Colors Of The Rainbow

We all have a desire to connect, belong and have a sense of identity. For the most part, developing a sense of identity is a great thing. We celebrate it. We applaud each other on it. We high five, and pat each other on the back when we realize we connect with where one is coming from – and what their identity is

To be identified can be a great thing. But it can can also be a terrible challenge when you are not included – when you don’t identify. To be excluded is a terrible place to be. It feels lonely, painful and deeply hurful not to identify.

Sexual Identity Issues

I don’t think there is anywhere the pain and stigma of identity is more acute than in the area of sexual identity – and orientation. The question of sexual orientation is shrouded in mystery, suspicion and conflict. This is perhaps because our sexual activities are intensely personal.

Now, when many of us enter into a conversation or hear of or meet people who are homosexual we tense up. The question of gay identity has become an area of uncomfortable silence on one hand, or conflict – a sore point of contention, word throwing and even stone throwing.

The world can be a terribly unsafe place to be when your sexual orientation is different from others. People will say and do all sorts of things. The world is a difficult place for someone with  a different sexual orientation to live in. The church has not done much to make it any better for this discussion to be had.

Today we want to talk about the issue of sexual orientation or preferences.

Today we’ll talk about the issue of sexual preferences.

My ID is in God

Scripture: Genesis 1:26-28; 2:24

Same Sex Attraction

People experience same sex curiosity or even attraction of different kinds – girl crushes, bro-mance.

Definitions:

Homosexuality – sexual attraction to people of the same sex

Lesbian – female homosexuals

Gay – male homosexuals

Bisexual – sexually attracted to people of both sexes – genders

Transexual – a person born with the physical characteristics of one sex who emotionally and psychologically feels that they belong to the opposite sex.

Intersex – condition of being biologically intermediate between both sexes

Questioning – those who are questioning their sexual identity.

Unwanted Same sex attraction – momentary, seasonal or even long-term attraction to people of the same sex. It may be erotic and sexual or not.

Stigma of Sexual Orientation

The question of sexual identity can be a confusing one and one which brings much conflict and pain.

Word on the street –

The word on the street comes in a couple of ways

–        God is not in it / God doesn’t care / God doesn’t know / God is oldskul, not with it, lagging behind, needs some help, he needs an upgrade / It doesn’t matter anyway / I was made this way. This is my identity.

My ID

Our identity is first of all is in God. We are God’s lookalikes.

We are all cut from the same spiritual piece of cloth.

26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness,

27 So God created mankind in his own image,

    in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.

Illustration: When kids are born we try to find what parts look like whose.

We are made in God’s spiritual image. We derive our spiritual purpose, sense of belonging and destiny in God. Before we are sexual beings we are spiritual beings. The part of us that most looks like our creator and yearns to belong is the spiritual part within us.

This part of our identity is what then should act as the DNA marking all other areas of our human lives. It is the spiritual DNA that defines who we are to be. You are first of all made in the image of God. We come from the same maker who had the same design for us.

Questions: If we are all the same in terms of our spiritual DNA then why is there so much conflict both internally and externally about gender identity? Why doesn’t everyone live out their sexuality the same way? Why do we have unwanted same sex attraction? Didn’t the same God who made us, and our feelings then create some to have feelings for each other? God is love, why shouldn’t I love anyone I choose to male or female?

According to Genesis 3, our lives and our world is broken and fallen. Adam and Eve introduced sin that plagues us. This is the reason why our normal shifted away from God’s normal. This sin affected everything in our world – our relationships, finances, politics, economics – everything including our sexuality, sexual relationships and even our sexual identity. This is not the situation that God intended for us. This is why there are differences. These differences do not erase who we are at the core.

It is critical to understand that even though we all struggle through and are affected by all these things in our lives and our world, at the very core, we crave for an identity – which can only be found in God.

The answer to “Who am I?” is that I am God’s. I derive my sense of purpose, belonging and destiny in God.

I pray that you would find this sense of purpose in Christ.

My ID is in God

Sexual ID

Sexual identity matters to God.

Our gender, makeup has something to do with the end goal for our lives. It matters to God that you are male, or female. It matters to God you are who he made you to be.

David the Psalmist

For you created my inmost being;

    you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

    your works are wonderful,

    I know that full well.

15 My frame was not hidden from you

Ps 139 13-15

God is very meticulous about how he has put us together. He has coded it in our DNA [deoxyribonucleic acid] millions of protein molecules that put in genes.

He has coded in us with amazing detail in our genes – our gender, race, hair color and texture, eye color. Our propensity for addiction to certain kinds of addiction and even disease. It is interesting that the gene for sexual preference has not been found after almost 10 years since the human genome was coded.

It matters to God that you are male and female. First from a spiritual stand point then from a physical, relational and emotional standpoint.

Before God said – don’t do this or that, he said this is who I have made you to be.

It is also important to God that we are male and female. He intends to do something with our gender differences and the relationship between these genders.

He wants to glorify himself in our gender differences, and he also wants to reveal himself in our gender differences. Jesus quotes this and explains it for us in Matt 19:4-5 saying

“that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’[a] 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’[b]?

1. First of all something about who God is, is revealed by our different genders. The image of God is revealed in our gender differences.

 Gen 1:27 in the image of God he created them;

    male and female he created them.

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2. Secondly something about the special, intimate relationship of marriage between a man and a woman is important in God’s order of things. Sex and sexual expression finds its fulfillment in a marriage relationship between a man and a woman. God calls for abstinence for all who are outside of this special relationship. This is what I see in scripture.

Marriage has a spiritual significance. We are given a clue of this when Jesus says – that at the end of all things he is coming for his bride, the church. This is echoed in Revelation the book about our final destiny as God’s people. Sex, sexuality and marriage is not just about 2 people loving each other. It is also about living out in our physical, relationships the spiritual picture of his relationship with us.

My ID is in God

Visual: It does not matter what or where you have been. Your ID sense of purpose and destiny will only be fulfilled in God.

What do we do

–        Church – our response to someone who looks and acts differently from us sexually –

o      We are seeking God’s purpose for us together. It does not matter what you are struggling with – we have all agreed together to seek God and discover together his purpose for us. It does not matter what you

o      must be to be gracious, hospitable and humble knowing that non of us is without sin. We have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We also all have in our core our identity in God. Sin has overtaken all of us and we need to be gracious, humble and respectful in how we treat people who are not like us.

o      God’s pattern for  sex is that it is to be had between a man and a woman in a marriage relationship. Outside of this God calls us to abstain. There will be differences of opinion but may God bring about his purpose and identity for you and others.

–        SSA – God is concerned about your sexuality. He has a purpose and destiny for you. I encourage you to share with someone safe about your struggle. Together we can join the journey to step into the future that God has for you. It may have been a momentary struggle. It also could well be your life choice now. It doesn’t matter. God still wants you back – in the same way he wants us all back.

–        I know that there are some listening to me right now who struggle with unwanted same sex attraction. I cannot imagine the difficulty of living with internal conflict and external pressure. Remember that you are first of all made in the image of God. God wants more than any of us, to connect with you at a deep spiritual level. I encourage you to enter the journey. God intends to be reconciled with you. It is in this reconciliation that you will find resolution for the tension, conflict and difficulty of your situation.

–        Personal Story: I know now that the Holy Spirit inside of me was fighting FOR me and for the truth of who I am in Christ.  The amazing love of Christ wooed me home….  The feelings I had fought most of my life remained, but I was beginning to see the truth of who I really was.  I was learning more than religion.  I was learning to rest in my new identity.  It was the beginning of a journey to freedom and new life.

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