Our Students and the Normalizing of Perversion
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Our Students and the Normalizing of Perversion
Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Ro 1:32)
Have you noticed the pervasive promotion of perversion? It seems everywhere we turn that which was at one time unspeakable is now heralded as normal, something to be celebrated and embraced as a sign of enlightenment, tolerance, and sophistication. An example is Indeed’s job posting site which is explicit about the celebration and normalization of perversion.
Clicking on “Let’s celebrate” takes one to this statement:
Pronouns are powerful
Happy Pride! Showing up as your authentic self means a happier, healthier work life for everyone. For a simple way to get involved, share your pronouns in your email signature, chat or video profile to help normalize and encourage authenticity at work. [emphasis added]
This normalization process is further promoted in their recent commercial.
Indeed is but one example of promoting perversion. Thousands of examples can be found from across industries, from politicians, government agencies and more.
Confusion Leads to Compromise
The promotion and celebration of perversion is pervasive and for many of our young people, persuasive. It is persuasive in part because there is confusion about how we are to love and respect our neighbors while simultaneously addressing sinful behavior.
Many Christians struggle with the tension. I recently had a conversation with an adult who struggled with this very issue. She has a gay family member. She was convinced that to condemn homosexual behavior was a violation of the command to love others.
This confusion arises from a misunderstanding of biblical love. Nowhere in the Bible is love equated with compromising God’s standards for human behavior. In fact, biblical love is not acquiescence to sinful behavior. Biblical love is a determination to do good to others, to promote their welfare. If we believe what the Bible teaches from Genesis to Revelation that we must all give an account for our sins, then the most unloving thing we can do is to leave people believing that they will not face God’s judgment for their sins. Speaking truthfully about sin and its consequences is loving; failure to do so is one of the most unloving things one can do to another soul. As C. S. Lewis wrote:1
It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, to remember that the dullest and most uninteresting person you can talk to may one day be a creature which, if you saw it now, you would be strongly tempted to worship, or else a horror and a corruption such as you now meet, if at all, only in a nightmare. All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics.
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit—immortal horrors or everlasting splendors.
Hell
We don’t talk much or at all about hell. When was the last time you heard a hard sermon about God’s wrath and hell? I can’t remember the last time I heard one. Talking about hell, judgment, condemnation and death are not popular subjects. They are certainly not politically correct. But the subject of hell, judgment and condemnation is one of the most frequently addressed topics in the Bible, including by Jesus. Consider these examples:
O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed.
He will render to each one according to his works: to those who by patience in well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will give eternal life; but for those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury. There will be tribulation and distress for every human being who does evil, the Jew first and also the Greek, but glory and honor and peace for everyone who does good, the Jew first and also the Greek. For God shows no partiality. (Ro 2:3–11)
For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil. (2 Co 5:10)
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. (Ga 5:19–21)
Equally politically incorrect are sermons like the one preached by Jonathan Edwards, Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God. Here is a short, uncomfortable excerpt from his sermon:
The use of this awful subject may be for awakening unconverted persons in this congregation. This that you have heard is the case of every one of you that are out of Christ. — That world of misery, that lake of burning brimstone, is extended abroad under you.
There is the dreadful pit of the glowing flames of the wrath of God; there is hell's wide gaping mouth open; and you have nothing to stand upon, nor any thing to take hold of; there is nothing between you and hell but the air; it is only the power and mere pleasure of God that holds you up. You probably are not sensible of this; you find you are kept out of hell, but do not see the hand of God in it; but look at other things, as the good state of your bodily constitution, your care of your own life, and the means you use for your own preservation.
But indeed these things are nothing; if God should withdraw his hand, they would avail no more to keep you from falling, than the thin air to hold up a person that is suspended in it. Your wickedness makes you as it were heavy as lead, and to tend downwards with great weight and pressure towards hell; and if God should let you go, you would immediately sink and swiftly descend and plunge into the bottomless gulf; and your healthy constitution, and your own care and prudence, and best contrivance, and all your righteousness, would have no more influence to uphold you and keep you out of hell, than a spider's web would have to stop a falling rock.2
It is critically important to understand that the teaching of Jesus and the apostles, and the sermon by Edwards, are not mean spirited, self-righteous, unloving condemnations of others. To the contrary! They are truthful, forthright and loving exhortations to repentance so that the sinner can, by God’s grace, escape the awful and inevitable wrath of God.
Jesus said, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (Jn 8:31–32) What did Jesus mean when he said the truth will set you free? The Greek word used in this passage is eleutheroo, to deliver. The same Greek word is used in Romans 8:21, “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.” The opposite of being free is to be enslaved to the corruption of human nature, to the futility of one’s mind and to be darkened in one’s understanding and enslaved to sin.
Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. (Eph. 4:17-19)
In his beautiful exposition of John 8:31-32, Matthew Henry writes:
The knowing, entertaining, and believing, of this truth … make[s] us free, free from prejudices, mistakes, and false notions … free from the dominion of lust and passion; and restores the soul to the government of itself, by reducing it into obedience to its Creator.
The mind, by admitting the truth of Christ in the light and power, is vastly enlarged, and has scope and compass given it, is greatly elevated and raised above things of sense, and never acts with so true a liberty as when it acts under a divine command, 2 Co. 3:17. The enemies of Christianity pretend to free thinking, whereas really those are the freest reasonings that are guided by faith, and those are men of free thought whose thoughts are captivated and brought into obedience to Christ.3
Jesus Loved Sinners and Insisted on Repentance
Because Jesus loves sinners he insisted on repentance so that the sinner can, by God’s grace, escape the awful and inevitable wrath of God. Throughout the Gospels we read Jesus telling sinners to “sin no more.” (Jn. 5:14, 8:11) Biblical, Christ honoring love does not lie to the sinner by implying that his or her sin is acceptable. Biblical love earnestly implores the sinner to repent.
Likewise, Edward’s motivation was quite literally to “scare the hell out of this congregation.” Toward the end of his sermon Edwards implores those in the congregation who may not know Christ to come to Him for mercy and forgiveness.
And now you have an extraordinary opportunity, a day wherein Christ has thrown the door of mercy wide open, and stands in calling and crying with a loud voice to poor sinners; a day wherein many are flocking to him, and pressing into the kingdom of God. Many are daily coming from the east, west, north and south; many that were very lately in the same miserable condition that you are in, are now in a happy state, with their hearts filled with love to him who has loved them, and washed them from their sins in his own blood, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God. How awful is it to be left behind at such a day! To see so many others feasting, while you are pining and perishing! To see so many rejoicing and singing for joy of heart, while you have cause to mourn for sorrow of heart, and howl for vexation of spirit! How can you rest one moment in such a condition? Are not your souls as precious as the souls of the people at Suffield,* where they are flocking from day to day to Christ? … Therefore, let every one that is out of Christ, now awake and fly from the wrath to come. The wrath of Almighty God is now undoubtedly hanging over a great part of this congregation. Let every one fly out of Sodom: "Haste and escape for your lives.
Protecting Our Students From Perversion
A primary goal of the Christian school is to help students discern the truth about God, themselves, and their world—to develop an increasingly sophisticated and comprehensive biblical worldview so that they are, by the grace of God, are not be conformed to this world, but are transformed by the renewing of their minds so that they can discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2) As Wilhelm von Humboldt, founder of the Humboldt University of Berlin put it, “the [teacher] is not there for the student and the student not for the [teacher]. Both are only there for the truth.”4
The truth is that sin kills. Homosexuality and denying one’s God given gender is rebellion against God and will result in God’s condemnation. This is the truth.
It has been well documented that younger generations are more accepting of homosexuality, gay marriage, gender fluidity5 and other perversions of nature and of biblical teaching than past generations. If we are serious about helping our students to develop the heart and mind of Christ, we must be prayerfully and thoughtfully forthright in helping them wrestle with the falsehoods of this world so that they learn to “take every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” (2 Cor 10:5) The following suggestions may be helpful in this mission.
Strengthen your Bible department and the biblical literacy of administrators, faculty, and students. It is not possible to teach a biblical worldview without good biblical theology undergirding it. It is a mistake to assume a certain level of biblical literacy. Biblical literacy has been declining for decades.
At grade appropriate levels and with prior communication with parents, teach units on homosexuality, gay marriage, transgenderism, gender expression and identity, etc., and what the Bible has to say about such matters. Use videos, newscasts, articles, podcast, and books to bring the subject alive and current for students. Prudently use the images, words, videos and arguments by advocates of perversion so that students are increasingly equipped to deal with sophisticated arguments in support of unbiblical ideas and behaviors.
Teach staff and students what biblical love is in contrast to the world’s definition.
Do not assume the salvation of your students—appropriately, prayerfully, consistently and wisely share the Gospel.
Strengthen your employment contracts to be explicit about the school’s expectations and position on matters of human sexuality and what is expected of all employees.
Be respectful, kind, loving, and humble but firm and uncompromising regarding biblical truth.
May God grant us the wisdom and the grace to love others biblically by teaching them the truth that will set them free!
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1 Lewis, C. S., & Hooper, W. (1980). The weight of glory, and other addresses. http://www.getcited.org/pub/102065429
2 Edwards, J. (2017). Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and Other Sermons. http://books.google.com/books?id=QQXCtAEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
3 Henry, M. (1991). Matthew Henry’s commentary on the whole Bible. Hendrickson Publishers, Inc.
4 Ahrens, S. (2017). How to Take Smart Notes, p.36 Createspace Independent Publishing Platform. http://books.google.com/books?id=DGMTzgEACAAJ&hl=&source=gbs_api
5 For a definition see Wise, S. L. K. (2020). Gender fluidity: What it means and why support matters - Harvard Health. https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/gender-fluidity-what-it-means-and-why-support-matters-2020120321544