Celebrate Sexual Ethics. Don’t Apologize for Them by ANDREA PALPANT DILLEY for
We can take pride and joy in the historic, biblical view of human sexuality.
Over the last five years, an increasing number of believers have changed their stance on sexual ethics and slipped from the grounded banks of orthodoxy into the current of the times. Several public figures, in particular, have come out as “affirming” and brought thousands with them. Those of us with a historic, biblical view feel at times defensive or discouraged, and our posture—quite understandably—is one of “holding our ground” against theological erosion.
In the midst of this tumult, we risk losing sight of what the church has to offer: not just a critique of false teaching (although that’s needed) but an alternative model, a bold vision of how orthodoxy enables deep, well-ordered love. As we encourage others to “stay on the bank,” we have the privilege of pointing them toward a picture that reveals God’s purpose for human sexuality.
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We love helping others and believe that’s one of the reasons we are chosen as Ambassadors of the Kingdom, to serve God’s children. We look to the Greatest Commandment as our Powering force.
Although the prohibitions of Scripture look to many like loveless, heartless “don’ts,” these commands grow out of a positive vision of human flourishing. Ask almost any same-sex attracted, abstinent Christian and they’ll tell you this vision requires imagination, sacrifice, and even suffering. But they’ll also tell you that it comes with freedom—not the freedom of libertinism but the freedom of aligning with the divine design for human intimacy. We publish their testimonies year after year because we believe their lives manifest the hard-won goodness of following God’s Word.
Church history offers another witness. For over 2,000 years, the church has been teaching a robust biblical anthropology, and we take seriously the cumulative weight of that teaching. The Holy Spirit, too, adds to the image. Some who’ve recently embraced a progressive view claim to have heard the Spirit’s prompting, but we believe his call never contradicts biblical truth.
