Is Christ Enough? Sexuality
24
Saturday
Sep 2016
Seeing What’s Really Going On Behind the Scenes
There is no doubt whatsoever that things are radically changing in our world. One area that is definitely changing is the whole arena of sexuality. Wow, has this changed in the last 60 years! Now this post will be very controversial just like the others in this “Is Christ Enough?” series. But I ask my readers to bear with me until the end of the post. I am going to make some majorly important points at the end. So please hang in there with me.
The Current Situation
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to realize that sexuality is changing around us. Especially if you have been around for fifty years or more! There have definitely been some major changes within the last three or four decades. Please let me give you what I have observed in my 63 years. Note- this is merely an observation and not a judgement or assessment of the morality or correctness of our current situation.
Crossing the Line of Male and Female Distinctions
What we have seen in the last thirty years is an attempt at doing away with all sexual distinctions and so-called prejudices. The act of sex between male and female is no longer exclusive to that combination and now includes male with male and female with female. The homosexual (gays and lesbians) world is vying for equality, acceptance, civil rights, and equal “air time” in the media and the government. The arts are now opening up to this so called “movement”. For example, more and more movies are being made with and about homosexual (and now transgender) relationships.
No longer is it just gay and lesbians, but now we have the LGBT movement which includes lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender/transsexuals.
… attitudes toward gays and lesbians have changed so much in just the last 10 years that, as Gallup reported last week, “half or more now agree that being gay is morally acceptable, that gay relations ought to be legal and that gay or lesbian couples should have the right to legally marry.” (In 1996, when Gallup first asked about legalizing same-sex marriage, 68% of Americans were opposed.) By Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times May 20, 2012So what we are seeing around us is the fastest growing movement in history. The majority opinion has gone from general opposition to acceptance in a decade! And since now our whole nation (U.S.) has legalized same-sex marriages (see this article on Wikipedia) opposition has apparently become a moot point.
But that’s not all…
Now We Also Have the “Gender Blender”
Recently, fashion designers like Gucci and hip boutiques have begun selling what’s being called gender-neutral or gender-free clothing: clothes that can be worn by either men or women. (Both The New York Times style section and The Guardian have recently covered this trend.)
Then there was Target’s announcement in August that the retail giant would be eliminating gendered language in its children’s toys and bedding, transgender celebrity Caitlyn Jenner’s Vanity Fair cover and singer Miley Cyrus’ self-identification as gender-fluid. (taken from CNN Style.com By Mary Rizzo, The Conversation)
Recently I was shopping for a coat at a “stylish” clothing store. I have to say that I was confused as to whether I was in the men’s section or the women’s. The coats looked very feminine to me. And my wife agreed! But it’s not just in clothing, it’s also in hair styles. Have you noticed recently that more and more “hip” and “trendy” hair styles among young people are unisex? What about the shaved head with a bun on the top? What about a bushy Mohawk on top with a shaved head? These hair styles are usually accompanied by tats all over the arms. Now, please keep in mind that I am not making any judgement calls about any of these things. I am merely reporting what I am observing. My point of all this will be at the end of this post.
Uni What?
There is also the whole unisex movement around the world. Did you know that the idea and implementation of unisex restrooms has become a huge debate around the world? As I write this post cities around the world are actually voting on measures known as “bathroom ordinances” which would prohibit discrimination based upon gender identity. This is coming about mostly because of the transgender issue. If, for example, someone decided to change their sex, then which restroom can they now use? Because the transgender community is growing, now many people and institutions are feeling forced to redefine sexuality and gender altogether. No doubt, the next step will be bi-gender movement. These people are both male AND female either physically, psychologically, or both. Now society will have to not only accept this but re-frame all social structures to fit into this new lifestyle.
What About Sexual Intercourse and the Marriage Relationship?
Moving on from the “Gender Blender” stuff let’s now take a look at marriage (between a man and a woman) as a life choice and institution. Wow! Have things changed in this area or what? First let’s take a look at the stats on marriage:
Professor Stanley at the University of Denver suggests that people consider the following statements:
- About 31 percent of a person’s friends, aged 35 to 54, who are married, engaged or cohabiting have already previously been married.
- People who have been married many years (say, 35-plus) and have never been divorced have almost no chance of the marriage ending in divorce.
- The rate of divorce per year per 1,000 people has been declining since 1980.
- A young couple marrying for the first time today has a lifetime divorce risk of 40 percent, “unless current trends change significantly.”
What these stats don’t tell you is that less and less people are even getting married at all!
The marriage rate in America has hit a record low and is expected to drop even further next year, according to a company that specializes in wedding and fertility trend forecasts. But some experts speculate that the headline-grabbing recent retreat from marriage may be bottoming out.And of course these stats are for marriages that are men and women.
Others have made similar findings. A Pew Research Center report recently said that one-fourth of millennials are likely to eschew marriage entirely.
What’s in a Word?
Now there is something else that has become more and more pervading throughout our society. That is the use of the “F” word.
Recently I was getting some work done on my laptop in a McDonald’s restaurant. All of a sudden about 50 junior high school kids overtook the place with a very loud and tumultuous roar. At that point it was extremely difficult to hear or think! I was sitting at a bar (for people with laptops) that seated six people. Well, it didn’t take long before five young teenage boys sat down at the bar. Obviously, there must have been a junior high school real close by.
At first, I wasn’t really listening to them because I was trying desperately to block out all the noise so I could continue working. Unfortunately, I had forgotten my earbuds but I instinctively knew that they wouldn’t have helped much anyway. Soon my mind began to wander and I found myself listening to these boys. The first thing I noticed is that just about every fifth word was the “F” word! It flowed out of them like a sewer hose! It was obvious that they really didn’t realize what they were saying and that word was just like saying any other word like “a” or “the”. Then, I started hearing them discussing their sexual conquests and those of people they knew around them in the restaurant. It was nothing for them to say things like. “yeah, I F—- Suzie” and “I heard that Joey has also already F—- her”. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. Treating sex like a sport or something. It was absolutely frightening! Now whether these sexual “conquests” were based in reality or not is not really my point. The fact that they were thinking and talking like that is my point!
About two weeks later I was driving near that same spot and was waiting at a traffic light. As I was sitting there a crowd of young teenagers walked across the street in the crosswalk right in front of me. Guess what? They were all using the “F’ word loud and clear!
Of course, we have all noticed that language has changed in our culture all around us. We can see and hear it in movies, music, art, the internet, etc. For many, true marriage with one person (for all your life) is looked down upon and is outdated in this sexually “enlightened” culture. Sex, is now something separate from true marriage (with one male and one female) and is considered to be as a “sport”.
NOW FOR MY PROMISED POINT!
First of all, before we can discover what is truly going on here, we need to ask the all pervading question: “WHY?”
WHY has sexuality changed radically in our culture in the last 50 years?
WHY are gender roles and definitions being changed and blended into one big pot?
WHY are we now moving to a unisex format?
WHY? is traditional marriage becoming a thing of the past?
WHY are our children now seeing sex as a sport for any age and using the “F” word?
The answer might actually shock you! It’s something far deeper than the breakout of our society or world system. Yes, of course, it is tied into the world system.
The apostle John told us something very revealing about the system(s) of this world.
We know that we are of God, and that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.(1 John 5:19)Okay, so understanding that, what do you think the enemy of God is up to in this area of sexuality?
He is attempting to assault, mock, and destroy the testimony of God’s eternal purpose in this world!
Considering the fact that most Christians don’t even know (let alone understand) the eternal purpose of God, this should not come as a shock to us. Dear believer, I implore you, if you do not know what I am writing about please read other posts on this blog that have to do with the “eternal purpose”. Do so in a spirit of prayer asking God for his revelation in this all important matter.
Now, you may be asking: “Milt, how does attacking sexuality and marriage in our world attack the testimony of God’s eternal purpose?”
Well, I am really glad you asked that! :-)
Paul does a wonderful job of summing it up for us in this passage:
Ephesians 5:22 (22-33) The wives, be putting yourselves in subjection with implicit obedience to your own husbands as to the Lord, because a husband is head of the wife as the Christ is Head of the Church, He himself being the Saviour of the Body. Nevertheless, as the Church subjects itself in obedience to the Christ, in this manner also the wives should subject themselves in obedience to their husbands in all things. The husbands, be loving your wives with a love self-sacrificial in its nature, in the manner in which Christ also loved the Church and gave himself on behalf of it, in order that He might sanctify it, having cleansed it by the bath of water in the sphere of the Word, in order that He might himself present to himself the Church glorious, not having spot nor wrinkle nor any of such things, but in order that it might be holy and unblamable. In this manner ought also the husbands to love their wives as their own bodies. The one who loves his own wife loves himself, for no one ever yet hated his own flesh, but nourishes and cherishes it, even as the Christ, the Church, because members are we of His Body. Because of this a man shall leave behind his father and his mother and shall be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This mystery is great. However, I am speaking with regard to Christ and the Church. Nevertheless, also as for you, let each one in this manner be loving his own wife as himself, and the wife, let her be continually treating her husband with deference and reverential obedience. (Wuest’s Expanded Translation)There it is! There you have it! In case you didn’t get it, I will spell it out for you. Paul tells us that the physical marriage union is a picture, an image, a shadow of something much deeper and higher. It is a reflection of the spiritual marriage between Jesus Christ and His lovely Bride, the Church! And this is all about him getting what he has wanted since before creation. That is, an image, an expression, a family, a body, a bride, a city, a tree (vine and branches), a new kingdom, a new humanity, and a new creation! This is so that the fullness of Christ would be expressed and displayed to all creation (visible and invisible) through this “woman” “wife” if you will.
I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.So… of course the enemy of God will do whatever he can to stain and tarnish the picture of His eternal purpose.
(Ephesians 1:18-23)
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