Confusion and Chaos?!

A BIBLICAL VIEW OF GENDER & SEXUALITY

I'm really tired of hearing the word "post-modern." Not because of what it is necessarily (though that's tired too), but because the word's just played out beyond belief. Everyone in academia, pop culture and now mainstream Christian culture uses the buzzword so much that it's become nearly meaningless (I guess that's fitting since that is the central tenet of post-modern thinking; nothing has any inherent meaning). That being said, I'm not creative enough to come up with a new word, so it has to work for now....

If there is anything to me that is a clear sign of the "postmodern culture" (remember "no meaning") we live in, it is the mass confusion and silly statements made regarding gender and sexuality. We've heard statements like, "There's no difference between genders besides physical parts." LOL.

One professor I heard about declared that there was not 1, not 2, not 3, but count them, 7 different genders! LOL if it wasn't so depressing!

Sexuality, depending on who you talk to, is either fixed from birth (Gay Activist Groups, everything coming out of Hollywood for at least a generation) or extremely flexible (Gay Activist Groups, Kinsey, Drug Addicts). "Sexual mores, norms and expectations are a thing of the past, and only those trying to oppress your freedom make such rules." Therefore, when it comes to sex there is nothing moral or immoral about it. The only rule our culture stands by when it comes to sex is "wear a condom; protect yourself." That last word there, "yourself" is really what sex is all about now anyway right? What makes me feel good? What do I want? Who am I attracted to now?

Ok, so now I've picked on the culture's errors when it comes to gender & sexuality. Now comes the Church: The Church has been a place throughout most of its history that has treated women poorly. Yes, Jesus was revolutionary for His fair treatment of women, but His Church did not follow suit very often. Women were often treated like chattel and were used and abused while scandalous men used the Bible to seemingly back up their abuse! Often times because of the Church's influence, women were not allowed to work, not allowed to vote, and were forced to stay home doing the "women's work" (cooking, cleaning, and raising children).

When it comes to sexuality, the Church has been really bad at teaching biblically on this too. From near the church's earliest days, asceticism became an accepted means of achieving "higher spiritual planes" in the Christian life. Therefore, people should mortify the desires of the body. One of the ways we mortify of course is by not having sex! The Church, instead of teaching what Paul taught in 1 Corinthians 7 (that husband and wife should have sex all the time for the benefit of their relationship), abandoned it to teach monkish nonsense from the halls of Greece and Egypt. Sex came to be seen as only usable and advisable for the purpose of childbirth. "Sex for enjoyment ought not be done; it's dirty!" This false, unbiblical view of sex of course was rebelled against, first by Protestants when they allowed Pastors to marry, and secondly by the culture at large. The Protestants sought to hold on to a Biblical view of sex (not very well I might add), and the culture did not.

What's the point in all this discussion? Just this: The Culture's a mess in their view of these things, but the Church gave them plenty of ammunition. Let's say next week, we spend some time trying to get a really biblical view of Gender and then move on to what the Bible says about Sex. Sound good?

Soli Deo Gloria,

Pastor Erick

RECEIVING FROM CHRIST....GROWING IN CHRIST....GOING WITH CHRIST....