Rethinking Sexuality: God's Design and Why It Matters

by Juli Slattery

Why does God care about sex? Why does it matter what you believe about issues such as cohabitation, porn, and divorce? Aren’t these arbitrary lifestyle preferences in which God gives us freedom? A primary problem of our current approach to teaching about sexuality is that we don’t understand why our sexual worldview is a critical aspect of following Jesus. Sex and sexual questions seem to be random, disconnected problems rather than integral to our Christian life. We don’t think of sexuality as representing Christian maturity, nor do we understand how it is an essential part of our faith. Sexual discipleship will occur only when we see how sexuality dovetails with the larger picture of what it means to be a Christ follower. Jesus gave His disciples (including modern-day followers) a clear commission: “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). Our primary work is to preach the good news of Jesus’s death and resurrection and make disciples of those who trust in Him. Everything we teach, including how to honor God with our sexuality, must be an extension of those two overarching goals: evangelism and discipleship. Our conversations about sex must be rooted in a deep desire to see people know the love of Jesus and follow Him as disciples. We don’t talk about sex simply to condemn people or to prove a point. Nor do ...