Change the Question

As a post–gay Christian, I was interested in how Nancy Pearcey would navigate the muddy waters of faith, sexuality, and gender in her new book “Love Thy Body.”  Pearcey laid the groundwork based on “the choice of affirming or rejecting the goodness of God’s intended design for our bodies and sexuality.”  Almost every page of my personal copy is underlined with notes on the side.

Over the course of the last five years I have understood that I must surrender my sexual attractions and desires for other women to be a fully devoted follower of Christ. What I have discovered in reading this book is my need to realign my perspective of the value and dignity of the male and female bodies. One of my favorite quotes sums up the reason here:

“It (the teleological philosophy) tells us how to fulfill our true nature, how to become fully human. In this purpose-driven view, there is no dichotomy between body and person. The two together form an integrated psycho-physical unity. We respect and honor our bodies as part of the revelation of God’s purpose for our lives. It is part of the created order that is “declaring the glory of God.”

Changing the question, from where and why to how.

Pearcey brilliantly states that those who wrestle with faith, sexual and or gender identity must change the question from “Where did this come from? to “How can God best work through it?” She goes on to state that “our feelings do not define us, but our moral commitments do.”  She emphasizes that “when we affirm the goodness of creation. We affirm our own maleness or femaleness is not a meaningless or oppressive fact of nature but a reflection of history’s greatest storyline.” My greatest take away from this book is that I’m called to live out a holy sexuality through sexual purity and to hold loosely my relational future entrusting it to a God who always has my best in mind.

Pre-order your copy today and learn how to love your body well.

Hope