LIFE Month
We touched briefly on this in our study of Galatians 5 recently. In our culture, June is “Pride” month. The messaging is often aggressive; intentionally offensive, provocative.
But, there is a movement growing, I don’t know where it originated, to recast June as LIFE Month. I really like that. Let’s run with that. Let’s make that big. We serve a God who is life, gives life, and has clearly been careful and creative in giving us a world teaming with life that is vibrant in color, intricate in interdependence, and awe-striking on so many levels. June — LIFE month.
But we also live in this world, and I want to simply reiterate some of what we said yesterday from Galatians 5. Paul’s list of sins, or vices, that he says essentially cannot mark the life of a true believer, begins with the category of sexual sins.
“Now the works of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, moral impurity, promiscuity…” (Galatians 5:19)
Paul’s other lists of vices, which are similar are in: Ephesians 5:3–5; Colossians 3:5–8; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11; Romans 1:29–31, and while it’s clear that he’s not necessarily trying to be comprehensive — thinking of every possible sin — he is giving content to Romans 3:23, that ALL have sinned.
But in June, the celebration of sexual sin runs right into Paul’s charge that sin ought lead us to conviction and repentance, not a month’s- long celebration.
To be clear, Paul calls out homosexual practice as sinful in Romans 1:26b-27-
For this reason God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty of their error.
This is a tough couple of verses and needs more than the space here to be fully understood. But this is an uncomfortable, not to mention wildly unpopular, biblical truth in June in the 21st century. However, that doesn’t negate what the Word of God says, and further, that doesn’t mean other sinful sexual practices (or other categories of sin altogether for that matter) are excluded or overlooked. You can take the time to look at Paul’s lists again, but as we did on Sunday, I come back to Galatians 5 where Paul lists:
Sexual immorality (porneia — which is a umbrella term meaning all practices outside of God’s design for sex), moral impurity, and promiscuity.
NO one gets a pass on sexual sin. For instance, the Church is saturated with indulgence in internet pornography — now a $100B industry!
What is ironic about the Pride celebrations is that it has turned into a celebration of every manifestation of sexual decadence — Paul’s whole list is included. This includes pornography and promiscuity, adolescent and child transgenderism (we’ll get to that in a minute), to adultery (celebrated in the practices of swinging and polyamory) to homosexual and bisexual sex — all forms of sexual expression are encouraged and lauded in the Pride culture.
At the core of this is a belief that our feelings (passions) and appetites (desires) are authoritative in forming who we are.
Last year we spent some time understanding the “two story view” that our culture adheres to — that our bodies are inconsequential; disposable and non-authoritative in providing us with an understanding of our identity, while our inner person — our mind and emotions — is the seat of our real selves. This belief is more entrenched, even if not spoken of in such terms, but it leads to a foundation-less life, and in worse cases, despair.
From a biblical perspective, rather than the “inner me” informing my identity, I look outside of myself, to the One who made me, lovingly and carefully (Psalm 139). Rather than forming my sense of self around my attractions, urges, and desires, I submit those things to the Will of One who has imbued me divine purpose as an image bearer and as a Christian, as His child through faith in Jesus.
Rather than relying on what I may feel today, tomorrow, or in five or ten years. where it concerns gender, sexual orientation, sexual behaviors, and commitment in relationships, I look to the Word of God that tells me why God made me as I am, why He designed our sexuality as a biological complement, and why He calls me to rule my flesh, rather than let it rule me.
What about Transgenderism?
This “two-story view” is what makes the child and adolescent pursuit of transgender mutilation so heinous. Let us purposely set aside adults over 25 who choose to pursue a transgender life and/or transition — I want to focus for now on young people.
For one, young people are the most uncertain about who they are — that’s not a criticism — it’s just true. In our youth we all tried on different “selves” in different seasons. But we understand this more today. We now understand that the human brain, and our identity formation, is not complete until we’re about 25 years old. Yet, with this scientific understanding, we are entrusting life-altering, permanent medical decisions to the whims of a middle school-aged. person.
As one person said, we don’t let 3 year olds play with knives, 10 year old’s drive, or 15 year old’s make public policy, but we allow them to make these choices!?
In addition, current statistics indicate that an overwhelmingly high percentage of young people who experience gender dysphoria are on the autism spectrum. The level of willful blindness we’re exhibiting as a society is unconscionable.
As the “de-transition” (those who have realized later in life the consequences of the decision that they made, or that someone made for them, and are revolting) population grows, I truly believe, THEY will be the ones who will call their parents, educators, pediatricians, counselors, and surgeons to account — they will be the judges in time. (See HTTP://sexchangeregret.com for more on this). In the meantime, WE cannot be silent!
What our young people need, no matter their identity, sexual struggles, or confusion is for the adults in their lives to bring order to their disorder -not to feed it — even if in the moment they don’t want to receive it.
We need to lovingly model and encourage healthy man-hood and woman-hood, while also admitting that some stereotypes are not helpful.
We need to model healthy same-sex friendships, and opposite-sex marriages.
And we simply need to say “no” to any permanent, life-altering medicine or procedures, and we need to do this as pastors, educators, parents, and physicians.
Being truthful is the clearest way to be loving, even if it isn’t received as such.
We need to come alongside our young people and gently reinforce the love of God, expressed in their biology and consequently their identity in Him — that He says who they are, that He knows them better than they know themselves, and that He and His people, that Church, is a safe and loving place to land when they feel out of place in their group of friends, their family, or even in their own skin.
How shameful when someone in one of these communities says that a church is the last place they would ever go for help. As Christians, on the one hand we need to boldly say “no” to these ideologies, and on the other we need to have the loving response of our Savior to those despairing of life — those looking for a better way.
Ours is a God who loves us where we are, yet because He is the One who gave us life, He is the One best suited to help us understand who we truly are.
June is LIFE month.
Through the Gospel He gives us new life and one day, our struggles, confusion, temptations, and trials will one day end and we will experience life eternal!
