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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.
Roots and Fruits
Galatians 5:22-23
22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
The Parable of the tenants
He went on to tell the people this parable: “A man planted a vineyard, rented it to some farmers and went away for a long time. At harvest time he sent a servant to the tenants so they would give him some of the fruit of the vineyard. But the tenants beat him and sent him away empty-handed. He sent another servant, but that one also they beat and treated shamefully and sent away empty-handed. He sent still a third, and they wounded him and threw him out.
“Then the owner of the vineyard said, ‘What shall I do? I will send my son, whom I love; perhaps they will respect him.’
“But when the tenants saw him, they talked the matter over. ‘This is the heir,’ they said. ‘Let’s kill him, and the inheritance will be ours.’ So they threw him out of the vineyard and killed him.
“What then will the owner of the vineyard do to them? He will come and kill those tenants and give the vineyard to others.”
When the people heard this, they said, “God forbid!”
Jesus looked directly at them and asked, “Then what is the meaning of that which is written:
“‘The stone the builders rejected
has become the cornerstone’?
Everyone who falls on that stone will be broken to pieces; anyone on whom it falls will be crushed.”
Luke 20
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.
