Sexuality and the Disciple of Jesus Christ

     I want to talk for a minute about homosexuality, heterosexuality, and really any sexuality one might be able to think of and how it relates to being a disciple of Jesus Christ. I've written about it before, mostly trying to work through it myself and come to my own conclusions without someone telling me what my opinions ought to be because of this or that Scripture taken out of its historical and cultural context (and there is a lot of Scripture taken out of context by the American Evangelical churches, on this and other subjects).
     Where one's sexuality is concerned, we are distinctly discussing one of the survival responses of the human brain which is malfunctioning: the urge to have sex, and by extension what triggers the urge to have sex. At its most basic, any sexual desire is, quite literally, a function of the flesh, and one which exists as a survival response among animals for the specific purpose of reproduction of the species. The brain registers the survival need to engage in copulation of some kind in the same way that it registers the need to eat, or the need to protect oneself by either fleeing or fighting. And like with those other survival responses, the human sexual response is malfunctioning.
       What does this mean for the disciple of Jesus Christ? What it means is that, if a person is cooperating with and submitting to the Spirit of Christ, then this sexual response will not be dictating what you do and say, but the Spirit of Christ will. It means that it does not matter necessarily what may trigger that response, or who may trigger that response whether they are male or female. The Spirit of Christ will be the one responding, not the malfunctioning sexual drive.
      What does this look like in practice? If it is Jesus Christ acting and speaking through you, and you are not re-engaging with you sexual responses but remain disengaged from that and engaged with the Spirit of Christ, then it will be Jesus Christ loving the other person through you, and doing what is best for the other person rather than trying to satisfy that sexual drive. So then, would Jesus Christ then try and seduce someone outside of marriage? No, of course not. Would Jesus Christ then abandon His spouse in order to satisfy Himself with someone else that has triggered His sexual drive? No, of course not. Would He give Himself over to the person to whom He has committed Himself body and soul willingly when they are triggered? Yes, of course He would. The key here though is that He would not be trying to satisfy whatever sexual craving He might have at someone else's expense. And as such, He also would not be doing that through the person who is cooperating with and submitting to His Spirit.
     Satisfying your bodily cravings because you crave them doesn't figure into being a disciple of Jesus Christ. This is the modus operandi of the malfunctioning flesh, not the Spirit of Christ. And this is true whether we are talking about heterosexual cravings or homosexual cravings. Being sexually attracted to someone, regardless of gender, does not give a disciple license to then attempt to satisfy that craving at the expense of another, or where it would cause harm to all those involved. Love and sexual desire as the Scriptures teach them are two very different things, and it is caring about the other person regardless of how they make you feel which is commanded and called for in the Scriptures.
      In the ancient world, homosexuality was seen as merely a matter of sexual attraction to someone of the same gender. It was seen along the same vein as visiting a prostitute or "fornication," entirely physical or "fleshly" in nature. At it's best, it was an intimate friendship which had gone past mere friendship, but it was still frequently looked down upon. In the modern world, this is more and more not the case. More and more stable homosexual relationships and even marriages are seen where it is not merely about one's physical urges.
     So how does a homosexual be a disciple of Jesus Christ? How do they practice? The same way a heterosexual does, by cooperating with and submitting to the Spirit of Christ with whom they have been joined. By disengaging from that malfunctioning sexual response (neither less nor more malfunctioning than a heterosexual's let me be clear), and allowing Jesus Christ to act and speak through them, by manifesting Jesus Christ and the God who is love through them towards all those around them, and in particular to their spouse, the partner to whom they are legally committed. Sexuality is not and cannot be a factor in how one practices the Way of Jesus Christ, and certainly not "if" they can, because once one is practicing His Way, that person is disengaged from his own malfunctioning sexual responses, and it is Christ who is then taking over and responding.
     This I think is why it drives me a bit nuts when I hear professed "Christians" talk about leaving their spouses because they discover that they "love" (not love as the N.T. defines it, but sexual attraction) someone else, or are sexually attracted to the opposite gender. The only way this becomes a factor is if one is functioning from their own malfunctioning survival responses, and not from the Spirit of Christ. It is one's own gray matter in control, and not Jesus Christ. And it always, always ends in harm.
     The absolute first rule of being a disciple is, "Is it Jesus Christ acting and speaking through me?" This is true whether one is a homosexual or heterosexual. "What did Jesus teach?" "Am I manifesting the God who is love through my words and actions towards this person?" And where things of a sexual nature are concerned, "Is it just my bodily cravings which are running riot? How can I genuinely manifest the love of God towards this person to whom I am committed, and how can I best serve them?"
      In the end, it doesn't really matter whether one is sexually attracted to the same gender or the opposing one, because those sexual cravings are not in control for the disciple of Jesus Christ, but Christ Himself.