S5, Ep. 3: The Call

It is impossible for non-affirming Christians to maintain the traditional interpretation of Scripture regarding same-sex relationships without modifying the biblical interpretation of celibacy. In this episode, Mandi explains the conflict.

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Transcript

Mandi: Mandi A. here welcoming you to my podcast - Find Your Beautiful: Life Through the Eyes of a Christian Disabled Woman.  

[Upbeat Background Music]

Mandi: In the last 2 episodes we talked about why I agree with the notion that we have been misinterpreting what the bible says about same-sex relationships. The first point I made is that Jesus teaches that good trees produce good fruit. The fruit that has resulted from the teachings about same-sex relationships haven't been good as evidenced by the mental health crisis many members of the LGBTQIA* community face due to rejection, isolation and outright hate crimes. Second, the concept of sexual orientation did not exist during bible times. In fact, the people of ancient times believed that anyone could desire and act on their desire for same-sex relations. The issue that was addressed was this idea of lack of self-control, lust and even gluttony. To be so sexually greedy that one would engage with members of the same sex was sinful. The bible does not address loving, committed, monogamous same-sex relationships.

We also explored the non-affirming Christians' belief that all gay people are called to practice celibacy if they choose not to mask and be in unfulfilling hetero relationships. I presented the basis of what I'll talk about today. If non-affirming Christians want to hold on to their traditional interpretation of Scripture on this issue, then they must be willing to release the traditional interpretation of celibacy.

This topic will span at least 2 episodes. Today I'll explore the role of human sexuality, give an overview of biblical celibacy and briefly highlight the three doctrines it is rooted in. I'll demonstrate how this understanding of biblical celibacy does not align with non-affirming Christians' mandate for people with same-sex attraction to remain celibate. Next week, we'll really hone in on the three doctrines celibacy is rooted in. Let's get started.

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Mandi: When most Christians, affirming and non-affirming, think about celibacy, it is usually associated with a higher calling, a spiritual gift. Some Christians think of people like Mother Theresa or maybe even Jesus himself. Throughout history, and in the bible, we see that biblical celibacy is something that is voluntary and not something that is forced or mandated. According to author Matthew Vines, celibacy is rooted in the goodness of creation, the fact of the Incarnation and the future hope of the resurrection. 

Before delving further into this, it's important for us to go back to the Old Testament, specifically the creation in Genesis, so we can take a deeper look at the purpose of human sexuality. In Genesis 1, we find God speaking creation onto existence and at the completion of each day new things are created, God sees all that he has made and "it was very good." However, we get to Genesis 2:18, where God finds something that is in fact not good. This verse reads, "It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a him a suitable helper." God proceeds to create Eve, the first woman, from Adam's rib. Reading a bit further down to Genesis 2:24-25, God tells us, "That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. Adam and his wife were both naked and they felt no shame." At this point, it may seem like I'm about to argue on the side of non-affirming Christians because this all happened before sin was introduced into the world, before The Fall. Therefore, non-affirming Christians typically say that this marriage of man and woman and the one flesh union is God's ideal, making same-sex relations and unions against God. However, we need to zoom in on the account of Eve's creation. As God chose to make the process of reproduction and procreation in the way that he did, then it was necessary that the first two people created be opposite sex and gender. Yet, when we read about God's creation of Eve, we do not read that Adam needed a sexual partner to procreate and this is why she was created. Genesis 2:18 told us that Adam was alone and being alone was not good. The verse also says he needed a suitable helper. Though Adam was surrounded by all of creation, including all of the animals, he needed, according to God, another human to prevent him from being alone. Adam needed someone similar to him, much more similar than animals. As we continue to dig into Genesis 2, we find Adam commenting on the similarities he shares with his wife, those things that make her, and not the birds or the other animals, a suitable partner for him. Adam remarks on their similarities, "Bone of my bone, flesh of my flesh," and in verse 23 he says, "So she shall be called 'woman,' for she was taken out of man. While we will explore the significance of "one flesh" in a future episode, I hope you can see that in the account of Eve's creation, the things that made her a suitable partner for Adam are in their similarities, not their differences. We'll come back and look at this again, but hold on to this for now.

Let me shift into the New Testament and begin to specifically address biblical celibacy. In the book of Matthew, Jesus tells the Pharisees that a man may not divorce his wife. As a quick aside, this is a "sin" the church is often more lenient on than same-sex relationships and abortion, but I'll digress. In response to Jesus' words, Matthew 19:10 tells us the Pharisees say, "If this is the case between a husband and a wife, it is better not to marry." In verses 11-12 Jesus says, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given" and then he tells the Pharisees about the three groups of men who do not marry. The first are people who are born eunuchs. The second are people who are essentially castrated and are made eunuchs by other people. The third and last group Jesus lists are those who choose to live like eunuchs for the sake of the Kingdom, or in other words people who choose celibacy because of their Kingdom calling, with choose being the operative word. At no point does Jesus say that people with same-sex attraction do not marry or have sex. Jesus gives us a basic principle to follow, those who can accept the gift of celibacy should, but those who can't should get married. An argument by non-affirming Christians may be made using verses like Matthew 19:4-5, "Haven't you read...that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'?" The argument here is that Jesus is recommending marriage for heterosexuals who lack the gift of celibacy and that same-sex marriage violates God's ideal. However, as we concluded in last week's episode the concept of sexual orientation didn't exist in ancient biblical history. I can concede that neither Jesus nor Paul explicitly endorse same-sex marriages. However, neither did they mandate that those with same-sex attraction be celibate. We can only interpret the principle of biblical celibacy here and how we can put that into practice today. It is clear that the bible tells us that celibacy is a spiritual gift and not everyone has this gift. The bible does not support mandatory celibacy. 

Non-affirming Christians may be thinking that it is possible that everyone with a same-sex attraction has been given the gift of celibacy. While it is and should be expected that denying oneself to honor Christ is really hard, we should be able to safely predict that people with the gift of celibacy are not being severely damaged by this gift. However, we have already discussed some of the detrimental effects this mandate of celibacy is having on the LGBTQIA* community. It is more plausible to believe that some gay Christians do not have the gift. With this in mind, non-affirming Christians cannot mandate celibacy and call it biblical because the Word tells us it is a gift. Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 7 Paul indicates that knowing who has the gift of celibacy is a matter of self-discernment. If non-affirming Christians want to hold on to the traditional interpretation of Scripture regarding same-sex marriages, then they must be willing to modify their interpretation of biblical celibacy.  

    

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Mandi: If you listened all the way through, thank you! Whether you're listening to prove me wrong, or because you are seeking how you can reconcile your faith with affirmation of the LGBTQIA* community, I'm grateful for your time. 

If you find value in my podcast, please leave a review on my on my website at mandiboxbeauty.com. You can also connect with me on Instagram and Facebook at MandiBox Beauty. 

[Mandi voiceover to 'Compton' music]:  Next week, we'll be talking about the three doctrines biblical celibacy is rooted in! ‘Til next time Beauties.