Comments on ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality

Comments on ELCA Draft Social Statement on Human Sexuality



These are my initial comments on the Draft Statement, subject to revision, modification and change based on discussions within Abiding Savior Lutheran Church.

1. I am impressed!

The Draft Social Statement is much more positive in tone, outlook, approach and recommendations than I had expected. I guess I was expecting a dour “Thou Shalt Not” approach promising eternal damnation for the Original Sin of sexuality. Instead I found an approach that seems to comply with the principle of the medical Hippocratic Oath – “First Do No Harm.”

L 13 – 15: This social statement addresses the question: What does it mean for us as sexual creatures to love our neighbors as ourselves and thus fulfill God’s law of love in this time and society?

L 29 –32: It does not offer once-and-for-all answers for all contemporary questions. Rather it taps the deep roots of Scripture and the Lutheran witness for specific Christian convictions, themes, and wisdom. It proposes guideposts to direct this church’s discernment as it strives to be faithful.

It is evident to me that the authors of this document have put forth a “good faith” effort to create something meaningful. When we are putting forth a “good faith” effort to create something meaningful, none of us need someone else to point out our errors, mistakes and shortcoming (that’s what we have wives for), so in my comments on The Draft Social Statement, I am going to attempt to take a “Golden Rule” approach and emphasize only the positive aspects of the document. (Considering that I am, by nature, a sarcastic wise-ass, this is going to be difficult, and some comments may slip in that come across to you as “zingers”. Please point these out to me, as I have been known to sometimes unintentionally offend with my remarks.)

In many cases I am just going to cut-and-paste extracts from the Draft Statement, because they express my views much more eloquently than I could.

2. Sex Is Good, Good, and Very Good!

The primary message that I got out of reading the Draft Statement is that Sex Is Intrinsically Good – It is one of God’s gifts to us. It is not the case that celibacy is the high and pure religious good, and sex is for those of us not so high and pure. It is not the case that sex is good solely in the context of being necessary for procreation. Rather it is an essential part of God’s creation:

L 462 – 463 : God created human beings to be in relationship with each other. The gift of sexuality is vital to this intention.

L 468 – 473 : Sexuality especially involves the power or capacity to form deep and lasting bonds, the power to give and receive pleasure, and the power to conceive and bear children. It includes the power to commit oneself to life with another, the capacity to touch and be touched, and the power to love and be loved. Such powers can be used well or badly. Such powers can serve God and serve the neighbor; they also can hurt self or hurt the neighbor.

Over and Over again the Draft Statement reinforces this concept:

L 56 – 57: This belief grounds the affirmation that God has lovingly created all humans as sexual—and therefore relational—beings.

L 84 – 89 : We are all sexual creatures. The Bible makes clear that our sexual nature is both a blessing and a source of vulnerability. Human history confirms this. Sexuality can be wondrous and wounding, delightful and destructive, satisfying and confusing. The experience of human sexuality can be all these things, sometimes at the same time. No matter how a person experiences it, however, sexuality is integral to what it means to be human.

L 114 – 116 : Although sexuality is only part of our entire experience as people, it is an important and integral part, both individually and socially.

L 438 – 443 : The deeply relational nature of the Triune God is profoundly evident in God’s gracious and ongoing activity of creation. Our human bodies, including sexuality, are a gift from God. In the accounts of creation, Genesis 1-2 testifies to God’s regard for humankind, male and female. (Genesis 1:27-31) It also indicates God’s care for human loneliness (Genesis 2:18), and God’s intended kindness in gendered bodies (Genesis 2:23-25). It is all good, good, and very good!

The Draft Statement recognizes that sexual attraction and sexual intimacy are both necessary and integral to the development of human trust.

3. Sex, Sinfulness and Salvation

Last year in Adult Discussion we discussed Phillip Yancey’s “What’s So Amazing About Grace. One of Yancey’s points is that too often Christian Churches are characterized more by what they are against than what they are for. They are more concerned with Legalism than with Grace. What they read into the Scriptures is condemnation, rather than mercy and forgiveness. As I read the Draft Statement, it strikes me as the antithesis of that approach to Christianity:

L118 – 123 w. endnote: This church believes that God “became truly human” and entered wholly and fully into history. John 1:14 reminds us that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.” Therefore, no matter how deep the sinfulness of the world may be, history and creation are neither lost nor hateful to God. This includes human sexuality. Neither “bodiliness” (including bodily desire) nor materiality (all of creation) rightly can be equated with evil or sin.7
Endnote 7 It is true, of course, that the church has given way to this error many times throughout Christian history. For instance, certain early church theologians argued that Christians should not have sexual desires, even toward a spouse. Such ideas supported the medieval church teaching that celibacy was a high and pure religious good.

L164 – 168 : As Christians, therefore, we experience at the same time both God’s grace and our own sinfulness. As Lutherans we understand ourselves—individually and communally—as simultaneously righteous (saved by God’s grace alone) and sinful (convicted by the law). We live within the paradox that in our sexuality, as in other aspects of life, we always will find both our own sinfulness and God’s grace. L 196 – 198 : In emphasizing that salvation is not a moral achievement, Lutheran theology teaches that salvation is not dependent upon human action. Salvation is a gift given to the undeserving and not a reward for morally approved behavior.

L 263 – 264 : The recognition of God’s mercy enables us to value the teaching of the law and not to fear its consequences. God’s mercy paradoxically frees us to acknowledge the need for the law to protect self, neighbor, and society from harm.

L271 – 278 : When law is exercised without gospel, however, it can lead to legalism, notably in matters of human sexuality. An ethics focusing only on rules, dangers, prohibitions, and duties has distinct limits. Lutheran sexual ethics cannot limit itself to lists of right or wrong deeds (though some deeds are, indeed, right or wrong). It also must not suggest that sexual longing or sexual expression is sinful intrinsically. In response to God’s love for humankind, Lutheran ethics continually seeks to reflect the mercy and compassion of God. Lutheran sexual ethics seeks the true needs of the neighbor and responds with mercy, compassion, and love.

L 358 – 360: The image of God is given to all people and grounds the dignity and basic equality of all people. In terms of sexual relations, this image of God as shared by all people specifically stands against all forms of discrimination, abuse, and sexism.

4. The Role of Scripture Relative To Sexuality:

The Draft Social Statement indicates that we are not bound to Old Testament-Era cultural mores in determining what is acceptable sexual morality.

L 390 – L392 : The primary source for distinctively Christian insight is Scripture. It is the authoritative source and norm of this church’s proclamation, faith and life.17

L409 – 414 : Lutherans understand that Scripture sometimes can be abused and misunderstood through selective use as a moral guide. Bible verses once were used, for example, to justify slavery. Scripture passages have been cited both by legalists and by those who seek to live as if there is no need for law under the gospel.19 Particularly in the area of sexuality, the Bible can be misused to support an ethics of legalism on one hand or an ethics of relativity on the other.

L 417 – 422 : Scripture cannot be used in isolation as the norm for Christian life and the source of knowledge for the exercise of moral judgment. Scripture sheds light on human experience and culture. At the same time, society’s changing circumstances and growing knowledge help us to see how Scripture can speak to us. Scripture, especially in the law, must be interpreted continually under the Spirit’s guidance within the Church and in thoughtful dialogue with insights of culture and human knowledge.

L 424 – 429 : The Lutheran tradition, then, is open to human knowledge insofar as it encourages the good of the neighbor, protects against harm, and does not make false claims about God. In this light, human knowledge about sexuality, such as that found in medicine and the social and physical sciences, can teach us about healthy practice and provide new insights.

L 547 – 549 : What is acceptable sexual behavior in one social or historical context may not be acceptable in others.

5. Relationships, Commitment and Trust

The Draft Study looks at sexuality in terms of building trust and long-term relationships between people. It looks to strong families are a source of such trust, and that marriage provides a binding commitment for the creation and nurturing of mutual trust and love. While the Lutheran Church does not approve or give approval to co-habitation outside of marriage, neither does it automatically condemn such relationships, whether they be a result of never-married or same-sex couples. It is in these sections where the message of Mercy and Forgiveness comes through most clearly.

L 595 – 596 : Nowhere is trust more intimate, fragile, or crucial than in the sexual dimension of individual lives.

L 626 – 631 : Strong families:23 a ground and source of trust
Lutherans understand that intimacy, trust, and safety, particularly for those most vulnerable among us, are best sheltered within families. When safety and trust are eroded or destroyed, the family becomes a dangerous or even demonic place where abuse can reign. Thus Lutherans take great care to support whatever creates and sustains strong families as a ground and source of trust.

L 996 – 1003 : Marriage
Trust is a quality of relationship that, while never perfected, is nurtured and reinforced over time. The trust and mutual reliance shared by two adults who are deeply committed to each other is one of the most beautiful, abiding, and transformative forms of human relationship. The depth of care, matched to an intimacy of touch, creates relationships much stronger than simple and momentary erotic interest. Sexual intimacy matched with promises of fidelity and public accountability nurtures bonds that allow persons to flourish and provides a rich context through which new life may enter the world.

L 1005 – 1016 : Marriage is a structure of mutual promises between a man and woman blessed by God (Mark 10:7-9) and authorized in a legal arrangement required by the state. Christians understand marriage as a covenant of commitment and hope requiring constant care and cultivation. It is a covenant that protects the creation and nurturing of mutual trust and love as a foundation of human community. It is a binding relationship that provides conditions for personal well-being. Because of promises of fidelity and public accountability, marriage provides a context of love, trust, honesty, and commitment within which a couple can express profound joy of relationship as well as address the troubles that inevitably will come.

L 1072 – 1079 : This church does not favor or give approval to cohabitation arrangements outside of marriage. It has a special concern when such arrangements are entered into as an end in themselves. It does, however, acknowledge the social forces at work that encourage such practices. This church also recognizes the pastoral and familial issues that accompany these contemporary social patterns. In cases where a decision is made for cohabitation, this church expects its pastors and members to help the couple recognize a special obligation to be clear and candid with each other about their plans, expectations, and levels of mutual commitment.

L 968 – 974 : For this reason, this church teaches that degrees of physical intimacy should be carefully matched to degrees of affection and commitment. This also suggests a way to understand why this church has taught that the greatest physical intimacies, such as intercourse, should be matched with and sheltered by the highest level of binding commitment, such as found in marriage. It is in marriage that promises of fidelity and public accountability provide the foundational basis and support for trust, intimacy, and safety, especially for the most vulnerable.

L 976 – 980 : This is also why this church does not support non-monogamous, promiscuous, and transient sexual relationships or casual sexual encounters. Indulging immediate desires for satisfaction, sexual or otherwise, is to “gratify the desires of the flesh”

L 1018 – 1023 : The purpose of marriage is not solely to legitimate genital relations, but to create long term, durable communion for the good of others. It is a communion within which the play and delight of physical love are crucial expressions of the depth of trust and in which lovemaking is sensitive to the needs of the other. It also is a communion within which the conception of children is a cause for gladness. Lovemaking in marriage can be a tender and generous act of self-giving that tends to the joy and pleasure of the other.37

L 688 – 696 : Millions of households in the U.S. today are headed by single parents, whether widowed, divorced, or never married. Other households include foster and adoptive families, blended families, families with a missing generation, and families with same-sex parents. The central issue is whether a family performs the indispensable personal and social tasks that families are intended to accomplish. This church’s first response toward all families should be one of welcome and support that includes particular care for children, inviting them into the community of the baptized regardless of their family situation.

L 706 – 708 : At this particular point in history, this church confesses with regret the way in which Lutheran historical teachings concerning homosexuality sometimes have been used to tear apart families with gay or lesbian members. A great deal of work remains

L 1085 – 1086 : It should be noted that some cohabitation arrangements can be constructed in ways that are neither casual nor intrinsically unstable.38 I

L 1103 – 1109 : Same-gender committed relationships This church recognizes that it is in relationships of life-long companionship and commitment with public accountability that both interpersonal and social trust may be nurtured. It is within committed binding relationships, lived out within community, that relational and physical intimacy may be expressed and may have the capacity to offer worth and value to society. This church understands and affirms that such relationships reflect God’s love for the world and the vocation to love the neighbor.

L 1116 – 1118 : After many years of study and conversation, this church does not have consensus regarding loving and committed same-gender relationships.

L 1132 – 1135 : Although this church lacks consensus, it encourages all people to live out their faith in the community of the baptized. Following previous decisions of this church, we call on congregations to welcome,41 care for and support42 same-gender-oriented people and their families, and to advocate for their legal protection.43

L 1137 – 1140 : We believe that this church has a pastoral responsibility to all children of God. This includes pastoral response to those who are same-gender in their orientation and to those who are seeking counsel about their sexual self-understanding. We encourage all to avail themselves of the means of grace and pastoral care.

6. Conclusions and Recommendations

The last five pages of the Draft Statement are a Response Form, in which we are asked to rate each section, indicate the specific strength of each section, and suggest additions to each sectiuon. In our discussions of the Draft Statement on the Second Tuesday in September, one of our objectives should be completing this form, rather than just engaging in general, rambling discussions. My next step will be a “straw-man” of how I would fill out this form.

Dave D.