Thoughts on human sexuality

*Caution: The following is a fairly dense theological approach to sexuality. As such, it is best read slowly and carefully, without making inferences. It is also best to approach questions and concerns as questions and concerns: seek clarification; invite opportunity for conversation.*

A letter to The Daily Star in Oneonta, NY brings up the issue of homosexuality and being Christian. If I could write a letter to this seemingly earnest lady, I would write something like this.

Dear Cindy,

First, let me say that human sexuality is a significant part of being human. Scripture's first declaration of human sexuality is that humans were created male and female--an intimate connection and bond. Moreover, humans--male and female--are created in the image of God. Something about the male-female creation that is humanity reflects God. This means that there are healthy ways for males to be attracted to males and for females to be attracted to females. Of course, there are unhealthy attractions, as well, in all categories of attraction: male to female, male to male, female to female, female to male. This is a broken world and this sexual brokenness is exploited and glorified by media and culture. This makes it an even more important issue for church today.

Second, I want to clarify another Evangelical thought. Being gay is not a sin. Same sex attraction is not a sin. (In this way I am acting with the definition of sin as a willful transgression of a known law, which was held to by a theologian named John Wesley.) Homosexual acts, including lust and intentional fantasies, are a sin. There is an important difference to be made there. But why are homosexual acts a sin when they don't hurt anybody? Why should people not be able to act on their feelings? It's because creation is for God's glory, meant to reflect him. In the male-female make up of humanity, there is the context for pro-creation. This is meant to reflect God, as well, in whom the Spirit is eternally generated in the love the Father and the Son both have for each other. In homosexual behavior, there is no context for procreation. In the end, it is the desire of humans to remake themselves in the image of something other than the Triune God.

It is important to note that heterosexual activity is not always reflective of God's image, either, and in those cases it's the same sin of people wanting to remake themselves in the image of someone other than the Triune God. Consider sex outside marriage. Marriage is the closest thing to an eternal bond into which humans can enter. It reflects the eternal love of the Father for the Son and the Son for the Father. Just as that eternal relationship eternally generates the Spirit, so does marriage provide the context for generation of another person. Sex outside this context of procreation, outside marriage, does not reflect God. This does not mean that sex is inappropriate when no chance of pregnancy is the case because, as mentioned above, human sexuality is an important aspect of being human and so is necessary to the strengthening of the bond of human marriage. (Lots more could be said here, but will have to wait for another time.)

With this in mind, I believe the church's call to preach against the sin of homosexual and heterosexual behavior must always be good news. This good news is multifaceted. First, there is the good news that God has entered this broken world, the Word of God made flesh--Jesus. Jesus was a full blooded human being with sexual desires. (He remains a human being now, of course, but I won't go into my opinions on the role sexuality plays in our new heaven and earth.) Jesus knows what it's like to be sexually attracted to someone. And yet he went unmarried--unsatisfied sexually. Jesus knows the restraint the law places on people outside the context of marriage, whether they be homosexual or heterosexual. Second, there is good news that Jesus is the image of God and we are being remade in his image. This means that we receive the fruit of his Spirit, part of which is self-control. This means that though sexual attraction outside marriage will occur--for both male and female, hetero- and homosexual--that we can live as Jesus lived. Third, there is good news that Jesus has created a community that is commanded and created to love perfectly, to walk through this sexual brokenness with all who come to them. That the church has failed is a given; it will never perfectly succeed. All you can hope to find are some who will better exhibit the life of Jesus.

Does Father by his Spirit transform some people who are gay so that they have heterosexual attractions? Yes. Does Father through his Son call some heterosexuals to live lives of singleness? Yes. Does Father leave some people who love him deeply unchanged and with same sex attraction? Yes. Does he expect them to live as his Son in his singleness? Yes. This, of course, is a most difficult calling, as is any calling of God, but those for whom marriage is not an option, for whatever reason, must learn to accept and take this calling as a gift of God (1 Cor 7:7) and live in the grace he supplies to be obedient.