CA-701: HUMAN SEXUALITY Board of General Superintendents Manual 32
RESOLVED that Manual paragraph 32 be amended as follows:
32. [The Church of the Nazarene views human sexuality as one expression
of the holiness and beauty that God the Creator intended for His creation. It is one
of the ways by which the covenant between a husband and a wife is sealed and
expressed. Christians are to understand that in marriage human sexuality can and
ought to be sanctified by God. Human sexuality achieves fulfillment only as a sign
of comprehensive love and loyalty. Christian husbands and wives should view
sexuality as a part of their much larger commitment to one another and to Christ
from whom the meaning of life is drawn.
The Christian home should serve as a setting for teaching children the
sacred character of human sexuality and for showing them how its meaning is
fulfilled in the context of love, fidelity, and patience.
Our ministers and Christian educators should state clearly the Christian
understanding of human sexuality, urging Christians to celebrate its rightful
excellence, and rigorously to guard against its betrayal and distortion.
Sexuality misses its purpose when treated as an end in itself or when
cheapened by using another person to satisfy pornographic and perverted sexual
interests. We view all forms of sexual intimacy that occur outside the covenant of
heterosexual marriage as sinful distortions of the holiness and beauty God intended
for it.
Homosexuality is one means by which human sexuality is perverted. We
recognize the depth of the perversion that leads to homosexual acts but affirm the
biblical position that such acts are sinful and subject to the wrath of God. We
believe the grace of God sufficient to overcome the practice of homosexuality (1
Corinthians 6:9–11). We deplore any action or statement that would seem to imply
compatibility between Christian morality and the practice of homosexuality. We
urge clear preaching and teaching concerning Bible standards of sexual morality.
(Genesis 1:27; 19:1–25; Leviticus 20:13; Romans 1:26–27; 1 Corinthians 6:9–11;
1 Timothy 1:8–10)]
[Genesis 1:27 So God created humankind in his own image;in the image of God he created him:
male and female he created them.; 19:1 (iii) The two angels came to S’dom that evening, when Lot was sitting at the gate of S’dom. Lot saw them, got up to greet them and prostrated himself on the ground. 2 He said, “Here now, my lords, please come over to your servant’s house. Spend the night, wash your feet, get up early, and go on your way.” “No,” they answered, “we’ll stay in the square.” 3 But he kept pressing them; so they went home with him; and he made them a meal, baking matzah for their supper, which they ate.
4 But before they could go to bed, the men of the city surrounded the house — young and old, everyone from every neighborhood of S’dom. 5 They called Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to stay with you tonight? Bring them out to us! We want to have sex with them!” 6 Lot went out to them and stood in the doorway, closing the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brothers, don’t do such a wicked thing. 8 Look here, I have two daughters who are virgins. Please, let me bring them out to you, and you can do with them what seems good to you; but don’t do anything to these men, since they are guests in my house.” 9 “Stand back!” they replied. “This guy came to live here, and now he’s decided to play judge. For that we’ll deal worse with you than with them!” Then they crowded in on Lot, in order to get close enough to break down the door. 10 But the men inside reached out their hands, brought Lot into the house to them and shut the door. 11 Then they struck the men at the door of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they couldn’t find the doorway.
12 The men said to Lot, “Do you have any people here besides yourself? Whomever you have in the city — son-in-law, your sons, your daughters — bring them out of this place; 13 because we are going to destroy it. Adonai has become aware of the great outcry against them, and Adonai has sent us to destroy it.” 14 Lot went out and spoke with his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up and leave this place, because Adonai is going to destroy the city.” But his sons-in-law didn’t take him seriously.
15 When morning came, the angels told Lot to hurry. “Get up,” they said, “and take your wife and your two daughters who are here; otherwise you will be swept away in the punishment of the city.” 16 But he dallied, so the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand and the hands of his two daughters — Adonai was being merciful to him — and led them, leaving them outside the city. 17 When they had brought them out, he said, “Flee for your life! Don’t look behind you, and don’t stop anywhere in the plain, but escape to the hills! Otherwise you will be swept away.” 18 Lot said to them, “Please, no, my lord! 19 Here, your servant has already found favor in your sight, and you have shown me even greater mercy by saving my life. But I can’t escape to the hills, because I’m afraid the disaster will overtake me, and I will die. 20 Look, there’s a town nearby to flee to, and it’s a small one. Please let me escape there — isn’t it just a small one? — and that way I will stay alive.”
(iv) 21 He replied, “All right, I agree to what you have asked. I won’t overthrow the city of which you have spoken. 22 Hurry, and escape to that place, because I can’t do anything until you arrive there.” For this reason the city was named Tzo‘ar [small].
23 By the time Lot had come to Tzo‘ar, the sun had risen over the land. 24 Then Adonai caused sulfur and fire to rain down upon S’dom and ‘Amora from Adonai out of the sky. 25 He overthrew those cities, the entire plain, all the inhabitants of the cities and everything growing in the ground.; Leviticus 20:13 If a man goes to bed with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they must be put to death; their blood is on them.;20:10 “‘If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife, that is, with the wife of a fellow countryman, both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death. 11 The man who goes to bed with his father’s wife has disgraced his father sexually, and both of them must be put to death; their blood is on them. 12 If a man goes to bed with his daughter-in-law, both of them must be put to death; they have committed a perversion, and their blood is on them. 13 If a man goes to bed with a man as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they must be put to death; their blood is on them. 14 If a man marries a woman and her mother, it is depravity; they are to be put to death by fire, both he and they, so that there will not be depravity among you. 15 If a man has sexual relations with an animal, he must be put to death, and you are to kill the animal. 16 If a woman approaches an animal and has sexual relations with it, you are to kill the woman and the animal; their blood will be on them. 17 If a man takes his sister, his father’s daughter or his mother’s daughter, and has sexual relations with her, and she consents, it is a shameful thing; they are to be cut off publicly — he has had sexual relations with his sister, and he will bear the consequences of their wrongdoing. 18 If a man goes to bed with a woman in her menstrual period and has sexual relations with her, he has exposed the source of her blood, and she has exposed the source of her blood; both of them are to be cut off from their people. 19 You are not to have sexual relations with your mother’s sister or your father’s sister; a person who does this has had sexual relations with his close relative; they will bear the consequences of their wrongdoing. 20 If a man goes to bed with his uncle’s wife, he has disgraced his uncle sexually; they will bear the consequences of their sin and die childless. 21 If a man takes his brother’s wife, it is uncleanness; he has disgraced his brother sexually; they will be childless.; Romans 1:26 This is why God has given them up to degrading passions; so that their women exchange natural sexual relations for unnatural; 27 and likewise the men, giving up natural relations with the opposite sex, burn with passion for one another, men committing shameful acts with other men and receiving in their own persons the penalty appropriate to their perversion.; Romans 1:24 This is why God has given them up to the vileness of their hearts’ lusts, to the shameful misuse of each other’s bodies. 25 They have exchanged the truth of God for falsehood, by worshipping and serving created things, rather than the Creator — praised be he for ever. Amen. 26 This is why God has given them up to degrading passions; so that their women exchange natural sexual relations for unnatural; 27 and likewise the men, giving up natural relations with the opposite sex, burn with passion for one another, men committing shameful acts with other men and receiving in their own persons the penalty appropriate to their perversion. 28 In other words, since they have not considered God worth knowing, God has given them up to worthless ways of thinking; so that they do improper things. 29 They are filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and vice; stuffed with jealousy, murder, quarrelling, dishonesty and ill-will; they are gossips, 30 slanderers, haters of God; they are insolent, arrogant and boastful; they plan evil schemes; they disobey their parents; 31 they are brainless, faithless, heartless and ruthless. 32 They know well enough God’s righteous decree that people who do such things deserve to die; yet not only do they keep doing them, but they applaud others who do the same.; 1 Corinthians 6:9 Don’t you know that unrighteous people will have no share in the Kingdom of God? Don’t delude yourselves — people who engage in sex before marriage, who worship idols, who engage in sex after marriage with someone other than their spouse, who engage in active or passive homosexuality, 10 who steal, who are greedy, who get drunk, who assail people with contemptuous language, who rob — none of them will share in the Kingdom of God. 11 Some of you used to do these things. But you have cleansed yourselves, you have been set apart for God, you have come to be counted righteous through the power of the Lord Yeshua the Messiah and the Spirit of our God.; 1 Timothy 1:8 We know that the Torah is good, provided one uses it in the way the Torah itself intends. 9 We are aware that Torah is not for a person who is righteous, but for those who are heedless of Torah and rebellious, ungodly and sinful, wicked and worldly, for people who kill their fathers and mothers, for murderers, 10 the sexually immoral — both heterosexual and homosexual — slave dealers, liars, perjurers, and anyone who acts contrary to the sound teaching ]
Human Sexuality and Marriage
The Church of the Nazarene views human sexuality as one expression of
the holiness and beauty that God the Creator intended. Because all humans are
beings created in the image of God, they are of inestimable value and worth. As a
result we believe that human sexuality is meant to include more than the sensual
experience, and is a gift of God designed to reflect the whole of our physical and
relational createdness.
As a holiness people, the Church of the Nazarene affirms that the human
body matters to God. Christians are both called and enabled by the transforming
and sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit to glorify God in and with our bodies. Our
senses, our sexual appetites, our ability to experience pleasure, and our desire for
connection to another are shaped out of the very character of God. Our bodies are
good, very good.
We affirm belief in a God whose creation is an act of love. Having
experienced God as holy love, we understand the Trinity to be a unity of love
among Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Therefore, we are made with a yearning for
connection with others at the core of our being. That yearning is ultimately
fulfilled as we live in covenanted relationship with God, the creation, and loving
one’s neighbor as one’s self. Our creation as social beings is both good and
beautiful. We reflect the image of God in our capacity to relate and our desire to do
so. The people of God are formed as one in Christ, a rich community of love and
grace.
Within this community, believers are called to live as faithful members of
the body of Christ. Singleness among the people of God is to be valued and
sustained by the rich fellowship of the church and the communion of the saints. To
live as a single person is to engage, as Jesus did, in the intimacy of community,
surrounded by friends, welcoming and being welcomed to tables, and expressing
faithful witness.
Also within this community, we affirm that some believers are called to be
married. As defined in Genesis, “a man leaves his father and mother and clings to
his wife, and they become one flesh.” The marriage covenant, a reflection of the
covenant between God and the people of God, is one of exclusive sexual fidelity,
unselfish service, and social witness. A woman and a man publicly devote
themselves to one another as a witness to the way God loves. Marital intimacy is
intended to reflect the union of Christ and the Church, a mystery of grace. It is also
God’s intention that in this sacramental union the man and woman may experience
the joy and pleasure of sexual intimacy and from this act of intimate love new life
may enter the world and into a covenantal community of care. The Christ-centered
home ought to serve as a primary location for spiritual formation. The church is to
take great care in the formation of marriage through pre-marital counseling and
teaching that denotes the sacredness of marriage.
The Scriptural story, however, also includes the sad chapter of the
fracturing of human desire in the fall, resulting in behaviors that elevate self-
sovereignty, damage and objectify the other, and darken the path of human desire.
As fallen beings, we have experienced this evil on every level – personal and
corporate. The principalities and powers of a fallen world have saturated us with
lies about our sexuality. Our desires have been twisted by sin and we are turned
inward on ourselves. We have also contributed to the fracturing of the creation by
our willful choice to violate the love of God and live on our own terms apart from
God.
Our brokenness in the areas of sexuality takes many forms, some due to
our own choosing and some brought into our lives via a broken world. However,
God’s grace is sufficient in our weaknesses, enough to bring conviction,
transformation, and sanctification in our lives. Therefore, in order to resist adding
to the brokenness of sin and to be able to witness to the beauty and uniqueness of
God’s holy purposes for our bodies, we believe members of the body of Christ,
enabled by the Spirit, can and should refrain from:
• Unmarried sexual intercourse and other forms of inappropriate sexual
bonding. Because we believe that it is God’s intention for our
sexuality to be lived out in the covenantal union between one woman
and one man, we believe that these practices often lead to the
objectification of the other in a relationship. In all its forms, it also
potentially harms our ability to enter into the beauty and holiness of
Christian marriage with our whole selves.
• Sexual activity between people of the same sex. Because we believe
that it is God’s intention for our sexuality to be lived out in the
covenantal union between one woman and one man, we believe the
practice of same-sex sexual intimacy is contrary to God’s will for
human sexuality. While a person’s homosexual or bi-sexual attraction
may have complex and differing origins, and the implication of this
call to sexual purity is costly, we believe the grace of God is sufficient
for such a calling. We recognize the shared responsibility of the body
of Christ to be a welcoming, forgiving, and loving community where
hospitality, encouragement, transformation, and accountability are
available to all.
• Extra-marital sexual relations. Because we believe this behavior is a
violation of the vows that we made before God and within the body of
Christ, adultery is a selfish act, a family-destroying choice, and an
offense to the God who has loved us purely and devotedly.
• Divorce. Because marriage is intended to be a life-long commitment,
the fracturing of the covenant of marriage, whether initiated
personally, or by the choice of a spouse, falls short of God’s best
intentions. The church must take care in preserving the marriage bond
where wise and possible, and offering counsel and grace to those
wounded by divorce.
• Practices such as polygamy or polyandry. Because we believe that the
covenantal faithfulness of God is reflected in the monogamous
commitment of husband and wife, these practices take away from the
unique and exclusive fidelity intended in marriage.
Sexual sin and brokenness is not only personal but pervades the systems
and structures of the world. Therefore, as the church bears witness to the reality of
the beauty and uniqueness of God’s holy purposes we also believe the church
should refrain from and advocate against:
• Pornography in all its forms, which is desire gone awry. It is the
objectification of people for selfish sexual gratification. This habit
destroys our capacity to love unselfishly.
• Sexual violence in any form, including rape, sexual assault, sexual
bullying, hateful speech, marital abuse, incest, sex trafficking, forced
marriage, female genital mutilation, beastiality, sexual harassment, and
the abuse of minors and other vulnerable populations. All people and
systems that perpetrate sexual violence transgress the command to
love and to protect our neighbor. The body of Christ should always be
a place of justice, protection, and healing for those who are, who have
been, and who continue to be affected by sexual violence.
Therefore we affirm that:
• Where sin abounds grace abounds all the more. Although the effects of
sin are universal and holistic, the efficacy of grace is also universal
and holistic. In Christ, through the Holy Spirit, we are renewed in the
image of God. The old is gone and the new comes. Although the
forming of our lives as a new creation may be a gradual process,
God’s healing is effective in dealing with the brokenness of humanity
in the areas of sexuality.
• The human body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. We affirm the need
for our sexuality to be conformed to God’s will. Our bodies are not our
own but have been bought with a price. Therefore, we are called to
glorify God in our bodies through a life of yielded obedience.
• The people of God are marked by holy love. We affirm that, above all
the virtues, the people of God are to clothe themselves with love. The
people of God have always welcomed broken people into our
gathering. Such Christian hospitality is neither an excusing of
individual disobedience nor a refusal to participate redemptively in
discerning the roots of brokenness. Restoring humans to the likeness
of Jesus requires confession, forgiveness, formative practices,
sanctification, and Godly counsel – but most of all, it includes the
welcome of love which invites the broken person into the circle of
grace known as the church. If we fail to honestly confront sin and
brokenness, we have not loved. If we fail to love, we cannot
participate in God’s healing of brokenness.
As the global church receives and ministers to the people of our world, the
faithful outworking of these statements as congregations is complex and must be
navigated with care, humility, courage, and discernment.
REASONS:
1. If this resolution is adopted, Manual paragraphs 30-30.4 (Marriage and
Divorce and/or Dissolution of Marriage) may also need to be amended or
deleted. The comprehensive nature of the new statement on Human
Sexuality causes some parts of Manual paragraphs 30-30.4 to be redundant
and may possibly make these paragraphs unnecessary. With the work of
the Covenant of Christian Conduct on Human Sexuality Commission,
there was conversation that if the Christian Action Legislative Committee
and/or the 2017 General Assembly delegation believe that these other five
paragraphs should also be amended (or deleted entirely), then appropriate
actions could be taken by either or both of these entities during the General
Assembly, or a recommendation could be made to refer this task to the
2017 Manual Editing Committee.
2. As leaders in the global Church of the Nazarene, we recognize that the
conversations about human sexuality are some of the most important and
difficult conversations the church faces in this generation.
3. In the first place, they are important conversations because “our bodies
matter.” As a holiness people, Nazarenes are convinced that Christians are
not only called but they are also made capable – by the transforming and
sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit – to glorify God in our bodies.
4. Secondly, conversations about our sexuality are important because these
issues are so closely tied to the “formation of community.” In the
Scriptural narratives of creation, God not only forms humankind in His
image, but He also forms them in the relational community of male and
female. The creation of the human is an expression of God’s self-emptying
love. We are made with an innate need for connection with others at the
core of our being. That need for connection is ultimately fulfilled as we
live in covenanted relationship with God, others, and loving our neighbor
as our self. As social beings, we reflect the image of God in our capacity to
relate and our desire to do so.
5. These conversations about sexuality are also critical because of “the
counter-cultural nature of the gospel.” The calling of the church is not just
responding to surrounding cultures but embodying an alternative kingdom
that the world cannot understand on its own terms. So while the church
always embodies the love and mercy of Christ, we are also called to serve
as a prophetic witness to the life that is only made possible by submission
to the lordship of Jesus and the indwelling work of the Holy Spirit, to the
glory of God the Father.
6. Finally, we recognize the significance of these conversations because of
how “deeply personal and potentially divisive these questions are for a
global body of Christ.” Because issues of sexuality are tied so closely to
questions of identity and belonging, they are rightly felt and experienced
deeply and personally. Conversations about sexuality cannot simply be
abstracted from the reality of particular people who are valued and loved
by God and by the church. Although a holiness people are convinced that
sin and brokenness need not have the last word in any person’s life, we are
also convinced of the reality of sin and its effects on every life. This means
that – as was the case in the incarnation – grace and truth cannot be
divided from one another but must be expressed in unity. When it comes to
the questions around sexuality pastoral concerns must be taken into
account alongside the ethical concerns. It is not enough for the church to
think rightly about these issues, the church must also respond to all people
in ways that reflect the love and graciousness of God revealed in Jesus
Christ.
7. As leaders for the global church, we not only recognize the significance
and the sensitivity of these issues, but we also recognize that they are
taking place within various contexts.
8. Our conversations about sexuality are taking place in “global cultural
contexts.” We recognize that as a global church the issues that press upon
the people of God in the areas of sexuality are incredibly diverse. The
challenge the church has is to speak and give guidance to the whole church
in ways general enough to cross cultures and cultural perspectives but also
specific enough to give much needed biblical guidance and direction for
pastors and laypeople facing complicated and important questions.
9. Our conversations about sexuality are taking place in “diverse political
contexts.” The people of God have always been called to be a unique
people – “resident aliens” – living in the midst of political systems that
range from gracious and supporting to oppressive and persecuting toward
those committed to the Christian faith. The challenge of being a holy
people in the midst of an often unholy empire is as old as the Exodus
narratives. The church recognizes the need in many current global political
contexts to work diligently – by all appropriate means – to ensure the
dignity and freedoms for people of Christian conviction. But the leaders of
the church also recognize the need for people of Christian faith to be
willing to extend those same freedoms and dignities to those who hold
different convictions. It is always the goal of God’s people to do
everything possible to live peaceably with all and to seek justice, love
mercy, and walk humbly with and for those most vulnerable and often
oppressed in these areas.
10. Our conversations about sexuality are taking place in “shifting cultural
contexts.” The rapid development of technology has expanded the reach of
secularism, individualism, and consumerism around the globe. Although
much of the church is thankful for the elevation of human rights and
freedoms that these developments have often brought for many across the
world, the church recognizes that these forces have also brought
destruction, distortion, and even the increased commodification of people
– in particular in the areas of sexuality.
11. Our conversations about sexuality are taking place in “ever–changing
generational contexts.” The church recognizes that passing the mission of
the church on to the next generation has never been an easy task. But with
the developments mentioned above, it is clear that passing on the faith –
and the leadership of the church – to the coming generation is as
challenging as it has ever been. Many in the generation quickly moving
into leadership are not aliens to a secular and technological age. Although
the church cannot and will not surrender a biblical standard of sexual
morality, the church must move forward with sensitivity to all those for
whom the increasingly complex questions of sexuality are very personal
and relational.
12. Our conversations about sexuality are taking place directed by “biblical
and theological contexts.” The primary source and authority for the church
in dealing with these questions is the inspired and revealed truth of God’s
nature and character as witnessed to in the Holy Scripture. The Word of
God – interpreted through the lenses of Christian orthodox tradition,
reason, and personal experience – occupies the privileged position as the
final authority for the faith and practice of the people of God in all aspects
of our lives, including our sexuality.
13. Our conversations about sexuality are taking place in “an ecclesial
context.” An age-old problem that continues to shape our struggle with
sexuality is what it means to submit one’s self to the authority and
accountability of the body of Christ. The leadership of the church must
always lead in ways that model the call of Jesus for the first to be last and
for the leader to be the servant; but the members of the body of Christ
must also constantly work toward unity. In areas as diverse and
controversial as human sexuality, the leadership of the church realizes that
complete unanimity will be impossible. But it is the prayerful hope of the
church that – as Nazarenes have attempted to do from their inception –
unity can be found on essentials, liberty can be given on non-essentials,
and in all things charity or love will be extended.
14. Finally, our conversations about sexuality are taking place in “pastoral
contexts.” It is imperative that the body of Christ commit to loving
unconditionally. God so unconditionally loved the world that He sent His
one and only Son, not to condemn but to save. Although sin and
brokenness in the areas of sexuality are deeply personal and therefore
often difficult conversations, it still remains just one aspect of our all-
encompassing human sinfulness. Loveless judgmentalism and ungracious
reactions do little to enable Christ’s body to grant grace and to show forth
God’s unconditional love. As the complexities of local contexts for doing
ministry increase, the need for the church to grant not only wisdom but
also grace to those who are attempting to show love, accountability, grace,
and transformation to those caught in the bondage of sin will also increase.
15. Because of the great cultural shifts that have taken place over the last
decades, the leadership of the church is recommending the adoption of a
revised Manual statement on human sexuality and marriage. In writing this
statement, the goal has not been to set aside the historical position of the
Church of the Nazarene on sexuality but to more clearly articulate the truth
and grace necessary for the church in this time on these issues.
16. Because of the diverse and various contexts listed above, the proposed
statement is intentionally general and concise. There is no possible way in
the context of the Manual of the Church of the Nazarene to address all of
the pastoral and diverse cultural issues that are connected to human
sexuality. It is therefore the intention of the Board of General
Superintendents (BGS) to leave space for regional leadership and for other
church leaders to address the diversity of pastoral issues that face the
church through sermons, statements, and pastoral letters.
17. The challenges of faithfulness in sexuality also require the church to
develop further resources for instruction and formation of the church to
use in the equipping of pastors and the discipling of our people.
18. Because of the difficulty and nuance required for crafting a globally
appropriate statement of this importance from the floor of the General
Assembly, it is the hope of the BGS that the proposed statement would be
accepted or rejected as it is written. “The statement was developed by a
specially assigned global committee and then was re-worked, refined, and
accepted unanimously by the current BGS. It therefore comes to the
Christian Action Committee and to the General Assembly for adoption.”
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