Why We Believe What We Believe on Human Sexuality

Human sexuality is among the most confusing and the most divisive issues in modern American culture. We believe that much cultural confusion has found its way into the church. For this reason, we want to clarify why we believe that God’s design for his children is celibacy in singleness and faithfulness in marriage between one man and one woman.

1. Marriage is the first institution God creates in Genesis 2:24. He creates it for a man and woman.

2. When Jesus could have redefined marriage in Matthew 19, he reinforced it instead. In fact, in Matthew 19:4, Jesus goes to great lengths to connect the holiness of marriage with the beauty of gender.

3. The biblical library is consistent in its assertions that homosexual intercourse is not God’s design for his people. From Leviticus 18 to Romans 1 to I Corinthians 6 and I Timothy 1, the bible’s conclusion is unanimous with no dissenting voices at all.

4. The historic church from its inception until modern times has been in complete agreement that marriage and sexual intimacy is for a man and a woman within the bonds of matrimony. This has only been questioned in Western Europe and North America since the sexual revolution of the 1960s. We are not willing to commit what C.S. Lewis calls “chronological snobbery” by saying all the generations reading the bible before us had it wrong, and only we in modern times have it right.

5. We support and embody the long-standing Methodist doctrine and language regarding homosexual individuals and homosexual practice: all people are of sacred worth and at the same time the practice of homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.

6. As a congregation, we stand with Christians for all time and in all parts of the globe in declaring that God has a beautiful design for sexuality, introduced in Genesis 2 and woven through the rest of the biblical library: one man and one woman in relational love that reflects Christ’s love for the church. This is why our church has a vision for Beautiful Marriages.

7. Ultimately, where we land on this particular teaching hinges on what is our source of wisdom. Many in our land note how higher education, network television, and the entertainment industry are emphatic on the matter of LGBTQIA+ inclusion. However, we want to remember that we have a far different source of wisdom and truth; I Corinthians 3:19 says, “For the wisdom of this world is foolishness in God’s sight.” There is therefore no reason to think that we have become smarter than Paul or more enlightened than Jesus when it comes to human sexuality.