So I wandered into a little restaurant/pub type place near my hotel in Sydney this afternoon to grab a bite to eat. I got a notification on my phone about an article posted by my daughter Summer, so I opened it up and began to read. I began co-authoring The Same Sex Controversy when Summer was around eleven years old, so it has been very interesting to say the least to see her engaging the same topic, only now on super-steroids as the past fifteen years have brought such amazing changes to the landscape in the rapid decay of Western culture and the abandonment of biblical norms.
I had watched her video, of course, and well knew that the primary response would not be based upon the actual issues but upon “feels,” impressions, etc., for this is how so many in her generation interact and exist. So as I began to read Nichole Nordeman’s lengthy comment on Summer’s video I was hardly surprised by what I read. I surely have little to add to Summer’s superb response. But I did want to reply to one particular aspect of Nordeman’s position. She wrote,
I’m also going to try not to debate or argue the issue(s) with you. That is an endless loop of back and forth Biblical ammunition, interpretation, bias, and theological leanings. You are very clear about your position. It would be a waste of oxygen and blinking cursors for us to attempt to get on the same page. I am okay to disagree. Thankful for the space and freedom to do so.
The believer who wishes to engage this darkened world and seek to be “salt and light” needs to see this attack for what it is: a devastating assault that has to be met head-on. It cannot be ignored, it cannot be accepted. It is the very reason The Reformation Project exists, why Matthew Vines does what he does, why Brownson wrote his book, and so many others. To allow this argument to stand is to lose the war. It is that pernicious.
If, as the argument asserts, there is no certain Scriptural knowledge as to God’s intentions and purposes in human sexuality and marriage, then we are all wasting our time. This is why believers are in the minority even amongst “religious” people today: so few truly believe that God has spoken with clarity on anything, let alone this subject. Once a person believes that it is just a matter of opinion, or, as expressed above, “interpretation, bias, and theological leanings,” then it is nothing but a vain argument without relevance, and we might as well forget about it, allow anyone to do anything (and I do mean anything), and fall into the abyss of moral relativism that is the necessary corollary of a world without a Creator who speaks.
Those who are promoting the abandonment of biblical norms and categories based upon emotions and feelings know the biblical teaching is consistent and clear—well, at least their leaders do. Sadly, most people on both sides of the argument hold their positions for other than exegetically-based reasons (though that luxury is fast disappearing for those willing to count the cost of opposing the Autonomous Human Revolution). But when the two sides meet openly in the context of fair, balanced debate, the result is consistent. So this is the alternative: pivot quickly based upon the mere assertion of ambiguity on the part of the Bible (“There are so many scholars on both sides!”) and place the conversation firmly upon the slippery quicksand of human emotion and prejudice.
When we think presuppositionally, we can recognize these attacks for what they are and respond to them immediately. But thinking presuppositionally means thinking biblically, based upon a firm belief that it was, in fact, God’s intention to deliver the faith once and for all to the saints, and that He managed to do so. If you believe that, you are in a small minority—but in one that has been promised the Spirit and the gifts and an inheritance in the kingdom of God.
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