Evolutionary Sexuality

“Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe. For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles, but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God. For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.” (1 Corinthians 1:20–25, ESV)

(This post is one in a series interacting with Leonard Vander Zee’s presentation at an All One Body gathering on October 8, 2020. Click here to see more posts in this series.) 

Making Assumptions

You can tell a lot about someone by the assumptions they make. I’ve interacted with many people over the year who assume everyone is a cheat and a liar. As I’ve dug deeper into their assumptions, I’ve found one of two things to be true. Either they have been repeatedly lied to and cheated over the years, OR they have repeatedly lied to and cheated others over the years. Either way, based on their assumptions, you can learn something about them. 

Leonard’s Assumptions

As Leonard VanderZee continues to lay out his argument, he states a curious assumption: “I know some people may not accept this, but I will assume that most of us understand that God created the world and all its creatures through a long process of evolution.” Besides the main point of his assumption, I want you to notice two words: “most” and “us.” 

The first question to ask is: Who is the “us” he is talking about? Most naturally, the “us” is referring to himself and the crowd to which he’s speaking. This brings up another question: Why would Leonard ASSUME that MOST of the people he’s addressing—a group of people who affirm same-sex marriage—believe in the process of evolution? I can think of two reasons. 

Behind the Times

As I lay out my first reason, I have to admit that I may read too much into this statement—although I don’t think I do based on the rest of this presentation (I will say more about this in another post). Behind Leonard’s assumption that “most of us” believe in the process of evolution is another assumption—the assumption that “very few” hold to a six-day creation. He assumes everyone has “evolved” on their understanding of God’s creative work in Genesis 1. Connected with this assumption is the idea that anyone still holding to the belief of a six-day creation is “less evolved,” slow on the uptake, behind the times, and on the fringes.

My simple answer to this is: He’s wrong. I talk to many members of the Christian Reformed Church—throughout the United States and Canada. In my experience, the exact opposite is true. Most of us DO NOT hold to a Theistic Evolutionary understanding of Genesis 1. The vast majority understand Genesis 1 to be describing a literal six-day creation. 

The Loss of Fixed Standards

In giving my second reason, I think it’s telling that Leonard ASSUMES MOST of the people he’s addressing—a group of people who affirm same-sex marriage—believe in the process of evolution. He assumes most people who affirm same-sex marriage also believe in the process of evolution. Why would he assume that?

Holding a belief in evolutionary processes—even under God’s guidance—removes any ability to have a fixed standard. To say it stronger, in order to hold to theistic evolutionary beliefs, one is forced to reject a fixed standard. You can no longer confidently claim that ANYTHING is fixed because EVERYTHING is changing over time—even our sexuality. This is why Leonard can say, “Couldn’t a same-sex orientation be part of the natural process of creation God put in motion and continually sustains?” And, as he makes this claim, he assumes everyone is nodding their head in agreement. 

To take things one step further (and more controversial), I think it is impossible for someone to hold to a six-day creation AND affirm same-sex marriage. On the flip-side of that coin, once someone embraces an evolutionary perspective on the world, they will find it very difficult—almost impossible—to argue against same-sex marriage because they have lost any fixed standard to judge anything. Then, after repeated difficulty arguing against same-sex marriage, they eventually embrace it—assuming it must be alright if they can’t argue against it.  

Fools In This World

There is an overwhelming temptation to embrace an evolutionary understanding of the world. Yet, the implications of this worldview go WAY beyond the age of the earth and the way things came to be. An evolutionary worldview affects the way we see EVERYTHING and, let’s be honest, it acts more like a cataract than a corrective lens.  

Sure, we will be mocked and ridiculed—even by fellow Christians—for rejecting an evolutionary worldview. People will roll their eyes and call us fools. That’s alright. They can call us fools: “the foolishness of God is wiser than men” (1 Corinthians 1:25). They can call us fools: “God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise” (1 Corinthians 1:27). They can call us fools: “If anyone among you thinks that he is wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.” (1 Corinthians 3:18).

Let them claim our foolishness will hurt the gospel witness and turn people away from the church: “Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.” (1 Corinthians 1:20–21, ESV). We shouldn’t worry about being called fools for Christ’s sake (1 Corinthians 4:10).