Everyone is gay...

I was reflecting on the American preoccupation with whether or not people are gay (or lesbian, bisexual or straight). The LGBT lobby has control of the debate by insisting that sexual identity is an essential aspect of a person's being. It is who they are and so it is on a par with skin color or gender.

So I concluded that everyone is gay.

According to LGBT thought, if a person is sexually attracted only to the opposite sex he/she is heterosexual. If the person is sexually attracted to both the opposite sex and the same sex he/she is bisexual. If the person is sexually attracted only to the same sex he/she is homosexual (i.e., gay/lesbian).

To summarize this bluntly, people are defined by what they are aroused by. Erotic fantasies are orientation and that leads to action and that is the basis for sexual identity. The libido leads the ego, with more or less struggle from the superego. One person is heterosexual. Another is homosexual. What is the difference?

Well, that is my point exactly! What is the difference? If your sexual identity is determined by your erotic feelings, how could it make any difference if you are heterosexual or homosexual or bisexual? The basic guideline for all is, "Do what you feel like doing!"

Indeed: "If it feels good do it. It is who you are! Why should you care what anyone else thinks? Hold up your head and show your pride!"


This started by equating sexual stimulation with love. If you were sexually attracted to someone you said you loved them. But if those feelings faded and you had more sexual attraction to another person, you must have fallen out of love with the first person and into love with the next. If this is the basis of love, what difference does it make what or who is the object of that "love?"

Our culture tells us what physical characteristics are attractive and what relationships and behaviors are permissible. Our contrarian anti-authority nature might then find even more stimulation in going beyond the taboos to find stimulation outside the culture's "normal" boundaries. Various kinds of visual and literary pornography cater to virtually every sexual fantasy that can be imagined.


There is no real difference between someone who is identified by his heterosexual attractions and a person who is identified by his homosexual attractions. If a person really lives by and identifies himself by his erotic feelings, one identity is no better or worse than another. In that sense EVERYONE (that is defined by his or her erotic feelings) IS GAY.

But the biblical perspective is quite different. From a biblical perspective, nobody is "gay."

More on this later.

Is Everybody GAY?

I was doing some online research about a particular modern religion. Along the way I found some people who were claiming that one of the famous adherents to that religion is "gay." That made me pause to consider the fascination of our society with the "sexual identity" of people. Who is gay? Who is straight? Who is lesbian, transgendered, or bisexual? Someone "comes out of the closet" and someone else is "outed." Rumors fly about this person or that person.

Why is this so entertaining? Is it truly important?

Sex is different than "sexual identity." In humans males have X and Y chromosomes, while females have two X chromosomes. Generally speaking adult males and females have certain physical characteristics that are more or less obvious.

But sexual identity and sexual orientation are not limited by XX or XY chromosome combinations or any other physical characteristics. Some people identify themselves as gay or lesbian. By this, they are saying that they are sexually attracted to people of the same physical gender as themselves. Bisexuals are sexually attracted to both men and women. Transgendered persons say that they identify with whatever gender they are not.

Now the LGBT lobby has won the day in their march to define the debate over homosexuality. They have portrayed sexual orientation as a matter of essential being rather than as a choice that people make. As such, they claim that sexual orientation should be recognized as a civil right. After all, their sexual orientation is just as much a part of their being as is their ethnic identity (or, ironically, their gender.)

I say they have won on the strength of the fact that more and more people are supportive of same-sex marriages. Several state supreme courts have accepted the LGBT framework as the basis for approving same-sex marriages and even for vacating California's referendum against same-sex marriages. People who "come out" as LGBT are often portrayed in media as courageous heroes, while people who oppose even some aspect of the LGBT agenda (like gay marriage) are accused of hate speech and face threats, protests and boycotts. (It is an interesting to note who behaves hatefully and and who behaves civilly in these disagreements.)

I think it is fair to say, "Everyone Is Gay."  I'll explain that statement in another post.

The Unfolding Story

Films are not very long. What - maybe two hours?
Television shows are even shorter - a half hour with many commercial breaks.

My thought is that we get used to having stories told in a pretty short period of time. The plot unfolds quickly. Some conflict or problem is confronted, then resolved more or less neatly.

Even so, I don't handle the tension well. When the situation gets tense in the program, I cover my eyes or get up and pace or go to the kitchen. While I am gone the story moves along. I can't even stand the few seconds of tension. I take a break and come back when we are closer to the resolution. (Much to her chagrin, I also have to ask my wife, "What happened while I was gone?")

This is, of course, bad training for life. We get used to quick resolution of the stories and we kind of expect a quick resolution of the stories of our lives.

My baby sister, Cindy, has just started a life and death battle with breast cancer. Two weeks ago she had surgery. Now she is healing up from that, learning what pathology discovered about her cancer and planning for the next steps of chemotherapy, radiation and reconstruction. Today she was talking about three years down the road...

I would like to cover my eyes, pace around or go to the kitchen for a snack...

But this is real life. It isn't going to be resolved quickly. I can't take a break and I'm not sure what the resolution will be. The pain is not fictional pain portrayed by actors. It is real pain - suffered by my sister, by her husband and sons, by our parents... by me.

There is no fast forward - and since I don't know where this story will go - I'm not sure I want to hurry past the present. The time - even with the pain - is precious. The future is always uncertain, but now we feel it intensely.

But here is what I DO know.

God is faithful. All the pain will be worthwhile in the eternal story that is unfolding. The present difficulties provide the canvas on which God will paint the beautiful truth of His sufficiency - His goodness and grace.

We didn't get to choose the circumstances, but we do get to choose how we will respond. So we will pray and hope and call and encourage and pray some more. And we will watch the WHOLE story to see how God will use these things for His good purposes.

Jesus Is Unchanging!

The scripture says, "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." (Hebrews 13:8)

This assertion comes in the middle of general instructions to the believers toward the end of the book of Hebrews. These people were experiencing difficult times of persecution, and the fact that Jesus is unchanging is a source or reassurance.

"Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”  So we may boldly say: “The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5–6) 

Jesus can fulfill his promises to us because he is eternally unchanged and unchanging. His love, his power, his purposes, his provision are rock solid. We are secure in him!

Did you ever wonder how Jesus could become a man without changing? And how could he grow from infancy to adulthood without changing? And how could he die, be resurrected and then glorified at the Father's right hand without changing?

The answer is that you are not your body. The changes to your body are not changes to the essential you! The same person who preexisted as God the Son took on human flesh through the virgin birth... and continued to be himself, but now in human flesh.

Another point is that neither material things in general, nor human beings in particular are essentially evil (as the Gnostics taught.) The virgin birth is important because Jesus was a new beginning in humanity - a second Adam - and sinless. Unlike the first Adam, Jesus did not succumb to temptation, but lived sinlessly so that he could pay the penalty for our sin.

Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever!

It is a wonderful truth!

Congratulations

Wow!

David & Jess are married and beginning their happily ever after.