The Bible & Current Issues: Moral Revolution
The Moral Revolution
Our fallen world has left us open to movements like the sexual and moral revolutions.
Fruit and Building upon a Solid Foundation
In the classical Christian understanding, true freedom for humankind, according to its nature, is to be found in loving submission to God. Do you agree with this statement? Why or why not?
Genesis tells us that from the very beginning, masculinity, femininity, and sex are created by God and bound to Creation. Man and woman become 'one flesh,' though remaining fully themselves, because this is how God regards the nature of the bond between Himself and each person... This was something radically new in the world.
God's way of loving his people became the measure of human love.
What is the fruit of the Moral Revolution?
“The fall of man, rather than introducing a new principle of evil into the human world, simply removed supreme love to God, resulting in self-love freed from divine restraint. Sin was the natural result.” -Bruce Davidson
“All of life is now being ordered by narratives and images that don't reflect the old boundaries.” -sociologist, Christian Smith
Do you believe that Americans are a moral and religious people?
Worldwide porn revenues have topped $100 billion, and there is no precise monitoring of the porn industry. The largest users of porn are between the ages of twelve and seventeen.
Kids today grow up in a culture that seeks to obliterate the natural family: one man and one woman, bound exclusively to each other, and the children they have together. It is now considered bigoted to say that the natural family is superior to any other arrangement. In schools today, and certainly in popular culture, kids are even told that gender is not a fixed category connected to biological sex. The culture of hooking up, and of divorce and unwed childbearing, is so normative today that you can't blame young people for their confusion. The new normal is that there is no normal.
“For there is no good tree which produces bad fruit; nor, on the other hand, is there a bad tree which produces good fruit. For each tree is known by its own fruit... The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good, and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which tills his heart. And why do you call me, 'Lord, Lord,' and do not do what I say? Everyone who comes to Me and hears My words, and acts upon them, I will show you whom he is like; he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation upon the rock.... But the one who heard, and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house upon the ground without any foundation." - Luke 6:43-49
"The mouth SPeaks out of that which fills the heart... The men of Nineveh shall stand up with this generation at the judgment, and shall condemn it because they repented at the preaching of Jonah; and behold, something greater than Jonah is here.” - Matt. 12:33, 41
Sin always begins with a compromise.
"Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man... Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity; that their bodies might be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator... For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions... And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper." - Rom. 1: 22-26, 28
"Has God not made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not come to know God, God was well-pleased through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe... Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men.” - 1 Cor. 1:20-21, 25
What is the responsibility of a Christian in terms of managing his/her sexuality?
" I urge you therefore, brethren,en. by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect." - Rom. 12:1-2
Unbridled erotic passion creates chaos and disintegration. Eros that submits to Christ bears fruit in the gift of children, stable families and communities... In Christianity, the individual's desire (eros) is purified and transformed into agape - unconditional, selfless love.
Jesus said that some are called by God to be chaste singles ("eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven"). This is a steep path to holiness, and especially treacherous one in our thoroughly eroticized culture. lt is hard for single Christians to stay on that path, but at least straight Christians have the prospect of marriage to comfort them.
If we expect gay and straight Christians to embrace celibacy, then in our churches, families, and individual lives, we must give them love, respect, and friendship. Moreover, both gay and straight Christians who reject traditional teaching must still be treated with love, because they too are image-bearers of Christ.
"Conviction is worthless unless it is converted into conduct.” -Thomas Carlyle
"Do you not know that when you present yourselves to someone as slaves for obedience, you are slaves of the one whom you obey, either of sin resulting in death, or of obedience resulting in righteousness?" - Rom. 6:16
"Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps alight. And be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast, so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them." -Luke 12:35-37
"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but are divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God and are taking captive every thought to the obedience of Christ. - 2 Cor. 10:3-5
Christians who hold to the biblical teaching about sex and marriage have the same status in culture, and increasingly in law, as racists. The world changes so quickly that the person who is loyal to anything takes an enormous risk.
“I have manifested Your name to the men whom You have given Me out of the world. They were Yours, You gave them to Me, and they have kept Your word… But now I come to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves. I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them because they are not of the world, just as I am not of the world… Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.” John 17: 6, 13-14, 17
A note for Christian parents: You must never assume that your children understand that the natural family is God’s plan for humanity. We have to make this explicit in our teaching. We have to make it implicit by modeling mutual respect, sacrifice, affection, and all the good things that come from a spiritually fruitful marriage. Christian kids need Christian heroes. They need to know that following Jesus radically is not an impossible dream. Children need to know that you are serious about the spiritual life.
