People who commit sexual abuse are not only “in deep sin and in deep crime,” but they also “are departing from God’s design,” said Inserra, a trustee of the Executive Committee. He said those who sexually abuse others are acting “in an evil manner and in a wicked manner in a way that God never designed it to be. And so, yes, we are going to keep talking about God’s design even during an abuse crisis because that is the foundation for all this.”
Since all human beings “have worth and dignity” because they are made in the image of God, “then any harm towards people should cause us to do whatever we can do, whatever it takes to ensure that it doesn’t happen anymore,” Inserra said. “If we’re going to have any moral voice whatsoever concerning the topics we’re talking about in this webinar today and don’t have our own house clean, who are we to [address] a culture that is in sexual chaos right now concerning ethics?”
Jason Thacker, the event’s moderator and the ERLC’s chair of research in technology ethics, asked about a couple of major questions in contemporary culture: What is a man? What is a woman?
“[T]he body does indeed inform and guide our gender identity,” McCoy said. “God has actually put in our brains and in our bodies the differences of how we will approach and respond and think and relate. These things happen in the womb prior to socialization, prior to any suggestion that parents can sort of conform a boy or girl toward masculine or feminine things.”
As evangelicals, “we have to be careful that we don’t confuse expressions of gender identity with the substance of gender identity,” she said.
Until recently, gender dysphoria – which refers to the discomfort a person may feel with his or her biological sex – was identified as a disorder, and the goal was “to help someone’s perception conform with reality,” McCoy told the online audience. “To hold that belief and certainly to express that belief today is not just out of favor with mainstream culture. It can really put people at risk for their professional, their reputational state.”
Christians and churches can help strugglers as well as parents seeking help in guiding their children in a sexually misguided culture, speakers said.
“[We want to demonstrate both grace and truth,” Walker said. “They’re present in equal measure in our Lord, and we’re to follow our Lord. [W]hat we see with Jesus is profound compassion and also profound truth-telling.”
He tends to deal differently with the activist than the person struggling regarding sexuality, Walker said.
“With the person who is struggling, it’s: ‘Tell me your story. I want to listen to you.’ I want to listen critically. We don’t just listen and someone gets a blank check to kind of say that their feelings don’t get to be critiqued or evaluated, but we listen compassionately and lovingly,” Walker told participants. “[We] don’t have the right to insult [those who are activists], but we have the right to be a little bit more direct and assertive,” as well as challenging.
