Wisely Responding to the Sexual Revolution
I attended a lecture by Glynn Harrison recently on this vital (and polarising) topic. He brought a lot of wisdom to bear on the matter of how to respond sensitively as a Christian to widespread changes in thinking on what is or isn't acceptable on the sexual morality front.
In particular his comments on posture (sorry-thankyou-please-never) and dissection of why soft power is so attractive were really helpful. As a Christian I found it particularly useful to listen to the 'better story' that - when properly understood¹ - is incredibly liberating.
My full sketch notes can be downloaded here (7megs).
¹ meaning: when not being used for power games or ideological land-grab antics.
Shrivelled and Swept Away
All of us have become like one who is unclean,
and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;
we all shrivel up like a leaf,
and like the wind our sins sweep us away.
Speech/actions
1 John 3:18
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Passing away
1 John 2:15-17
15 Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. 16 For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. 17 The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever.
Outline Themes of 1John
5:21 Dear children, keep yourselves from idols.
1. God in the flesh=Jesus Christ
2. Jesus Christ defines love in His Cross-work.
3. Christian identity is expressed in the same standard of love as Jesus.
4. There is no room for habitual sinning, so remember that...
5. Sinning is outdone/covered by Jesus’ sacrifice, so Christians regularly cling to this.
Idols=remaking God in our preferred image.
Keeping a true image of God=sticking closely to 1-5.
