Holy Sexuality and the Gospel by Christopher Yuan

Sex, Desire, and Relationships Shaped by God's Grand Story

"Holy sexuality: chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage." This definition is repeated multiple times throughout the book. "This term holy sexuality is meant to simplify and disentangle the complex and confusing conversation around sexuality. The truth is that God's standard for everyone is holy sexuality: chastity in singleness and faithfulness in marriage. Different expectations for different people are not only unfair; they're unbiblical."

Christopher Yuan is a Christian who struggles with same-sex attraction. He and his mother wrote a book together called "Out of a Far Country" which gives the story of his journey through the gay lifestyle and his conversion to Christianity, along with the journey of the mother who prayed for eight years for his salvation. Now Chris is back with a book about what the Bible has to say about sexuality.

First off, Christopher helps the reader figure out their identity. In the case of same-sex attraction, the reason we often hear is this is who I am and I can't help it. Christopher helps us debunk that theory both for same-sex attraction and for every other issue we may face in life. "True identity is not what I do. Nor is it how I am. True identity is who I am." And we are made in the image of God and as such we represent God. Gender and sexuality is not our identity, it's what I am and what I do, but not who I am. And when we let "experience supersede essence - what I feel is who I am. In other words, psychology usurps biology. When anyone embraces this ideology, truth is no longer absolute. Truth becomes what I think and what I feel."  Our first step must be to place our identity in Christ and recognize that we are made in His image and need a Savior.  And then as Christians to, out of that knowledge, treat all humans with dignity and respect.

Another thing he debunks is that sin is a result of our upbringing, he was speaking primarily of same-sex attraction because that is the gist of his book, but I think it could apply to many sins. If we say it was our upbringing that made us sin or made us struggle with sin, then we are not acknowledging the sin nature within us and we are basically saying that we don't need Jesus, we just need a better environment.

I could go on and on quoting things from this book. It was so good and eye opening for me. I was made to recognize that sin is sin. Chris gave the example of a mother weeping brokenly for her son who had turned to the gay lifestyle and wondering why he couldn't be normal like his brother who had a steady girlfriend and a baby on the way. Chris' point was that both boys were in sin, why was one so much worse than the other. He also gives a really good chapter on desire and temptation, but I don't have the space to go into it right now.

One thing I really appreciated about the book is how every topic went back to the Bible and was dissected and based on what the Bible had to say. Chris didn't sugar coat anything. While he struggles with same-sex attractions, he doesn't make any allowance for acting on it, just as he doesn't make any allowance for acting on your desires for an illegitimate relationship with the opposite gender.

Towards the end of the book, he does give some pointers on relating to those friends and family who struggle with same-sex attractions. He gives some dos and don'ts for relating to them. I am not going to go into all of them, but to say that to listen without condemnation or pushing them away is the first step. He also has different pointers based on if they are non-Christian or Christian as well.

If you haven't figured it out yet, I recommend this book. I think it is worth the read especially in the culture we live in. I also highly recommend reading "Out of a Far Country" as well.

I received this book from Multnomah through NetGalley and was not required to write a positive review.