It is no secret to anyone that today traditional Christian values about family and sexuality are strongly attacked and questioned, it is the proposal to deconstruct these values, generated mainly in the philosophical contexts of modernity, today felt daily in universities, in the media segments, in the contexts of opinion-formers, in organized movements , in the traditional institutions of Western democratic regimes, and finally, does it reach kindergarten classes?She also arrives at churches and evangelical denominations, anyway she came to your house and knocked on your door, or maybe she already came in.
In short, when it comes to understanding what the family is, the Christian historical functionalist conception is questioned. New revisions to the concepts of parenthood, in the relationship between spouses and between parents and children, are felt in psychology, pedagogies and legislation. With regard to sexuality, the understanding of that?And sex, are they not synonymous concepts; the former would be derived from biology (not exactly fixed and immutable, according to some), while the second would be a fully changing contextual sociocultural construction. They increase the acronyms that expose “gender identities”; and, if gender were a socially established construct, gender identities would result from an individual’s understanding of their person and sexuality and the consequent expression of that understanding. Finally, does sexual desire define an ontology today?sexual orientation?would it be, in this new paradigm (if we can talk about a single paradigm or even the existence of one), the?Path, to which the person understands his sexual desire. Some understand that repressing or censoring this desire can be a prejudice or a crime.
- In short.
- In the field of family and sexuality.
- The world now lives a “revolution”.
- Culture.
- Which has been gaining in physiomic clarity since the post-war period.
- From different points of view.
- I understand.
- This is an unreleased review today.
- From one point of view.
- This proposal of deconstruction.
- Of course.
- Is not entirely new; under others.
- However.
- It is.
- In fact.
- Very new and unprecedented in history.
- Careful reading of the history of culture can easily prove it.
And at this point, we approach the evangelical churches of the West and the institutions created by them, especially those attached to the biblical precept. How to respond to the Revolution? Of course, the answers here have a wide spectrum, so it’s hard to imagine in a text as brief as this. Among these answers, one of them may suggest that we should not deal with these things without first preaching the gospel to society. Therefore, there would be an insurmountable gap between secular culture and biblical worldview, so that without prior understanding of the gospel, it would not be possible to address culture on such issues. Others, in turn, may suggest that our approach to this revolution of family and sexuality is exclusively in the ecclesiastical or orbital terrain, with the primacy of preaching in its application; in short, the approach is for the flock, always in its context, invariably from it; and the great challenge would then be a preaching that provides for an objective, relevant and contextual application of the biblical concept to these requirements.
The crucial nature of the gospel and preaching is, for us, imponderable. Our world view has the gospel in its heart, and without it nothing is closed. Leaving the gospel behind, is there a big hole? You will not find a satisfactory patch, and is the proclamation of the Word of God a precious legacy that comes from prophets, Christ, and apostles?and he goes to church, but also in a way relevant to all this world; however, we may place our appreciation of the gospel and preaching in the context of rigid dispensational or deficient hermeneutic cuts rather than institutions and their respective spheres.
When we open our Bible in the first two chapters, we see that God created family and sexuality before the Fall. This information seems simplistic, but it certainly isn’t. This has crucial implications, among which, according to the Bible, the ideal of the Creator. for family and sexuality is for the humanity he has created. True, the effect of the Fall implies an urgent need to redeem family and sexuality, but both must be preserved as institutions of divine Creation. Ideally they integrated the initial situation. Neglect, confusion, or inaccuracy at this fundamental point can lead (and have led) to inappropriate approaches by the Church, as well as mismanagement.
A second important point is that before the Fall the Law was already present, both by affirmative precept and by prohibition. “Of all the trees in the garden, you will eat freely. ” Is a? Yes? very large, perhaps inexhaustible. But it was added: “but you shall not eat from the tree. ” The law is grace; teaches us to live well. It reflects God’s ideal. And without the knowledge of the law, you don’t get the full knowledge of sin. Luther observed (it seems to me with great success) that only the theologian can correctly distinguish and preach the law and the gospel. Note: we must distinguish them, but also preach them. The preaching of the Baptist, who calls to “repentance”, and that of Christ, when he announces “repent and believe in the Gospel”, necessarily implied a great ancestral history, and in particular thirty-nine books of our Bible. And the law has something to say to every man. This is God’s ideal for all humanity. It is the ethical reference point of the Creator. Therefore, it is in this law that the family and sexuality are protected. That is why it is said in the Decalogue: “Honor your father and your mother”; and also: “you are not going to adulterate. “
The relevance of these two points, in addition to being ubiquitous, is extremely crucial at the moment, especially in our country. Preach one? To dispense with the law is a bad business; and where the gospel does not prosper, the rule of law remains unchanged; However, God’s righteousness lies in the gospel of grace. This must be said to every human being. Such a request will be disclosed whenever we have to position ourselves against current legislation; or in the face of a pedagogical proposal or even a daily problem, such as demonstrations, activism, marches, and Pride Day?
However, how to put it? That is the question. Was it by force? By violence? Because of state authoritarianism? The political lobby? By tricks and skirmishes, youthful and carnal, disputes of relevance, power and prestige? By simple eloquence? For throwing the crushing stone of influence on the other? Is there nothing in our worldview that is reasonably put on the minds of those who do not know or despise the gospel? This is certainly not the case, and history, including that of our country, shows it. I cite a simple example: a few days ago two Christians were speaking. One of them spoke of his incredulous neighbor. He said, “My neighbor is not a converted Christian. Unfortunately, you have not understood the Gospel until now. But he values monogamous marriage; You believe you have a responsibility to meet the needs and lead your family. You know you shouldn’t be unfaithful to your wife? And now he and his wife have great struggles, and even suffer, with their daughter because she understands that she can bring her boyfriend to have sex inside their house. What are you saying? Will this Christian not have closeness to his neighbor, if not the strict preaching of the Gospel? (And I plan to say it did. ) And just like this incredulous neighbor, there are still thousands and thousands in our country. I am not saying that all who defend these beliefs act completely in accordance with them. And at this point do you have to remember that, in the end, it was all of Christ who was fully consistent? But it is evident that many unbelievers struggle, by the common grace of God, with their faults, arising from a sensitive conscience and which have received Christian influence, directly or indirectly. Faults for which the gospel proposes an oil sauce? We therefore confirm the immense relevance of this good influence today, in the different areas of our institutions.
If we want to influence this generation, we need to know very well what we believe and need to know what they believed, the prophetic witness lies in this intentionality, so, in this context of the directed Revolution, family and sexual ethics, we ask ourselves two crucial questions:
I am sure that the answers to these questions can indicate the meaning of the approach of the evangelical Christian Churches, guided by the principle of Sola Scriptura, with our current culture, which remains determined to make man the measure of all things.