“It’s not fair that God would give me these desires and then forbid me to act upon them. God wouldn't want me to be miserable.”
That’s the argument, at least. Author Kevin DeYoung is pastoral in dealing with it – he acknowledges the real anguish of people within his ministry who struggle with same-sex attraction. And he discusses the biological and behavioral roots of sexual orientation.
But he makes it clear that the "it's not fair" argument is inherently flawed because it’s based on subjective judgement alone.
People who are sexually attracted to children, or to
animals, could (and probably do) make the same argument. If we can decide what is “fair” based on our feelings, then any objective restriction on sexual behavior can be called unfair. Neither chastity for
unmarried people nor faithfulness within marriage is "fair" according to the dictates of our own feelings.
But if God is God, He has the right to decide right and wrong, even if it feels unfair to us. Accordingly the Word of God imposes restrictions on all our behavior, not just those that have to do with sex.
But if God is God, He has the right to decide right and wrong, even if it feels unfair to us. Accordingly the Word of God imposes restrictions on all our behavior, not just those that have to do with sex.
Given the corrupting effects of the fall and the human propensity for self-deception, we must base our ethical decision on something more than our subjective sense of what feels right. (p. 117)
Nothing in the Bible encourages us to give sex the exalted status it has in our culture, as if finding our purpose, our identity, and our fulfillment all rest on what we can or cannot do with our private parts. Jesus is the fullest example of what it means to be human, and he never had sex. (p. 118)As everybody must know by now, this is an ongoing review of Kevin DeYoung's What Does the Bible Really Teach about Homosexuality? Click the title to order the book.
