1. Their straight orientation will most often be a source of life-long temptation and struggle.
| Although straight Christians should grow in holiness over the course of their life, they will most likely never reach a point where their orientation ceases to be a source of temptation in one way or another. So we must demand life-long vigilance against the temptation to simply do what feels natural based on their orientation. |  |
2. Straight people have been told that their sinful lust is just a normal part of human sexuality.
It's not. Humans have been created by God as sexual beings. But proper sexual desire is not the same as sinful lust that uses another person as a means to the end of pleasing oneself. Lust is a problem across the board. Straight lust does not somehow have a privileged standing with God because it's straight.
If the statistics are correct, around 2% of the American population identifies as gay or lesbian. Quantitatively, then, we should expect far more problems with straight people lusting than gay people lusting. It would be good if Christians kept that 98%/2% balance when they're highlighting sexual sin. I realize that questions about same-sex relationships are going to dominate the landscape right now, but we dare not give the perception that people sinning with the same sex is qualitatively different than people sinning with the opposite sex.
If the statistics are correct, around 2% of the American population identifies as gay or lesbian. Quantitatively, then, we should expect far more problems with straight people lusting than gay people lusting. It would be good if Christians kept that 98%/2% balance when they're highlighting sexual sin. I realize that questions about same-sex relationships are going to dominate the landscape right now, but we dare not give the perception that people sinning with the same sex is qualitatively different than people sinning with the opposite sex.
3. Straight people have been told that they have to have romantic and sexual relationships to be fulfilled as people.
Not true, at least according to 1 Corinthians 7. Although it's all over our culture, nowhere does Scripture say that one must be married or have a significant other to find fulfillment. Scripture does assume, I think, that many people will be married and it speaks highly of the value of marriage as an icon of Christ and the church. But it nowhere assumes that it is necessary as an essential part of the good life.
So we cannot affirm the common belief among straight people that romance and marriage are better than the single, celibate life. We must affirm, however, that community is necessary for the good life. And the church itself is called to be that community for everyone, married or single.
So we cannot affirm the common belief among straight people that romance and marriage are better than the single, celibate life. We must affirm, however, that community is necessary for the good life. And the church itself is called to be that community for everyone, married or single.
4. Straight people are constantly bombarded with images and stories of unbiblical practices of straight sexuality.
Take, for example, Modern Family. I'm not talking about Cam and Mitchell; I'm thinking Jay and Gloria. From a biblical perspective, Jay's divorce (prior to the timeline of the show) is, as far as I can tell, unbiblical. There were differences, I suppose, and he and his wife split. Unfortunately, no-fault divorce is to be expected among pagans but should not be practiced by Christians. Too many straight Christians, however, wring their hands over the gay marriage portrayed on the show without raising questions about the just-as-problematic straight marriage.
This is just one example. From magazine covers emphasizing lust, promiscuity, and sex as nothing more than technique to TV to movies, straight people are constantly and consistently being sold images and stories that are contrary to biblical teaching. The default view and practice of straight people in our culture--including straight Christians--is likely going to be profoundly unbiblical because we are so saturated with images and stories that form and shape us. So we dare not simply affirm the assumptions that straight people bring with them to the church.
This is just one example. From magazine covers emphasizing lust, promiscuity, and sex as nothing more than technique to TV to movies, straight people are constantly and consistently being sold images and stories that are contrary to biblical teaching. The default view and practice of straight people in our culture--including straight Christians--is likely going to be profoundly unbiblical because we are so saturated with images and stories that form and shape us. So we dare not simply affirm the assumptions that straight people bring with them to the church.
5. Straight people have been told by the church that their sexuality is mostly good but just needs tweaking.
That's not true. I think our churches need to be clear: we will welcome straight people into our congregations, but not without recognizing that their sexual orientation makes them susceptible to a whole host of sins. Although Christian marriage is a possibility for straight people, we need to be clear that there's nothing 'natural' about it. It is possible only by the supernatural grace and strength of the Holy Spirit who conforms us to the image of Christ, so that we may love and serve one another as we ought. We therefore cannot simply affirm straightness as inherently good. Instead, we must call straight Christians to let their sexuality die and be resurrected in light of Christ.
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