Woke in the WELS: An Honest Conversation about Sexuality: Video 5
We complete the series with Video Five, which kicks off with a discussion on choosing "choosing a lifestyle over Jesus... because they felt like they had to choose." Yes, if you want to live a lifestyle that is condemned by the Bible then yes, you have to choose. Am I going to deny myself and reject a LGBTQ+ lifestyle, or am I going to deny my Savior? This is a 1 Corinthians 10 thing - you can't commune with the Lord and with demons, you have to choose. Now certainly (as I've reiterated several times) one can struggle with an LGBTQ+ desire, but in struggling with that desire you are denying yourself and following Christ.
There is a common thread about singleness laced throughout the video. First, we have the same young lady quoted above reminding us that "relationships aren't a thing in heaven" so apparently, they shouldn't be a big deal here on earth - except, of course we know that there will be attending the wedding feast of the Lamb. And given that grace does not destroy nature, it would be surprising if we didn't have some kind of relationship with our fellow humans in heaven, perhaps even familial ones, even if they aren't the same marital ones we enjoy on this earth.
God does give us the gift of relationships on this earth, and we shouldn't be denigrating those gifts just because perfection will be different.
Later, we are reminded that Paul was single and that "our ultimate role model [Jesus] was single." Recall: Paul denied himself for the sake of the ministry (1 Cor 9:5). Jesus denied himself for the sake of salvation. Someone struggling with homosexual desire who chooses a celibate life in faith and hope in Christ is certainly making a sacrifice. He is choosing Jesus over a lifestyle. This is commendable, without trying to equate that sacrifice with Jesus' ultimate sacrifice.
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Everything we have discussed up to this point in the series, however, pales in comparison to the bombs dropped in the last two minutes of this final episode by Pastor Bill Monday:
"If you came here thinking, okay, this is going to be a doctrinal approach where we're gonna apply scripture and answer the question, the same sex attraction, right or wrong, gender dysphoria, transgenderism - obviously that wasn't the point or purpose of this series."
I didn't have "Bible Study without the Bible" on my 2024 bingo card! But now the leader's guide makes a lot more sense. If our basis is not the Bible then why not apologize for having what you think are the right answers, because that's just, like, your opinion man. We can park those questions all day long if there is no sense of urgency. We can police our language if there is no standard for that language.
Which makes for a weird Bible study!
"It's not just about passages, but people"
Jesus Christ is the Word incarnate (John 1). When you say it's about people and downplay Bible passages, you are literally saying it's about sinners and not about their Savior. It's not about the wisdom of God, it's about the wisdom of the rulers of this age. This is foolishness in the Biblical sense.
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Pastor Paul Hensel reluctantly wrote a series of sixty-one articles over six years on the hardening of the heart for Faith-Life, the journal of the Protes'tant Conference of the Wisconsin Synod. These articles started as an assignment by his circuit, but after his suspension from the synod as part of the Protes'tant Controversy in 1929, he continued to publish until 1935, covering the subject of hardening in most of the books of the Bible while also providing contemporary commentary on hardening in the Wisconsin Synod. Hensel's articles have been translated and compiled by Floyd Brand and I heartily recommend them.
Hensel's commentary on Saul and the plundering of the Amalekites is illustrative. Samuel received the word of the Lord which he told to Saul: completely destroy the Amalekites and all that belongs to them. But Saul returned with King Agag alive, and the bleating of sheep and cattle taken as plunder. Hensel comments:
"Saul and his people had not caught onto the thoughts of God either. They did not understand their own mission in all of this. They spared the king and the prize livestock as well. This so-called "evangelical" attitude still continues to make itself right at home in our midst. It does not intend to be honest and in earnest with the Word of God. It prefers to go half-way. With eyes full of tears, it spares the devil himself. It piously warns against immoderate speech. It comforts the pitiful old Adam and solemnly drags this incorrigible fellow to the altar of the burnt offering and clubs out of this worthless creature a fragrant thank-offering. If ever there was a sin in our midst, bewitching and enchanting, hard to see through and for that reason dreadfully frightful, this is it. This is different from the way it works in this world. The man once deceived does not fall for the same swindle a second time. But with us this fraud becomes more blameless each time it shows up, until finally its hoodwinked victims noisily greet and gladly embrace this old friend of the family."
In like manner this bible study takes a so-called "evangelical" attitude that does not intend to be honest and in earnest with the Word of God. It prefers to go half-way by appealing to the Bible and Jesus when convenient but not when it is inconvenient, for example in condemnations of homosexuality. It spares the devil himself when we are cautioned not to call someone to repentance if they aren't asking for it. This bible study piously warns against the use of certain words and Scripture. It is bewitching and enchanting in its winsomeness, and for that reason it is dreadfully frightful, because we set aside the wisdom of God for the winsomeness of man.
Is this further evidence of hardening in the WELS?
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