationship of the Son of God and his church whom he has redeemed. After speaking about the different roles men and women have in marriage and how they are to relate, Paul writes in Eph. 5:32: “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.”
- Male and female in marriage, with their ability to produce children, also provide a picture of God and his bride, his people, who are able to bring forth more children, more believers (Is. 54:1-10; Jer. 31:9; Hos. 11:1; 1 Pt. 1:3; 1 Jn. 5:1).
- Male and female in marriage, with the authority they have over their children whom they produce, are able to teach children from their early days how to submit to their authority (Ex. 20:12; Eph. 6:1-3), which provides a pattern for them to submit to other authorities over them (e.g. Rom. 13:1-7) and ultimately to submit to God as their king (Mt. 5:1-10; 7:21-23).
So, as we can see, there are several ways
the triune God is revealed through mankind created as male and female. This
means that this binary creation is purposeful and not to be distorted. This may
be at least in part behind the law in Dt. 22:5: “A woman shall not wear a man's
garment, nor shall a man put on a woman's cloak, for whoever does these things
is an abomination to the Lord your God.”
3.
The Fall Of Humans Results In Rebellion And Confusion On This Issue.
The entrance of sin into the world
distorted the relationships of humans to God, self, creation, and each other
(Gen. 3:16-4:8; 6:5). This also includes the view of humans toward their own
sexual orientation and gender identity. When Paul speaks of the downward spiral
into sin and separation from God in Romans 1 he mentions this: “For this reason
God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural
relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up
natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another,
men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due
penalty for their error” (vv. 26-27). This sin was exemplified in Sodom and
Gomorrah (18:20-19:29).
The Bible is clear that all sex outside of
the marriage of a man and a woman is sin (Gen. 2:18-25; Ex. 20:14; Rom.
1:26-27; 1 Cor. 7:1-2; Heb. 13:4). What is more, this sin is not confined
merely to the sexual act, but even to imagining that one is having sex with
someone else other than one’s spouse (Mt. 5:27-30). This is an issue of both
heart (how we think and what we desire) and practice.
4. The Bible Is Clear In Its
Teaching That Any Practice Or Self-Identity That Does Not Match This Binary
Creation Is Always Sin.
Paul also clarifies that identification as
the sex a person is not, the identification as one who romantically prefers the
same sex, or the actual practice of these is sin and characteristic of those
who shall not inherit the kingdom of God (1 Cor. 6:9-11).
Even if we did not have Paul’s teaching in
these verses, we would be able to conclude from our previous three points that
this point is true.
We must be precise here in what we are
saying to avoid confusion. To do this we will use an example of another sexual
act that the Bible says is sin, that of heterosexual sex outside of marriage.
Suppose that John is a college student that
is very sexually promiscuous throughout his years at the university. His
practice was to “hook up” with 2-3 different girls every week. What is more, he
develops an addiction to pornography during this time, so he is not just
sinning in his actions, but very clearly sinning in his imagination and of
course in how he views women and uses them.
In his senior year he meets Mary, who
eventually becomes his wife. From the time he met Mary until they were married
he ceased pursuing other women, even though his pornography addiction
continued. A year into his marriage he had an affair with a woman from his
office and several after that for the next five years. Four years into their
marriage and sensing they were pulling apart, Mary began attending a church and
trusted Christ as her Savior. Six years into marriage John began attending with
her and eventually he too received and rested upon Christ alone for salvation.
Imagine that now that John is a follower of
Christ he continues to self-identify as an adulterer and porn-addict who could
not overcome his habits.
With the details of this story, we can say
several things about John and his relation to the sin of fornication and
adultery that also have parallels to SOGI issues:
- Temptation to have sex outside of marriage is not itself sin. However, the fact that we desire what runs counter to God’s will for us is a result of the fact that we are all born with a sin nature, corrupt, and morally unable to do what God wants of us for the purposes he wants, in the ways he wants (Gen. 6:5; Ps. 51:5; Mt. 12:33-37; Rom. 3:9-18; 1Cor. 2:14; Eph. 2:1-3). John’s twisted desires and the homosexual, bisexual, or transgender desires of others are the results of a sinful, broken world.
- In the case of John we easily see that giving into his desires in the form of his imagination and his actions is clearly sin. The same would be true of those with homosexual desires who give into them. In both cases, if we submit to the Bible, we must see that they depart from God’s moral will.
- If others (or even John himself) viewed young John in college as inevitably a fornicator/adultery and that is who he is—and in fact it is who we all are and we cannot be any different—we distort how God created us, whom he has created us to be, and we distort God’s powerful grace by which we can be whom he wants us to be and to do what he wants us to for the purposes he wants. Of course, we must acknowledge we all are distorted and broken versions of whom God created us to be and so cannot be whom he wants or do what he wants left to ourselves. Yet, acknowledging this is much different than saying that we were created defective and are intended to be the broken version and there is no hope for anything else. This latter view veils God’s wisdom, goodness, and his purposes in creation. Likewise, to view a female as a self-identifying male or vice-versa, or to view a person as one who, at the core of their being is one who must be romantically involved with the same-sex is a distortion of what God has clearly revealed about whom he has created us to be and the purposes behind this. It is as if we are saying, “God doesn’t tell us the truth,” or, “God is wrong.” It also greatly distorts our view of God and whether or not we will trust and submit to anything he says about life and salvation.
- Finally, if John continued to self-identify himself as an adulterer/porn addict who could not change by the grace of Christ or did not have adequate resources for changing, he would be guilty of distorting the truth of what God’s Word reveals about him now that he is in Christ (1 Cor. 6:9-11 [esp. v. 11]; Eph. 4:22-23; 2 Peter 1:3-4). It would be tantamount to not believing God or concluding he is a liar. Of course, John must realize he still has a strong propensity to sexual sin and must fight it and put it to death by the ordinary means of growing grace God has given (John 17:17; Eph. 6:10-18; Col. 3:5; 1 Tim. 4:7; Heb. 3:12-14; 5:14; 10:24-25). Likewise, all of this would be true for the person who professes to be a follower of Christ and yet self-identifies as homosexual, bisexual, or as the opposite of their biological gender—even if they also profess that they are celibate.
5.
Having Temptations To Sin or Gender Confusion Are Not The Same As Committing
Sin.
This truth we have already stated above,
but it is important enough to reaffirm. When we see how the Bible speaks of
temptation (1 Cor. 10:13) or how temptation leads to sin (James 1:13-14), we
understand that being tempted to sin in our minds or in practice is not the
same as actually giving into and committing the sin in mind or practice. It is
possible to experience gender confusion or desires for the same sex that do not
in and of themselves arise to the level of actual sin. As we have already
stated, the thinking or desires that twists our sexual orientation or gender
identity are results of a fallen world and a corrupt sinful nature with which
we are born, but they are not the actual committing of sin.
For anyone struggling with SOGI issues or
anyone coming alongside another person to help them, this point is very
important to remember.
6. Salvation Should Result In
An Identity That Trumps Sinful Sexual Orientation Or Gender Identity.
This truth also has already been stated
above, but it is also important enough to repeat and emphasize.
Consider four passages from Paul’s and
Peter’s epistles that demonstrate this:
- “What shall we say then? Are we to continue in sin that grace may abound? 2 By no means! How can we who died to sin still live in it? 3 Do you not know that all of us who have been baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death? 4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life. 5 For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his. 6 We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. 7 For one who has died has been set free from sin. 8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over him. 10 For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. 11 So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Rom. 6:1-11)
- “Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, 10 nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. 11 And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Cor. 6:9-11)
- “…to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, 23 and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, 24 and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Eph. 4:22-24)
- “His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, 4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire” (2 Pet. 1:3-4).
7.
There Is Hope And Joy In Christ For The Person Who Trusts In Him.
This is communicated many places. One
biblical book in which we see the totality of this truth is in Philippians. In
this Pauline letter the apostles makes clear that participation in the grace of
Christ (1:7) means that God is working in that person so they desire what God
wants and can do what God wants (2:13) and this work will continue until the
day of Christ Jesus (1:6). This work makes possible and should lead to life
that measures up to and flows out of the gospel in them (1:27), and all this
should lead to joy (1:25; 3:1).
We must realize that following God’s will
and wisdom not only results in his glory, but also our benefit and joy (Dt.
10:13; Ps. 1:1-6; Mt. 5:3-10; 1 John 5:3). This is important because many
people who struggle with sexual orientation and/or gender identity issues can
experience great turmoil, sadness, and depression. However, based upon the
clear testimony of Scripture we must see that the way to genuine, lasting, and
eternal joy is to receive and rest in Christ alone for forgiveness of sin and
eternal life, resulting in the ability to follow and enjoy God, and to
experience Spirit-given joy in life (Ps. 16:11; Prov. 14:12; Gal. 5:22; 1 Pt.
1:8-9).
8.
We Must Approach SOGI Issues Directed By The Gospel.
As we have demonstrated in the other issues
we have dealt with in this entire blog series, to be directed by the gospel
would involve at least the following:
- We must realize that all persons, apart from Jesus Christ, are lost and will live out sinful lifestyles (Rom. 3:9-18; Eph. 2:1-3). In the same ways this includes idolaters, the rebellious, the hateful and murders, adulterers, thieves, liars, and the covetous, it also includes those struggling with sexual orientation and/or gender identity issues and those who have given into those sins.
- We must realize that only in Christ, transformed by him and his Spirit will a person be able to pursue and live out righteousness (Mt. 5:3, 6; Gal. 5:22-23; Eph. 2:1-10). We must not merely condemn the sins involved in SOGI issues, we must call people to and provide hope to those who struggle with them or have given into these sins.
- We must approach SOGI issues with firmness on the clear teaching of Scripture, but also humility, grace, mercy, and love since all of us have sinned and fall short of God’s glory (Rom. 3:23) and if we are Christians who are living consistently with biblical truth, this is only by God’s sovereign grace (Eph. 1:3-14; Rom. 9:6-29).
- We must, as stated in truth 7, offer to those struggling with SOGI issues or have given into the sins thereof hope for change in Christ.
9.
We Must Instruct The Next Generation In The Biblical Teaching On SOGI Issues.
Consistent with all the issues we have
looked at so far in this blog series, part of the church’s commission to make
disciples is to teach all that Christ has commanded (Mt. 28:19), to teach God’s
will and wisdom (Dt. 6:4-9; Prov. 22:6; Eph. 6:4). The way that God changes
lives is his Spirit working through his word, in response to prayer, and
usually among and through God’s people (Ac. 2:42-47; Rom. 1:16; Eph. 6:10-18; Jam.
1:18). Apart from these ordinary means those who are lost and unregenerate will
not come to and follow Christ. What is more, they will not see the world and
SOGI issues from the perspective of God.
This is also true because of the strong
push in our culture from unbiblical, ungodly sources and in unbiblical and
ungodly directions. Consider this evidence. In 2015 a writer in San Francisco
named Michelle Tea “got the idea for ‘Drag Queen Story Hour’: Men in full drag
reading children’s books to kids and parents in programs aimed at providing
‘positive and unabashedly queer role models.’” Since then they have been held
in L.A., Chicago, New York, New Orleans, and they are spreading. This is
designed to mainstream this lifestyle via impacting children.[3]
The push against a biblical view of sexual orientation and
sexual identity is strong in our society. Yet, if we are to pursue genuine,
biblical justice we must include and follow all nine of these points.
Joyfully Pursuing Justice With You,
Tom
[1] John Stonestreet’s
commentary, “Why Some Christians Buy LGBT Theology,” can be found at
breakpoint.org.
[2] The initials LGBTQ stand
for Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Questioning (or Queer). Sometimes a +
sign will be in place of the Q to include any other options that a person can
come up with and suggests by those who use It that they want to be fully
inclusive of anyone and any thoughts about SOGI issues.
[3] New Orleans (AP) “Drag
Queen Story Hour Sparks Protests In Conservative Towns,” Sept. 3, 2018 Kearney Hub.
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