This information has been updated to correct some previous misunderstandings.
This series addresses the categories people have created to define Christian attitudes toward LGBTQ behavior. For the Full Series, see What Side Are You On? And please read the introduction before reading this post: Which Side Are You On: A, B, X, or Y?
Side X is our third category to discuss and it originally meant x-gay. It included former homosexuals who had come to Christ and left their sinful lifestyles. And it included all Christians who believed the biblical teaching on homosexuality.
Some resources I found claimed that over time, some teachings associated with Side X reflected biblical misunderstandings, so a fourth category came into being - Side Y. In some resources it is defined as a view in between Side X and Side B. If that's the case, it's not biblical.
Other resources explain it is a Side that wants people to understand that our sexual identity is not ontological, not something assigned at birth. Instead, it's a sin like other sins and we must deal with it as we deal with other sins. This explanation is fully biblical.
While they don't identify their belief as Side Y, this belief about sexual identity is expressed in the excellent video Christians Sexual Ethics. If you want to specifically hear the explanation of sexual identity, you can go to to minute 37 of the video.
Until I find more clarity about Side X and Side Y, I won't describe myself as any category. I will simply say that I believe what Scripture teaches about our ability to overcome both sinful desires and sinful actions through faith in Christ and the renewal of our hearts and minds in God's Word. I believe that with sincere repentance we can become more like our Lord day by day, learning to reject sinful desires and embrace God's purposes.
And that applies to every sin. We cannot "coddle" sexual sins simply because our culture promotes them. Nor can we downplay the serious damage they do to our hearts (1 Corinthians 6:18).
It can be a difficult to stand firmly against popular rhetoric and distorted definitions of love and sexuality, but it's part of genuine faith (John 15:18-19; John 16:33).
We must let our love for God be our greatest motivation and our love for our fellowman should flow from God's love. And that means we don't create exceptions to God's laws and we don't "sugar-coat" His strong warnings, because we know the importance of rescuing people from earthly sorrow and eternal condemnation. Why? because we ourselves have been rescued!
Additional Resources:
Three Things that Helped David Stand Firm.
Rosario Butterfield Speaks at a Christian University
Rosario Butterfield: Threat of Side B Theology
No comments:
Post a Comment