Confronting Christianity (Chapter 9: Isn't Christianity Homophobic?)

Introduction:

The author admits that she is primarily attracted to women

She also talks about her friend Rachel, who is also attracted to women

Both are now married to men

“But we both chose to marry men because of our commitment to Christ over our emotional and sexual preferences, and when we feel drawn to people outside our marriages (as most married people do from time to time), that draw is always toward women.”

“We believe that God could change our instincts, but we have no promise that he will, because blue-blood heterosexuality is not the goal of the Christian life: Jesus is.”

Q. What are your thoughts on this quote?

Two Ways to be One Body:

“Within the Christian framework, one-body unity is not just for husbands and wives; it’s for everyone.”

Read 1 Cor. 12:12, 1 Cor. 12:26.

“… The Bible is clear that sexual intimacy belongs exclusively to heterosexual marriage.”

“But the one-body reality of gospel partnership-best experienced in same-sex friendships-is not a lesser thing.”

The Benefits of Boundaries

“Rather than seeing sexual and romantic love as the high point on a scale where friendship laps at the low-water mark, the Bible invites us to pursue human love in different forms, governed by different boundaries.”

“The same Scriptures that say no to same-sex sexual intimacy say a massive yes to intimacy of other kinds.”

A Call to Longing but Not Loneliness

“If we reduce Christian community to sexual relationships and the nuclear family, we are utterly failing to deliver on biblical ethics.”

“Enabling same-sex-attracted Christians who choose to remain single to thrive in church means becoming more biblical, not less.”

“Saying yes to Jesus means saying no to sexual freedom.”

“As a predominantly same-sex-attracted woman happily married to a man, I myself am increasingly convinced that the longing I at times have felt is ultimately a longing not for another woman but for the One who created that person.”

What Does the Bible Really Say About Homosexuality?

First, men sleeping with men is prohibited in the Jewish law (e.g., Lev. 18:22; 20:13).

Jesus tightened the sexual ethics of the OT

Ancient Greek culture allowed homosexual sex

“In the fourth century BC, a Greek army known as the Sacred Band of Thebes was formed, consisting of a 150 pairs of male lovers. The theory was that the added sexual bond would motivate soldiers to fight for each other.”

Louis Crompton (gay man and pioneer of queer studies): “Nowhere does Paul or any other Jewish writer of this period imply the least acceptance of same-sex relations under any circumstances. The idea that homosexuals might be redeemed by mutual devotion would have been wholly foreign to Paul or any other Jew or early Christian.”

The NT is clear that homosexual sex is sin, but Paul was not a “judgmental homophobe.”

1 Tim 1:9-10: Homosexuality mentioned between murder and slave catching

Yet Paul calls Himself the “foremost sinner” 2x (1 Tim 1:15-16)

Romans 1:25-27 and the connection between homosexuality and idolatry

The Bible is offensive

1 Cor. 6:9-11: “According to this passage, some of the very first Christians entered the church with homosexual histories and desires. This is as true today as it was then.”

No Room for “Them and Us” in the Church

“Despite Paul’s refusal to often cast himself confused the Bible’s clear as morally boundaries superior, Christians around sex with a have license for unloving, superior, and judgmental attitudes toward gay and lesbian people. But while the New Testament is clear on its no to homosexual relationships, it leaves no room for a ‘them and us’ approach.”

People have been mistreated when sin struggles are confessed

When Paradigms Break

The studies of psychology professor Lisa Diamond

Bisexuality is more widespread than people thought

It is common for attraction to change over the years

The real question: “What do I do with my attraction?”

Disentangling Sexuality and Race

Five reasons that equating these two groups is problematic

“First, unlike racial heritage, sexual activity involves my choice”

“Ultimately, while we do not choose our sexual attractions, we do choose our sexual actions.”

“Second, though twentieth -century scientists tried long and hard to find significant biological differences between races, they failed.”

But there are (usually) differences between men and women

“Third, if you sample the global popular today, white Westerns are far more likely to affirm gay marriage than people of color.”

“Fourth, while the Bible cuts strongly and emphatically in favor of racial equality and integration, it cuts equally firmly against same-sex marriage.”

“Finally, opposition to homosexual sex is common to the two largest global worldviews-Christianity and Islam-as well as to most other religious traditions.

What about Those Born Intersex?

The author’s example of her friend’s kid: chromosomally male, but presents female outwardly.

“Does the existence of beautiful intersex kids, like my friend’s, undermine the biblical boundaries that preclude same-sex marriage? I believe not.”

Exceptions to the rule

Last Words, from Jesus

Jesus talking about eunuchs (Matt. 19:11-12)

Some people are born that way

“In Jesus’ estimation, whether you are born intersex, lose sexual function, or embrace celibacy for other reasons, your life and service are of immense value.”

“At the resurrection no one who has chosen Jesus over sexual fulfillment will have missed out. Compared with that relationship, human marriage will seem like a toy car next to a Tesla, or a kiss on an envelope versus a lover’s embrace.”