October 11: World Coming Out Day

 

October 11:  World Coming Out Day

God is a sexual being.  Say what?  No, He does not have genitals.  But it is no accident that when God determined to create a being made specifically in His image, this is what we read:  “Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals,^[a] and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” ²⁷ So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26-27)

Up until that point, EVERY creature was created male and female.  Why make a point of that in this context?  Because being male and female, in relationship to one another is at the very heart of what it means to be created in the image of God!

Now, flip ahead to Genesis 3.  Where does Satan specifically attack humanity?  He approaches Eve, and Adam is standing right there!  He attacks our understanding of our roles, and our relationship to one another as men and women.  There has been Hell to pay ever since.  Satan’s vicious and hate-filled attack on God’s creation is centered on sexual confusion and brokenness.  That is by design.

Further proof of the centrality of our sexuality is found in 1 Corinthians 6.  There we read:  “Flee from sexual immorality. All other sins a person commits are outside the body, but whoever sins sexually, sins against their own body.” (1 Corinthians 6:18)  Sexual sin is not “worse,” but it is more profound.  It is an assault on our very nature, the heart of being in God’s image.  It is especially destructive and hurtful, unlike every other sin.  Again, this is by design.  Satan delights in our pain and confusion and suffering.  This is in large part why we celebrate sexual brokenness of all kinds.  Coming Out Day was created by Rob Eichberg and Jean O’Leary as a result of the March on Washington DC for Lesbian and Gay Rights on October 11, 1987.

There is no question that the vast majority of sexual sin has been perpetrated by heterosexual males.  But all sexual sin, including homosexual behavior, bestiality, transgender confusion, adultery, pornography, etc. are an assault on who you were created to be.  As believers, we must continue to extend compassion without compromise.  Welcome those from the LBGTQ community into your churches.  Do your homework.  Read, become engaged, and above all, offer the grace that God offered to you in the midst of your own sexual brokenness.  But never embrace or promote the idea that sexual brokenness, in any form, is good or to be celebrated.  That is not love, it is a cowardly concession that only promotes more brokenness, pain, and suffering.