by Mischa McCray

I've been working with students at French Camp Academy for the past 9 months, and I've had the opportunity to walk with several individual students through some difficult things.  One student in particular has been struggling with feelings of same-sex attraction.  The staff at FCA work hard to expose their students to a biblical worldview on all matters, so in my workings with this student, they recommended that he and I listen to a sermon by British pastor Sam Allberry called "Sex, Self, and the Reformation."  Allberry does such a powerful job unpacking God's plan for sexuality that I thought it would be beneficial to attempt a summary of the sermon and make a plug for anyone who might be interested in listening to it.

Allberry begins the sermon by addressing how the reformation brought about our modern day views of sola scriptura, or the belief that the bible alone should be the guide for how we think about all things, particularly something as important as sexuality.  Our priority in issues like human sexuality isn't what will make life easier for us, or what feels good, but rather what are God's words.

With this as the foundation of his sermon, Allberry begins a vulnerable exploration of his own struggles with same sex attraction.  He talks about how he became a Christian right around the same time that he began to think that he might be gay.  Because of his newfound faith, Allberry sought to understand his own sexuality not from a viewpoint of what would satisfy him or what he wanted, but rather what Jesus wanted for him.  He points to two verses that led him to his current understanding of his own sexuality. 

The first is Matthew 15:19, in which Jesus says, "From out of the heart come evil thoughts - murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander."  Allberry points out how this verse shows us that sin isn't a small infection that we need to eliminate to get healthy, but rather something that is innate in us.  Allberry challenges the modern idea that we should embrace and celebrate our natural desires because we are “born that way.”  Rather, he says we must seek to conform to a biblical understanding of sexuality.

In the second verse in Matthew 19, Jesus responds to a question that the Pharisees have about whether it is biblical to divorce. In his response to them, Jesus quotes Genesis 1 by saying that God made them “male and female” and it is under this context that we even have marriage in the first place.  While many people will point to the fact that Jesus never explicitly says anything about homosexuality, Allberry explains how in this passage Jesus explains that marriage only exists because God created two genders.  It is definitionally heterosexual.  This doesn’t mean that gay people can’t be committed to each other or have as strong feelings as heterosexual couples, says Allberry.  Instead, it indicates that Jesus fundamentally viewed marriage as between male and female.

Because of this, Allberry explains how, as a young Christian, he had to decide whether he was going to give up on Christianity because it didn’t fit his own sexual desires, try to be both a Christian and live a gay lifestyle, or pursue a life that is consistent with Jesus’ teachings.  Allberry has chosen to live a celebate life, and he says that this doesn’t make a lot of sense to many of his non-Christian friends, but that he ultimately trusted Jesus and believed that Jesus knew what was best for him more than even himself. 

Allberry concludes the sermon by speaking about how in Mark 8, Jesus explains that those who seek to follow him will lose their lives.  He explains how all people who desire to follow Christ, whether gay or straight, are called to give up their lives.  It is not something that is easy for some and hard for others.  But, he says that the reward is great, and that reward is not just heavenly.  In Mark 10:29, Jesus says that those who leave their former life to follow him will receive 100 times as much “in this present age.”  Allberry points out that anyone who leaves an LGBT life should receive a community much stronger than the one that they left.  This is a challenge to us as believers, as we must seek to embrace our brothers and sisters from different walks of life.

If this is a topic that you are seeking to understand more about, I would highly encourage listening to the sermon, as I could only hit on some of the points Allberry addresses. Click here to listen.

If you or someone you know is interested in our counseling services, please contact our Director of Counseling Ministries, Mischa McCray, at (662) 451-9943 or mmccray@wpcgreenwood.org.