The Reformed Advisor

Christians Need to Think Differently About “Sexual Identity” and Equality

Posted on August 8, 2018 in Sexuality, Theology by

Sexual identityThe cultural buzz around “sexual identity” is at euphoric levels. Everyone wants to be proud of their identity and it seems to start and end with their sexuality. The consequence is a polarized society divided over an aspect of personhood that doesn’t accurately define us.

Within this broad discussion comes the responsibility of Christians to engage the culture with what the Bible teaches around these complex issues. And while some are speaking truth, it isn’t necessarily in love. Others are misrepresenting Scripture or even teaching outright false doctrine.

Knowing that some churches are seeking to marry the biblical sexual ethic with the LGBT agenda makes a voice like Rosaria Butterfield critical. Actually, in some ways, Butterfield’s voice and message are prophetic.

Butterfield spent much of her life living as a lesbian. She fully embraced the pride of her lifestyle and sought to bring others to her point of view. It was through the kindness and hospitality of Christian friends that Butterfield came to faith in Jesus Christ and rejected her lesbian lifestyle. Butterfield realized that her identity in Christ was greater than any other and that her sin no longer defined her.

Butterfield recently wrote that any Christian should refuse to be defined by their sin:

“We must maintain that we who repent and believe stand in robes of righteousness as beloved sons and daughters of God, even as we do daily battle with any an all sexual lust and unbiblical desire that claims our affections. We are not our sin, and we ought never to let it define us.”

These are important words for Christians. Too often Christians sound like the culture around us when talking about our identity. As if we have any identity outside of Christ. We are not “American Christians,” or “African-American Christians.” Neither are we alcoholics, drug addicts, or homosexuals. We are simply Christians. To label ourselves with anything more than Christian is to hold up an idol before Christ and declare it our primary identity.

To be clear, any sin, drunkenness, addiction, immorality, need repentance. The drug addict needs to repent as much as the homosexual. The racist needs to repent as much as the gossip. Repentance of our sin leads us to an identity that starts and ends with Christ. Our former self, the person that was proud of our sexual identity is no more. All that remains is an identity that boasts of grace, forgiveness, and growing sanctification.

But, as Butterfield points out, we must first hate our sin. And hating our sin means separating ourselves from it and refusing to identify with it.

“How can any of us fight a sin that we don’t hate? Hating our own sin is a key component to doing battle with it. At the same time, we need to separate ourselves from the sin we hate. This can be a very challenging issue for a Christian who experiences SSA, an issue that becomes exceedingly more challenging if one assumes the social identity of ‘gay Christian.’”

Butterfield is profoundly correct in pointing out that it be will hard to separate from any sin with which we choose to identify. Just as we don’t celebrate “alcoholic Christians” or racist Christians,” neither should we be willing to celebrate “gay Christians.” It is not proper for us to celebrate any sin, much less to identify with it.

For Christians, especially pastors, it is imperative to emphasize our identity in Christ as being the only identity of value. In the Gospel there is an equality that transcends any artificial equality our culture seeks to produce. Sam Allberry, speaking of his recent conversations on college campuses with LGBT students, reminds us of the “level ground” found in the cross:

“It just hit me that there is a kind of equality you get with the message of Jesus that you don’t get in a secular society that prides itself on equality. Again, I’m not going to say to someone what I can’t say to everyone. I’m trying to show them the gospel isn’t unfair. It has the same humbling, challenging message to all of us that will work its way out in slightly different ways. But I wanted them to know that actually, the ground around the cross is level ground.”

Level indeed. Around the cross we are all sinners in need of salvation. Around the cross we all seek (and find) grace to forgive our sins. And it is around the cross that we share a single identity as followers of Jesus Christ. The ultimate equality – transcending race, gender, sexuality – is at the foot of the cross.

This is a good reminder for every Christian that engages in conversation with people. The Gospel identifies people only as sinners. The particular sin doesn’t matter, only that we are sinners. The other side of the Gospel, where a person is redeemed and being sanctified, identifies people only as forgiven believers. Any attempt to identify people otherwise (race, sexuality) is to step away from the Gospel and the cross and see people in a way that God does not see them.

If we want to bring people to a place where identity doesn’t matter and equality reigns supreme, let us bring people to the cross. It’s here that we can find a new, lasting identity that we can truly boast in.

Archives

↑ Back To Top ↑
%d bloggers like this: