The Real Cost of the New Sexual Tolerance
In his book Desire and Deceit: The Real Cost of the New Sexual Tolerance, Dr. Albert Mohler, who serves as the President of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and is one of the world’s leading theologians, gives a concise background and critique of the most problematic sexual issues of our time. The roots of the modern understanding of sex did not simply come out of nowhere. There has been enormous pushes by various groups for long periods of time to get us to our present situation.
The Judeo-Christian worldview has ceased to be the dominant force in helping persons formulate their views on sexuality. There are some who do still see God’s word as the final authority for faith and practice but that number is in decline. There are some who see it as informative, but not necessarily the final word. But, an ever increasing number of persons are oblivious to what the Bible has to say about it and if it is brought to their attention, it becomes the means for a good laugh.
Lust is seen as inevitable by our culture. Lust is no longer taboo, but instead laughed at and celebrated. TV sitcoms would cease to exist without sexual innuendo and incessant sexual jokes. Lust naturally leads to pornography which is now mainstream. The image of porn is no longer some sleazy guy with a mustache in a silk robe with a camera. It is the luxurious Playboy Mansion and it’s president, Hugh Hefner who has product endorsements, commercials, cameo appearances in mainstream movies, and a product line sold in mainstream stores. Conventions are held in Las Vegas each year celebrating everything the porn industry has to offer, as though it were no different than fashions, house wares, or electronics.
The internet has caused an utter explosion of pornography, easily accessible right there on someone’s laptop or home PC or in pay-per-view formats from one’s television. All is completely anonymous. Gone are the days one had to go out to a convenience store or a peep show emporium to get a thrill. Men were taking risks when they went to these places because you never know who you might run in to! Now it is seemingly safe and anonymous. Annual revenues for the porn industry are now in the billions.
There are many down-sides though including the failure of an increasing number of marriages, turmoil and strife in many other marriages which may not ultimately end in divorce, increased exploitation of women and children, the new phenomenon of women, in addition to men, now increasingly looking at pornography, and all the wasted time and money which is associated with all of this. Lust can be fed, but can never be satisfied!
Mohler also devotes about 9 chapters in his book to looking at different aspect of homosexuality. He addresses such issues as the theological perspective on homosexuality, covered in 4 chapters, the history of the proliferation of this movement, Alfred Kinsey and his tainted research from the 1940s which catapulted deviant sexual behavior out of the closet and into the mainstream, the realities of “gay” culture, the problems of lesbians in particular raising sons, and sadly a chapter devoted to the damage the homosexual movement has done to male friendship which has been such an important aspect of life since the dawn of time.
He closes out the book with a couple of chapters which seek to put it all into the bigger picture. Mohler takes a largely pessimistic view of things, in fact alluding to the fact that homosexuals have, in essence, already won. What we are seeing now is the ugly process of changing culture from one who rejects the normalcy of homosexuality to one who accepts, even embraces its normalcy. No nation who has been given over to what he terms “polymorphous perversity” has survived in the long-term. Many feel that the Roman Empire fell because it indulged itself so much that it lost it’s focus on what had once made it strong. Once a nation drifts from the core values which made it strong, it is on a slide toward destruction. There have always been sexual perversions, it is true, but never have there been perversions, and wide-spread acceptance of perversions, to the extent we see today.
When a person has desire, it becomes easy for them to become deceived. When one has an agenda, they tend to interpret everything in favor of, and in support of, that agenda. The deceit is happening largely because of their unbridled desire. It is a lust for what is forbidden. Instead of walking away and saying “this is wrong;” “this is forbidden;” “this violates scripture,” as it has done for decades, even centuries, our culture has found a way to say, “this is ok;” “we just thought this was forbidden before, but we were mistaken.” The new sexual tolerance is not about tolerating other people’s sexual behavior, although that is how they bill it. It is really about them demanding that you and I place our stamp of approval on their sexual behavior. Why are homosexuals so adamant about having “gay marriage” at a time when vast numbers of heterosexual couples are choosing to not even get married at all but simply are having casual sex or “live with” their partner rather than “making it legal” or vowing a true and lasting commitment in a church-sanctioned ceremony.
Homosexuals, contrary to their talking points, are unfulfilled people. The leadership of their movement and the writers for their publications have always told them that if they just have ____, then these feelings of insecurity and guilt will go away. But, historically when they have gained _____, those feelings of guilt and insecurity did not go away. Seeking full-fledged marriage, such as heterosexuals have always enjoyed, and which is an institution sanctioned by God, is simply their latest attempt to feel better about themselves. Any lost person is going to feel unfulfilled until he/she receives Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.
Mohler talks about, in this book, how for some reason, sexual identity has overtaken all other identity that a person might have. We are often forgetting that someone is a human being, a man or woman, a son or daughter, an accountant or waitress, a college graduate, etc. We have become so fixated on someone’s sexual identity that we have lost sight of everything else they are, most importantly that they are human beings, created in the image of God in desperate need of a personal relationship with a Savior. We must not let this all-important distinction slip away!
Even though the means by which deviant sexual behavior has worked its way into the mainstream of our culture has not been pretty, we are still responsible for upholding God’s word each time it is challenged. While adherence to God’s word is quickly crumbling, God’s word itself is just as sharp and powerful as it has ever been. The strength and power of God’s word is not, nor has it ever been, determined by how many people follow it. But, it is also clear, just as it was in the days before God destroyed the earth with a flood, before He allowed His people to be carried away into captivity in Babylon, and before He destroys the earth again with fire that people will stubbornly ignore His many warnings. Friends, we are not so much as one inch off course from where God knew we would be in the year 2010, as we measure time. Nothing is beyond God’s knowledge and all is working together for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.
In Christ,
Pastor Allen Raynor