Parents Need to Address Issues of Human Sexuality

I recently finished a series of lessons in our adult Bible study class about human sexuality. Honestly, the series could have continued for at least twice that long, but I had to limit myself for several reasons. We discussed issues regarding maleness and femaleness, as well as singleness and marriage, and various aspects of the LGBTQIA+ community.

Among the reasons for teaching the class, one was that these issues are not going away, and Christian parents need to have a thoroughly biblical understanding of the issues so that they can teach their own children as well.

Even if parents homeschool their children from K-12 (as we chose to), there is a good chance the children will be involved in community activities and organizations, or as teenagers they will get a job in the community. Again, our children did the same. We had several conversations with them about issues that they came across. We always told them that they could ask us any question about any topic, and that we would prefer them to come to us with their questions rather than ask someone outside the home.

While this is true generally, it is absolutely the case with issues regarding human sexuality. Even in our conservative circles, our young people are being bombarded with images and ideas of human sexuality that are skewed, perverted, and twisted. In addition to this, our society has normalized involvement in sexual activity for all single people from the time of puberty on. If Christian parents are not talking about human sexuality to their children, they will learn about it and form their ideas of it from sources that will defy Scripture.

We know there are all kinds of ways that the public educational system is discussing human sexuality from early elementary school through high school. We can reject that philosophy and keep our kids home, but we better be ready and capable of discussing a thoroughly biblical theology of human sexuality so that we can talk with our children honestly, clearly, biblically, and maturely.

This is especially true, I believe, for those with children in high school or college. The pressure to be engaged in some kind of sexual activity is huge. We must teach them, urge them, and encourage them to embrace a biblical theology of sex and marriage. This task is admittedly not easy. There are many uncomfortable conversations that come with this commitment. But who would you rather instruct your children about these issues, you or Google? Or YouTube? Or Instagram/Snapchat/TikTok? If we do not teach them, they will learn from someone, somewhere.

Hopefully conversations on these topics are already happening. But if they aren’t, I would encourage parents especially to become knowledgeable themselves, and to have conversations with their children about them, too. Here are some helpful resources on the subject to consider reading that offer valuable information for Christians:

• Ryan Anderson, When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment
• Rosaria Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
• Rosaria Butterfield, Openness Unhindered: Further Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert on Sexual Identity and Union with Christ
• Kevin DeYoung, What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality?
• Carl Trueman, Strange New World: How Thinkers and Activists Redefined Identity and Sparked the Sexual Revolution
• Christopher Yuan, Holy Sexuality and the Gospel: Sex, Desire and Relationships Shaped by God’s Grand Story

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Taigen Joos is the pastor of Heritage Baptist Church in Dover, NH.