Cedarville Magazine, Spring/Summer 2016

As recorded in Matthew 19:3–8, the Pharisees ask Jesus about it, believing divorce to be a sin, but knowing Jesus would agree and would therefore lose the affections of the masses that were following Him! It was a trap. And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so.” “In the beginning” and “from the beginning” —The Lord Jesus uses these phrases in the dialogue about marriage. He does not run to Leviticus, but points back to Genesis to search out understanding. Jesus does not approve, but He also does not stand with the accusers. Instead, He initiates a loving, thought-provoking conversation. He does not say, “Thou shalt not.” Instead He says, “Let me remind you what I intended.” What a loving, gentle way to respond. Genesis informs that the sexual relationship and function is for one man and one woman in the confines of an exclusive one-flesh relationship that is meant to make them permanently one flesh. This is the Creator’s design. Why? Because within that design is a picture of God Himself (Gen. 1:27). Embracing our manhood and womanhood enables a lost world to see God. The sin of homosexuality and gender fluidity is not about sexual acts. The true sin is exalting self and exchanging the glory of God for the glory of self/humanity. Paul refers back to Creation when he teaches that disregarding God’s definitions for manhood and womanhood is a rebellious refusal to glorify Him and an attempt to hide who He is and Whose we are (Rom. 1:24–32). We glorify God no more when we carry either affirming or accusatory hearts. Let’s move to an approach that is more effective and follow the example of Jesus to do the hard work of entering into a thought- provoking and careful dialogue. I’ve been happy to see Cedarville participating in this conversation. Hosting chapel speakers who have spent significant time researching a biblical perspective on gender and sexuality and who offer a compassionate and convictional approach is just one action demonstrating that Cedarville is concerned about this discussion. I’ve witnessed current leadership fostering an environment that is uncompromised in biblical truth but emotionally safe for students struggling with same-sex attraction to have a thoughtful conversation. Struggling with same-sex attraction is not a sin. Struggling with your gender identity or gender dysphoria is not a sin. It is when a person ceases to struggle and gives in to the temptation to act on these impulses that they have sinned. Instead of throwing accusations, Christians should ask God to break their own hearts with the pain that gay, lesbian, transgendered, and bisexual people are facing so that they can enter into a useful dialogue that brings healing. Can you imagine what would happen if our local churches became a safe place for someone to talk about their struggle? Instead of a culture full of stories that are forming a heretical view of Scripture, we would have stories that are being formed by Scripture and so glorify our God as was always intended. RECOMMENDED RESOURCES § § The Bible and Homosexual Practice: Texts and Hermeneutics by Robert A. J. Gagnon § § Love Into Light: The Gospel, The Homosexual, and The Church by Peter Hubbard § § The Secret Thoughts of An Unlikely Convert by Rosaria Butterfield ____________________________________________ 1 cdc.gov/hiv/risk/gender/msm/facts 2 cdc.gov/msmhealth/mental-health.htm 3 independent.co.uk/life-style/health-and-families/health- news/gay-people-more-likely-to-have-mental-health- problems-survey-says-9709761.html 4 cdc.gov/lgbthealth/youth.htm 5 articles.latimes.com/2014/jan/28/local/la -me-ln-suicide- attempts-alarming-transgender-20140127 Dannah (Barker) Gresh ’89 is an author, speaker, and founder of Pure Freedom, a ministry that teaches girls about sexual purity. God’s Design for Man and Woman in Marriage WeBelieve in Embracing our manhood and womanhood enables a lost world to see God. 22 | Cedarville Magazine