BIBLICAL MARRIAGE
We believe that because God our Creator established marriage as a sacred institution between one man and one woman, the idea that marriage is a covenant only between one man and one woman has been the traditional definition of marriage for all of human history. Because of the longstanding importance of the traditional definition of marriage to humans and their relationships and communities, and, most importantly, the fact that God has ordained that marriage is between one man and one woman, as clearly conveyed in God's inerrant Scriptures, including for example in Matthew 19:4-6 where in speaking about marriage Jesus referred to the fact that "he which made them at the beginning made them male and female."
The traditional definition of marriage is the only definition that the church will recognize or accept. No elder, employee, or any person, corporation, organization, or entity under the direction or control of this church shall commit any act or omission or make any decision whatever that would be inconsistent with or that could be perceived by any person to be inconsistent with, full support of this church's marriage policy and strict adherence to the traditional definition of marriage rather than any alternative to the traditional definition of marriage.
This Church's marriage policy specifically prohibits acts or omissions including but not limited to permitting any church assets or property, whether real property, personal property, intangible property, or any property or asset of any kind that is subject to the direction or control of the church, to be used in any manner that would be or could be perceived by any person to be inconsistent with this church's marriage policy or the traditional Biblical definition of marriage, including but not limited to permitting any church facilities to be used by any person, organization, corporation, or group that would or might use such facilities to convey, intentionally or by implication, what might be perceived as a favorable impression about any definition of marriage other than the traditional definition of marriage.
We believe this church's marriage policy is based upon God's will for human life as conveyed to us through the Holy Scriptures, upon which this church has been founded and anchored, and since the United States Constitution's First Amendment states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances," this marriage policy shall not be subject to change through a popular vote; referendum; prevailing opinion of members or the general public; the influence of or interpretation by any government authority, agency, or official action; or legal developments on the local, state, or federal level.
GENESIS 2:18-25 | EPHESIANS 5:22-33 | 1 CORINTHIANS 7:39-40 | ROMANS 7:1-3 | GENESIS 1:26-31 | 1 CORINTHIANS 7:1-7
BIBLICAL SEXUALITY
The Bible is an identity book. It tells us who God is, who we are, and our purpose. We believe that the God of the Bible is a good and loving Father who wants the very best for humanity—and He is that best. As His sons and daughters, we are created to live in a deeply satisfying and loving connection with God and others. In the beginning, humanity rebelled against Him and became both victims and perpetrators of sin; no one was safe from each other, and we couldn’t stop the ongoing destruction of our rebellion. But God had the plan to heal creation through His self-giving love. “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through Him." | John 3:16-17
We have been saved by God’s grace, His unearned love for us, and His power to transform us. As we put our trust in Jesus, we die to self and become alive in Christ | Romans 6:4. Believers are a new creation | 2 Corinthians 5:17 | a new person with a new identity, on a journey of becoming more and more like Him | 2 Corinthians 3:18. By definition, a Christian is someone who is no better, or deserving than anyone else, who has been rescued from sin and its consequences by being cleansed from sin and shame, set apart from sin and shame and to the Lord, and declared righteous by God—all through Christ’s death and resurrection and the power and presence of the Holy Spirit dwelling within us | 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. Knowing and being known by God in Christ is the meaning of life.
From the beginning, God has been socializing humanity, teaching us who we are, our role, and how to be just and good like Him. When He created the ancient society of the Jewish people, He gave them essential moral obligations concerning how to treat Him and each other—a foundation that would teach them to protect and empower one another to thrive. Jesus interpreted and clarified the teachings of the Old Testament, and His instruction went beyond our actions to the very posture of our hearts. He taught us how to love God, ourselves, our neighbors, our bodies, and even our enemies. We seek to ground our standards and view of humanity and sexuality in the nature of God, the teaching, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and the clarity of Scripture.
God, who according to Scripture is not a sexual being, revealed that He intentionally created humanity “in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them” | Genesis 1:27. The different, yet necessary and complementary natures of masculinity and femininity were necessary to reveal something about the nature of God. The egalitarian, non-hierarchical, communal necessity of the other beautifully illustrates the reality of God as one complex being—Son, Father, and Holy Spirit.
Though men’s and women’s bodies are highly similar in their various biological systems (like nervous, circulatory, digestive, etc.), men and women are different. Every nucleated cell—trillions of them in a human body—contains either a male or female sex chromosome set. Amazingly, every system of the male and female body functions perfectly and effectively independently of the other—except our reproductive systems. A man and a woman are essential to have children. Our “gender”—derived from the root “gen,” like the words generate, progeny, and genitals—points to our procreative organs. Male and female bodies have been created, so that future generations depend upon how our bodies complement each other. We, therefore, do not look to our desires, attractions, experiences, or inner world to find identity as male or female as a starting point; we look at biology. One may not like the starting point or wish it was different, but our chromosomal reality and anatomy at birth—which is not merely assigned but observed and scientifically provable—are defining.
As an example, except for intersex anomalies (disorders of sexual development), one’s inborn biology is the place every proposed reassignment surgery begins as it moves toward the desired result. No matter how many definitions are added to human identity, they are all variants, responses, or reactions to the two sexes. To articulate reality in other ways does not change this fundamental truth. Subjective viewpoints on gender fracture our ability to connect and communicate with one another and distort how we socialize our children. We believe God knew exactly what He was doing when He created our sexuality and called it good. We seek to live in full agreement with His original design while advocating for respectful and excellent medical and emotional healthcare as appropriate for the very small fraction of people born with disorders of sexual development and their parents.
God loves and values the human body. Not only did He design us male or female, but the incarnation (when God in Christ became flesh and blood) shows us that the body is central to the Lord’s plan for creation. While never ceasing to be God, Jesus came to us as a human to present a living picture of God’s image and will for humanity. And so, the incarnation powerfully tells us that God cherishes our physical bodies—enough that He would reveal Himself through one. Through the Cross and resurrection, Jesus’ physical experience of life made a way to restore and heal our physical bodies | Isaiah 53. The Lord’s Supper (called communion or the Eucharist) is a celebration of Christ giving His body for our transformation.
The believer’s body is a temple of the Holy Spirit | 1 Corinthians 6:19 | who brings healing, instruction, and communion with God. Paul rejected the popular idea in his day that the body wasn’t a factor in spiritual wholeness, so one could do whatever he or she wanted, or that it was a shameful hindrance to a desire to be pure. Just the opposite: the body is instrumental in our growth and maturity | 1 Corinthians 9:26-27. We are destined to receive a glorified body upon our resurrection. Paul said, "the body is…for the Lord, and the Lord for the body” | 1 Corinthians 6:13. Our bodies are a beautiful way of experiencing the Lord and glorifying Him. Through the incarnation and resurrection, Jesus has redeemed our body, soul, and spirit as an integrated whole that enables us to know God, others, and ourselves and ultimately reveal and glorify Him.
Sex and sin are not synonymous. God made us sexual beings before sin was a factor. This was the blessing that He called “very good” | Genesis 1:31 | and He has given us boundaries about expressing ourselves sexually. The Bible consistently addresses the complexity of our sexuality as a result of our sin. God knows that the development of our sexuality depends on our family, community, and culture. Human sexuality has few natural limitations; one may act sexually with anyone or anything in any setting if we are not socialized about what is healthy and expected. Knowing this, God has taught us His values.
As a model for all of humanity, God socialized Israel in the proper and healthy expression of sex. Like any other pleasure, like rest, work, eating, or alcohol, sex can be wonderful or destructive. He had to teach Israel that sex with one’s parents or children wasn’t acceptable, nor was sex with someone else’s spouse, sex with the same gender, sex for sale, sex in ritual worship, sex outside of marriage, sex with animals, sex in a group, and forcing sex on another—all were unacceptable to God, no matter how tempting or desirable. As we read this list, we may feel we have already embraced most of the Lord’s ways or naturally complied with many of these boundaries, but they are all values we have learned. Humans didn’t invent these guidelines in an evolutionary process or by imagining their ideal experience; instead, they came from divine revelation. God taught us how to socialize with one another and steward the gift of sex to create healthy people and societies.
The refusal to acknowledge and honor God leads to disconnection from reality. The lie that He doesn’t exist can’t be known, has no rightful demands on us, and/or that we are not accountable to God creates a web of untruth in society as we invent new meanings for life and vie for power and pleasure. Our thoughts, emotions, and will become distorted and unreliable guides in such a way that we worship created things rather than worshipping the Creator | Romans 1:25.
God deeply values freedom because it is part of being made in His image and is necessary if we truly love and become like Christ. Worshipping things other than God eventually leads to lust—the enshrinement of desire as the focus of life—and it is idolatry. Eventually, lust enslaves people as they define themselves predominantly by their desires rather than God’s heart and purpose. Instead of consistently intervening, He will allow individuals and societies to stubbornly experience sin’s damaging effects—even to the point where it distorts their humanity | Romans 1:24. God takes the gifts of free will and love very seriously and will not coerce devotion.
The multitude of possible gender identities and the normalization of same-sex sexual behavior points to a society that has abandoned the desire to accurately define and socialize humanity as a reflection of God’s image—humanity created as male and female, alike but different, who produce offspring of like kind | Genesis 1:26-28. They have suppressed and distorted something built into the fabric of creation, which is unhealthy | Romans 1:21-23. For the sake of respect and communication throughout this statement, we have referenced “LGBTQ”; but these labels merely describe a subjective and often fluid experience that belies the objective truth of our male and female biology.
Jesus teaches His followers a sexual ethic that is fundamentally different from modern society—that we are more than our desires, questioning, or attractions. In Matthew 19:4-6, He reaffirmed the Genesis 1 view of sex, gender, and marriage:
“Haven’t you read,” He replied, “that at the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason, a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
Twice Jesus added “two” to His quote of Genesis 2:24, emphasizing the truth that marriage was always intended to be a lifetime covenant between one man and one woman, and the only context in which sexual behavior is blessed. (He was actually arguing against divorce and remarriage in the passage.) The only other path Jesus advocated was to remain single and celibate (Mat. 19:10-12). Jesus believed this to be a calling, knowing that most would marry. Paul speaks of a gift (a grace from God) to be married or single. Jesus and Paul were both fulfilled, celibate, sexual beings who lived in deep connection with others and “raised” families of believers | Matthew 12:46-50 | 1 Corinthians 4:15.
Even more profoundly, Jesus expected His followers not to cultivate lust | Matthew 5:28 | and to not treat themselves and others as less than human or mere objects of sexual gratification. We monetize and normalize lust; He forbade it. Desire is normal and healthy; lust is self-medicating and destructive. Lust’s manifestations—human trafficking, porn, the “hook-up” culture, and more—destroy respect, intimacy, and bonding. Other people are seen as something to be collected, possessed, consumed, and discarded. But Jesus is creating an extended family of nobility and safety, where people resist sexualizing each other, where they protect each other, and where sex is a part of life but not the meaning or the center of it. Current culture—built on self, money, and power—may not embrace this, but believers choose every day to trust and follow Him as He changes us and the world one person at a time.
We acknowledge that we and the greater global Church have often failed to live up to this standard and follow the heart and teaching of Jesus in creating safe and noble communities. The Church has often behaved hypocritically or acted as though none of us fail or struggle in these areas, and we seek forgiveness and grace to grow and embrace the standard Christ has called us to.
Jesus consistently saw the beauty and worth in people, regardless of how society, religious elites, and influencers perceived them. His words instilled an awareness of personal dignity and self-worth that caused people to marvel over who God is and who they were to Him. He modeled perfect love and unflinching truth. To the humble, He was kind; to the proud, He was fierce; He did whatever love demanded to move the human heart to think as God does. His compassion, truth, death, and resurrection changed the world. No one was more loving and kind than Jesus. He had people in process around Him and wasn’t intimidated by their histories or ongoing struggles. He never required people to have it all together to follow Him, and He knew that His followers would take time to grow and become more like Him along the way. His grace draws us into a new way of living, sometimes all at once and other times, step-by-step.
As Christians, we spend our entire lives discovering the beauty of Jesus, increasingly finding that no cost is too great to be fully engaged in His presence. We learn to surrender and grow, prioritizing connection to Him. Even though we face challenges and temptations, God promises to help us overcome if we will trust and keep following Him | 1 Corinthians 10:13.
Some people experience same-sex attraction and gender dysphoria, including some in our church community—not because they were “born that way,” but because they were born human into a fallen world and because society has disrupted and confused how we teach children who they are. But we remind ourselves that humans are more than their socialization and desires. It’s essential for us to remember that these are not new issues. Paul had to teach new Gentile believers of the Roman empire a radically different sexual identity and ethic than the dehumanizing one of their society. We may stumble as we learn Jesus’ ethics, but we do not reach for shame, punishment, or self-condemnation. Instead, we reach for grace because He is faithful and experienced temptation just as we do | Hebrews 4:15. In all areas of life, we are on a journey of giving our whole lives to Jesus—our victories and failures—so that we can walk in His freedom, hope, and peace. We trade in the old labels and identities we have applied to ourselves and joyfully receive a new identity as His sons or daughters | John 1:12.
We believe God designed us with free will and deeply values our ability to respond to His invitation. Jesus never forced people to follow Him or punished them into changing, but he invited them to a new way of life. As His followers, we are called to treat all people the same way, with the utmost respect, dignity, compassion, and love, even while adamantly disagreeing with them. Therefore, we reject any forms of physical violence, force, manipulation, shame, or humiliation in any therapy as ineffective and abusive. These are remnants of what the Bible condemns as “self-made religion…and severity to the body,” yet they “are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh” | Colossians 2:23.
Instead, we listen. We ask questions. We share our stories. We love each other. We embrace freedom and voluntary growth. We create an environment of authenticity and grace where all people can pursue and receive the freedom that Jesus died to give us. We strongly advocate for safe and fair access to resources that will assist people in their personal journeys as they navigate their self-understanding, including religious and secular counseling, biblical teaching, loving parents and guardians who are empowered to have meaningful conversations and influence, wise teachers, role models and mentors, respectful intellectual conversation, and healthy communities where all individuals can find safe places to discuss these sacred issues of faith, identity, human sexuality, and culture. God uses these pathways of connection to make us whole.
Many brothers and sisters in the Church have identified as LGBTQ who, with the sort of freedom and interactions mentioned above, no longer understand themselves in those terms. It is as inappropriate and disrespectful to discount their journeys as it would be to discount someone’s experience of leaving the Church and embracing LGBTQ identity and ideology. It is possible to move into and out of LGBTQ identifications. Therefore freedom and access to resources should be protected, even if that outcome is to never again identify as LGBTQ.
As we pray that God’s Kingdom comes to earth and His will is done, we understand His power is at work, enabling us to experience something of our ultimately redeemed future described in Jesus’ teaching. Here at The Hub DFW, we contend together for the fullness of heaven to manifest among us, and so we see bodies healed, families restored, and broken hearts made whole. We serve a God for whom nothing is impossible and whose power draws us into His extraordinary righteousness.
God loves and accepts all people as they are as they come to Him and invites them to experience the wonder of His Kingdom and the extravagance of His transformative love. Therefore, He draws us to embrace a new life offered through Jesus so that we may please Him and enjoy Him forever. We mustn’t hold onto our fallen and unredeemed identity when God offers more than we could ever ask for or even imagine—even redemption of our sexuality according to His Word.
Let us come to Him as one unified body and celebrate the Lord’s unfolding redemption by declaring, “Your kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” | Matthew 6:10
