Gender, sexuality and the Church

20 Mar, 2016 - 00:03 0 Views
Gender, sexuality and the Church Sunday Mail

The Sunday Mail

Bishop Prof Marvelous Mhloyi

GENDER and sexuality are two broad concepts deserving separate attention for meaningful and exhaustive discussion.

As such, the delimitation of this discussion is done in a manner that facilitates the highlighting of the key issues, and the commensurate key positions to be upheld. And the discussion is premised on the definitions of these three concepts: gender, sex and sexuality.

Gender and sexuality are concepts which have emerged and dominated the global discourse on reproductive health especially within this era of HIV and Aids, a pandemic which has reigned havoc in the African continent. These concepts are underpinned by a circular concept of “rights”, a value which entrenches independence of behaviour unguarded by any faith nor culture.

Gender “is used to describe the characteristics, roles and responsibilities of women and men, boys and girls, which are socially constructed. It is related to how we are perceived and expected to think and act as women and men because of the way society is organised, not because of our biological differences”.

While “sex” refers to the biological and physiological characteristics that define men and women, as they were created by God, sexuality, are the sexual feelings and attractions people have towards each other.

Within this era of HIV and Aids, the right to sexual orientation has been propounded as a necessary condition for interventions aimed at halting the spread of HIV.

This right to freedom of sexual expression has given rise to five labels that distinguish sexuality, that is: straight, for those who are attracted by the opposite sex, these are heterosexuals; gay or lesbian, those who are attracted by the same sex, male and female respectively; bisexual, those who are attracted to both males and females; and asexual, those who are not attracted to any sex at all.

Yet as respective cultures interface with others, they adopt and adapt certain foreign norms and values. Thus, norms and values change according to the wave currently sweeping the globe. They are transient.

On the other hand, Christianity is a faith that has norms and values that transcend epochs and cultural boundaries. Its norms and values do not change; they were, they are, they will continue to be. Christianity is a gospel of absolute truths as annunciated in the 66 books of the Bible – the lens through which the issues of gender, sexuality and the church are evaluated in this presentation.

Back-dropping on this definitional preamble, this paper will respond to four basic questions as follows:

First, how is the concept of gender portrayed in the Bible? In other words, what is the role of men and women in kingdom business?

Second, how is sexuality portrayed in the word of God? That is, what are the absolute truths about sexuality that should be propounded and lived by the church of the Most High God?

Third, how come the church is raising issues which have been since the creation of the world and mankind? And,

Finally, what is the way forward for the church of God in Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia, indeed the rest of the world which is simply God’s footstool?

Responses to these questions derive from the following verses:

“Then God said, Let us create man(generic for human beings)in our own image, in our likeness, and let them rule … in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. God blessed them and said to them, Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it…” (Genesis 1:26-28)

Gender, salvation and service

A historical progression of Christianity would give a clearer picture of the issues at hand. Complementarians and egalitarians would view the creative verse above to mean that the creation of man as male and female, in the image of God, indicates the equal value of women with men as being fully human, with equal dignity, worth and importance, while at the same time being distinct.

There is some general agreement on how the likeness of man to God is reflected in a number of attributes which man share with God, albeit at a significantly lower level, and these are: creativity, spirituality, intelligence, rationality, communicative abilities and moral responsibility.

These attributes are indeed products of the soul, and spirit, and not the body, which God does not possess. Although the creation of man was God’s apex in the creation process, there is a constant in the creation exercise: everything that has life and was meant to multiply, be it in the animal, or plant kingdoms, even among small and remote species such as bacteria, was created male and female.

Thus, in God’s plan, multiplication, and thus the sustenance of any species, needs the two sexes; male and female, as he created them.

And God, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, are neither male nor female; they do not multiply; they are the same yesterday, today and tomorrow. However, son of man, as given birth to by the physical male and female cannot be children of God unless they are born again.

As Jesus said: “. . .  no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born again . . . Flesh gives birth to flesh but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.” (John 3:5-6)

And John maintains, “To all who have received him, to those who believed in him, he gave the right to be called children of God.” (John 1:12)

This is the spiritual birthing of children of God, which are neither male nor female, given that the Father, the Son and Holy Spirit, who are the parent of all Christians, are without gender. Thus, the body of Christ multiplies through a birthing process, the concept meant for the multiplication of the physical species.

Indeed, the Church is for Christians, those who have been birthed by accepting Jesus Christ as their personal saviour; Christ who when He was going back to the Father promised that He would send the Holy Spirit to indwell every Christian, Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female for they are all one in Christ. (Galatians 3:28)

If this statement were not true verbatim, brethren in Africa, Europe, Asia, the Americas, indeed the whole world except the Israeli state, would be disqualified from running the Christian race.  It is this new birth that created the body of Christ which we are all part of, men and women as we are. And to both men and women who followed and choose to follow Jesus even today, Jesus fulfilled his promise that they would receive power when the Holy Spirit that he had promised them fell or falls upon them.

The Spirit marks the beginning of Christian experience. We cannot belong to Christ without his Spirit (Romans 8:9); we cannot be united to Christ without his Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17); we cannot be adopted as his children without his Spirit (Romans 8:14-17, Galatians 4:6, 7); we cannot be in the body of Christ except by baptism in the Spirit (1 Corithians 12-13). The Spirit is the power in our new lives. He begins a life- long process of changing us making us more like Christ (Galatians 3:3; Philippians 1:6).

When we receive Christ by faith, we begin an immediate personal relationship with God. The Spirit unites the Christian community in Christ (Ephesians 2:19-22). The Holy Spirit can be experienced by all and he works through all (1 Corinthians 12:11; Ephesians 4:4).

And it is the Holy Spirit who gives Christians gifts to carry out Kingdom business. After commissioning all Christians to, “go yee and spread the word,” Jesus promised the then believers that they would receive power when the Holy spirit fell upon them, the power that would enable them to serve, especially as witnesses as he had commissioned them.

Apparent in this historical progression of Christianity is the fact that men and women alike receive salvation; they are equal in their participation of the fullness of Christ in their redemption (Galatians 3:28), men and women alike receive the same Holy Spirit. And the Holy Spirit gives all Christians gifts for service. It therefore follows that whoever has been given a spiritual gift must use it for building up the body of Christ regardless of one’s sex.

Who, therefore, is the daughter of any Gentile man who can question the suitability of a Gentile brother to serve God with the gift afforded him by the Father? Similarly, who is the son of any Gentile man who can question the suitability of a Gentile sister to serve God with the gift afforded her by the Father?

While the Holy Spirit is known to be asexual, whatever descriptor you want to give Him, He is whoever you describe Him as in both men and women.

Thus, both men and women under the new covenant can undoubtedly be apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers, yes any other spiritual role, as the Spirit so determines. Any deviation from this truth is indeed culturally inspired.

Bishop Prof Mhloyi is the leader of Revival United Church of Christ International. Feedback: [email protected]

 

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