Sex and Transgenderism
Lust, Porn, Sex, LGBTQI+, Pride. What does God say?
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Introduction
History of Sex
God approves of sex. He invented it, made in pleasurable and gave it purpose. God brought together a naked man and and a naked woman and instructed them to be fruitful and multiply. This command did not have an expiration date. Today, God still expects men and women seek out and find joy and sexual pleasure within the bounds of a monogamous heterosexual marriage. God even included a full book in the Bible - the Song of Songs - to celebrate the pleasures of sexual activity.
Ever since the fall, humans have perverted everything that God created. This perversion includes taking His good gift of sex and using it sinfully in increasingly diverse ways. Sexual temptations don't stop at the church door. Christians breath the same air as non-Christians and we absorb many of the same temptations. But as followers of Christ, we have been give new values and a new framework by which we are instructed to worship the Lord with both our souls and our bodies. Consider this verse:
Don't be immoral in matters of sex.
God paid a great price for you. So use your body to honor God.
1 Corinthians 6:18, 20
Lust and Porn
It is a Spiritual Battle
Technology puts our desires on steroids and access to sin at our fingertips. Lust is strong sexual fantasy that tempts men and women and manifests itself both verbally and visually. The forbidden fruit is of unrestrained desire is both attractive and alluring. We experience sexual temptation by virtue on being alive in this world. Whether it be shopping centre marketing, billboards or television promotions, all marketing is designed to accentuate sex. But by far the biggest enabler of sexual temptation is online media.
While the peer pressure affects all of us, social media exacerbates peer pressure and psychological effects on teenage girls who particularly feel a need constant acceptance. Girls often find their value in others thoughts and opinions of them. This leads to many girls posting revealing photos knowing that it will garner attention and 'likes'. Boys and young men struggle with acceptance too. This desire often manifests itself through conquest including simulated sexual conquest using online pornography. Both of these vulnerabilities are encapsulated in the rise of, OnlyFans, better describes as LonelyFans. This site is designed to destroy and prevent real relationships both for the men and women who use it.
Pornography is designed to arouse and is generally associated with images. Porn and associated sexual activity provides a dopamine hit which is addictive. As porn use increases, so does the desire for more edgy experiences. One fast growing porn segment is trans-porn which indulges gender role swapping fantasies and rewires the brain. As with all entertainment choices, it is only time till our lives attempt to imitate the ‘art’ we consume.
Fighting Sexual Sin
If we are not fighting the war on lust and porn, then we are incredibly vulnerable when the temptation arises for infidelity. Acts of infidelity can be masterbation which is solo sex, fornication which is sex before marriage and adultery which is extra-marital sex. Masterbation may seem harmless as no other physical person is involved, but when it is accompanied by porn, it does reshape our brain towards sex and away from God's plans for us. Fornication involves two people committing sexual sin together. Often the consequences are unwanted pregnancies which are terminated in an act of abortion. Adultery is a betrayal of trust and violation of the marriage vow. Often adultery results in divorce which causes life-long pain for the spouse and any children from the marriage. While the Old Testament provided prohibitions on certain sexual acts such as adultery, Jesus cut to bone when He diagnosed the real problem as our sinful desires. Jesus said that looking on a woman with lust is adultery of the heart. 100% of humanity is guilty of the sexual sin of lust, thus proving our salvation is not dependent on our efforts to avoid sin, but solely on God's forgiveness. At the same time, followers of Christ are instructed to flee lust and sins of the flesh. Sin flourishes in isolation and denial, so regular church attendance, Bible reading, prayer, accountability practices and confession of sins are healthy practices to help fight this war.
'Sex and Transgenderism' Videos
A Story of Detransition w/ Chloe Cole | The Lila Rose Podcast E33
Demons in the Bible are transgender
Rev. Calvin Robinson | Christianity SHOULD NOT allow gay marriage - 6/8 | Oxford Union
Same Sex
Temptation and Acceptance
Temptation and Practice
Same sex temptation has been around since the fall. Genesis 19 describes entire cities which were given over to homosexual practices. God has strong words against homosexual practices in both the Old and New Testament. For Christians who are struggling with same sex temptations, prayer is a powerful tool through which God can change our desires to conform to His ways. This transformation principle goes well beyond sex. If God choses not to change our desires, then singleness may be the path He has for us. The apostle Paul acknowledges that singleness is not an easy road, but it is a path with unique and strong opportunities in the service of God. The church should be a place that practically supports singles who battle loneliness.
Same-Sex Marriage
In 2017, the Australian government commissioned a postal survey on whether the Marriage Act should be redefined. 39% of Australian's opposed any change, but as 61% voted in favour, the parliament changed the law so that two men and two women could constitute a civil marriage recognised by the government.
But civil marriage is different from Biblical marriage. Christians believe that God was the one who created marriage and that God does not change His mind based on a vote. The church is the Bride of Christ and as such has no authority to change what God has eternally established. Christians answer to God. We may be in the minority, but today is not the first time in history that Christians have been counter cultural. Living counter-cultural to the world is what God calls His followers to do.
Transgenderism
Confusion and Consequences
The Transgender Tsunami
Gender Dysphoria is a feeling that one's body and their gender do not match. Until recently, this feeling was labeled as being a Tom Boy. Today, Rapid onset gender dysphoria is a growing phenomenon where seemingly out of nowhere a person, usually a child on the verge of puberty, will declare that they are actually the opposite gender. But feelings are not facts and they can deceive us. As Christians we what to model kindness and compassion to those who are experiencing angst and confusion as to their identity and place in life. However, affirming falsehoods is not kind, it is dangerous. No amount of gential surgery or hormone injections will change one's XX or XY chromosones. Making these body altering decisions comes with irreversible consequences. Until 5 minutes ago, the world accepted the Christian worldview that men and women are unique. However, in a case of mass formation psychosis, the zeitgeist flipped. Suddenly, believing in binary gender is hateful or uneducated. Almost universally, the media and entertainment services promotes LGBTQ+ visibility and suppresses dissenting views. Pride flags and drag queens seem to be everywhere. But transgenderism is not entirely new. Androgynous identities and castration were part of temple worship to ancient gods of Lilith, Asteroth and Aphrodite. Today, these pagan rituals are making a comeback with medical hormones and surgery. The transgender goal is for people to believe or admit something that they know to be untrue. This objective is observed not only in transgender individual, but also in those using their 'prefered pronouns'. By affirming falsehoods, humans divorce themselves from their responsibility to accept God’s design and purpose. There are immediate and eternal consequences for rejecting God's plan. The Bible discusses the eternal consequences. The immediate consequences threaten girls by erasing sexuality as set by God. Young girls are confused as to their value and purpose. The rise of transgenderism may be a social contagion, but gender is not a social construct. Gender is the design of our loving Creator and it goes to the essence of our earthly identities as God created us to be. Words have meaning; not because society defines them but because God established them. Transgenderism is a form of conversion therapy, but only in one direction. Even gays and lesbians are objecting to the trans-agenda with the hashtag #LGBdroptheT. Transgenderism is more than an attack on women and women’s sport. Transgenderism seeks to eradicate motherhood. Medicare recently changed their forms to replace the term mother with 'birthing parent' or 'egg-producer'. Scriptures stand in contrast. In Genesis 3:15, God promises that life would come through the seed of the woman. Satan knows this and is doing everything in his power to dehumanise, diminish and destroy the value and beauty of motherhood and new life.
The Christian Response
While Christians need to respond gently and with compassion to those who are hurting with questions about their gender, we also need to respond without wavering when it comes to the question of what gender isheir with compassion to those Consider for a moment the question, ‘What is a woman’? This is not a political question, but a theological question. Therefore, churches must not be ashamed to address this topic or say there is no official answer. Jesus had no such hesitations.
“Haven’t you read the Scriptures?” Jesus replied.
“They record that from the beginning ‘God made them male and female.’”
Matthew 19:4-6
Gender ideology seeks to redefine truth. Binary Australia has developed a set of resources to assist the church.
Living with a clear view of reality is the best tonic for good mental health. The church needs to gently come alongside those who are confused about their gender and help them find their identity in Christ. We need a counter-revolution in our thinking where our value is found in God and not from the media, others opinions or even our own feelings. Parents have a particularly important job to discern what ideas they allow into their home so they can protect their children from danger and raise them in the truth of God's Word.
Implications
Contrasting Worldviews
Embracing sexual sin has consequences for ourselves, our families and our communities. For ourselves, if we find our identity in our sin, then we forgo our identity in Christ. For our families, sexual sin eats at the sacred bonds of matrimony and breaks up families. For our community, increased sexual sin reduces the birth rate and is a harbinger of a society's decline.
BIBLICAL SEXUAL ETHIC
Worship God with your Body
Gender Distinctions
Role Clarity
Biblical Family Unit
Reproduction
SECULAR SEXUAL ETHIC
Self-Pleasure
Gender Confusion
Role Conflict
Designer Family Unit
De-population
While there are unique implications and consequences for all types of sexual sin, there are no types of sin than are too big for Jesus. This brings us hope. No sin, or quantity of sin, is inherently 'unpardonable'. The only unpardonable sin is the pride that prevents one coming to receive Jesus' forgiveness. The real spiritual danger is giving up the fight against sin and embracing a sinful lifestyle as our identity.
If you or someone you love struggles with sexual sin - and let's be honest - we all do, then keep coming to Jesus regularly to seek forgiveness and continue to fight the good fight until God brings us home. Heaven is real and physical. Delaying our gratification will be greatly worth it, once we enter eternity with Jesus. One day, all temptation will be gone and we will rest in the peace that God designed and destined for us.
Deep Dive Papers
Applied Christianity Contributors have written 'deep dive' papers on topic extensions for this module.
