Kingdom Relationships: Chaste

In only 75 years, Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis has become a classic explanation and defense of the Christian faith. Lewis argues for the existence of God. He explains core doctrinal tenets of the Christian faith. He asserts the essentials of Christian morality. His stated aim is to “explain and defend the belief that has been common to nearly all Christians at all times.”

Lewis organizes his consideration of Christian behavior around the classic virtues of the faith. Among them, he observes, chastity has always been unpopular.

“There is no getting around it; the Christian rule is: ‘Either marriage, with complete faithfulness to your partner, or else total abstinence.’”

Lest anyone construe this as an endorsement of fidelity among partners of the same sex, it is clear in his chapter on marriage that Lewis is contending for total abstinence or faithfulness in marriage between a man and women.

In recent years, the longstanding certainty of the Church on chastity is being challenged. Christians who, in good faith, are striving to sort through issues of human sexuality turn to the Bible for answers. Sadly, the Bible, as our final authority for faith and practice, is being reinterpreted to condone behaviors that, for centuries, have been abhorrent to Christians.

How can an earnest follower of Jesus, amid many competing voices, sort out what the Bible really intends in relation to human sexuality?

An interpretive principle in understanding the Bible, more basic than all others, is to look for the plain sense of the text, the most obvious meaning. Yes, the Bible is an ancient book, written by multiple authors, in a variety of literary genres. Yet in all of this, the Holy Spirit has inspired a unified and cohesive message meant to be accessible and understandable.

When Jesus, for example, uses hyperbole, metaphors, stories, and agricultural illusions from the first century, most people can intuitively discern the truth he intends to communicate. Without question, some aspects of Scripture (such as apocalyptic visions) are obscure and require specialized training to understand and apply. Still, much of the Bible can be read, understood, and applied by most anyone with an open heart and mind.

When the Bible is read this way, by taking the plain sense of the text, there is no question that anything other than chastity or faithfulness in a marriage between a man and woman is outside the bounds of Christian behavior.

To circumvent this, some claim that key words in biblical descriptions of sexual sin have been misinterpreted from the koine Greek language of the New Testament. Are these reinterpretations valid? Or are original meanings being twisted to suit the purposes of a permissive culture?

From centuries, the Church has relied on the interpretations of early expositors, now called church fathers, who were reading and studying the New Testament in Greek, their first language. It was common for these scholars to memorize large portions of the Bible. To think that current expositors, who were (and are) all students of Greek, have a better understanding than the church fathers of koine Greek and interrelationships in the biblical text is a stretch at best. At worst, it could be seen as sophomoric presumption.

Tacitly admitting that sexual sin is not condoned by the plain sense or original languages of the Bible, some advocates of same-sex marriage contend that there is a “trajectory” in the biblical text moving toward this  understanding. Most often, these advocates point to the Bible’s perspective on slavery and women as prime examples of trajectory.

In fact, there is a trajectory in the Bible in relation to slavery. Though slavery was endemic in the ancient world, there are early protections in Old Testament law that culminate in a radical shift in master-slave relationships in the New Testament. This led Christian teachers, as early as the 4th century, to argue against slavery. By the 7th century, the Church formally condemned slavery. Inexplicably and grievously, slavery was restored from the 16th century until the 19th century when, once again, champions like William Wilberforce called the Church back to its earlier convictions.

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To cite a trajectory in the role of women is a more tenuous undertaking. Male leadership is predominant in Scripture with notable exceptions. In the Old Testament we encounter Miriam, Deborah, Huldah, and Esther. In the New Testament we find Anna, Phoebe, Priscilla, the daughters of Phillip, and Junia. Throughout the Bible, women had roles in ministry and leadership, not necessarily in an increasing trajectory, but on a valid, consistent, ancillary path.

There is no trajectory in the Bible away from chastity. Rather, there is consistent movement toward a clearer understanding of God’s original design in creation: a lifelong relationship between a man and a women.

While polygamy was neither endorsed nor prohibited in the Old Testament, the New Testament insists that marriage is to be between one man and one woman (Matthew 5:27-28; 19:1-6; 1 Timothy 3:2). The New Testament reenforces the Old Testament rejection of all forms of aberrant sexual behavior with an even greater number of explicit prohibitions (Romans 1:26-28; 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1: 9-10, Revelation 22:15).

Some claim that Jesus sets aside these prohibitions by his call to love. This is a gross misunderstanding of his gracious (and searingly holy) agape love. To be sure, Jesus established a new commandment to love (John 13:34-35). Yet his teachings on marriage and sexual purity were shockingly more strict than Old Testament law (Matthew 5:27-30; 19:3-12). Jesus’ repudiation of all sexual immorality was (and still is) radically countercultural.

We should not be surprised that this runs counter to current preferences. In A Testament of Freedom, Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote:

“The whole Bible will, therefore, be the Word in which God will allow the divine self to be discovered by us. This is no place which is pleasing or a priori sensible to us, but a place strange to us in every way and which is contrary to us. But this is the very place God has chosen to encounter us.”

In my faith community, the Brethren in Christ, we summarize our approach to biblical interpretation in one, sparse sentence. “We value the Bible as God’s authoritative Word, study it together, and build our lives on its truth.”

To study the Bible together is not a local undertaking. It cannot be parochial, within our own faith community. Nor can this interaction be limited to one generation or culture. Studying the Scripture together spans the centuries.

In this way we “test” contemporary views against the accumulated wisdom of the Church in all places and times. As C. S. Lewis explains,

Every age has its own outlook. It is especially good at seeing certain truths and specially liable to make certain mistakes. We all, therefore, need the books that will correct the characteristic mistakes of our own period. And that means the old books.

The ancient Hebrew prophets aggressively challenged wrong views and actions, but they never claimed breakthroughs with new insights. Rather, they were consistently and defiantly radical, calling Israel back to the original moral law of Moses. Jeremiah’s appeal to a disobedient nation is a prime example:

This is what the Lord says: "Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jeremiah 6:16).

It is no wonder that the demands of chastity have been unpopular through the centuries. The world, the flesh, and the devil all conspire to drive us away from the biblical insistence on chastity that has endured, unchallenged, through twenty centuries. Nevertheless, to understand and accept chastity as what is required of us is an essential first step.

When we fail, there is a way forward. After the prophet Nathan courageously confronted David with the sins of adultery and murder, David repents in the intense words of Psalm 51, a prayer we can use, as needed, for ourselves.

In his treatment of chastity in Mere Christianity, C. S. Lewis gives wise counsel: “We may, indeed, be sure that perfect chastity—like perfect charity—will not be attained by any merely human efforts. You must ask for God’s help. Even when you have done so, it may seem to you for a long time that no help, or less help then you need, is being given. Never mind. After each failure, ask forgiveness, pick yourself up, and try again. . . The only fatal thing is to sit down content with anything less than perfection.”

The image is a purity key like the one we gave to each of our four daughters as a reminder to maintain sexual purity before marriage.

This is the third of three posts on kingdom relationships: single, married, and chaste.

A comprehensive and nuanced article with practical guidance on this issue is available on the denominational website of the Brethren in Christ Church.