“Everything in life has a purpose, but not every purpose is known; and where purpose is not known, abuse is inevitable.” — Myles Munroe

Terence W. Stovell

To the citizens of this our island home, Over the past several decades, nations have grappled with how to categorise homosexuality, as well as define the legal and community status of those whose sexual orientation is other than what is considered normal, straight or heterosexual.

The above quote by the late Myles Munroe, noted author, Christian leader and motivational speaker, has been my guiding principle to establish a reasonable perspective into the matter of authentic human sexuality and its purpose.

When God created mankind, he had a particular plan in mind, which I call “original intent” or “authentic purpose”. The biblical account of God’s eternal purpose for humanity is recorded in Genesis 1:26-28:

Now let Us conceive a new creation — humanity — made in Our image, fashioned according to Our likeness. And let Us grant them authority over all the earth — the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, the domesticated animals and the small, creeping creatures on the earth. So God did just that. He created humanity in His image, created them male and female. Then God blessed them and gave them this directive: “Be fruitful and multiply. Populate the earth. I make you trustees of My estate, so care for My creation and rule over the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky and every creature that roams across the earth.” (The Voice Translation)

God’s eternal intent is that humanity would be His earthly offspring, possessing divine qualities, reflecting his Creator, for the purpose of managing the planet earth. Therefore, humanity is accountable to God for how he stewards this earth. Mankind’s successful stewardship must reflect the interest and desires of earth’s Owner. When mankind understands and fully aligns himself with his assignment in the earth, he will discover true life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness he was designed for.

To this end, God’s plan for humanity was for them — male and female — to be fruitful, multiply and replenish the earth. This replenishing required the specific design of male and female humans. This purposeful dual-divine design established a complementary function, establishing equality of value of male and female humans, but differentiating in physiology and sexual function — equal but different.

The purpose determines the design that establishes legitimate function. This is the authentic “natural fit” in human sexuality based on the Creator’s original intent.

This complementary make-up provides the process for a man and a woman to become “one” in a marriage covenant; the enjoyment of the passion of the sexual union that is a continual celebration of the covenant; which, in addition, grants the ability to increase and to sustain the human population from generation to generation throughout all ages. This is authentic family, which is the foundation of every society.

If a human sexual function is not in alignment with the pre-established purpose of the Creator, then the function becomes a dysfunction or malfunction — even if it feels right and good. This is what nature would call a “forced fit”. When authentic purpose is not known, abuse or abnormal use is inevitable. Human endorsement does not legitimise the malfunction.

This is not a homophobic statement, neither is it an inhumane perspective. It is what is declared by nature’s God, the Creator and sovereign authority of heaven and Earth, who grants humanity the privilege of divine family status and vice-regency in managing the Earth on His behalf.

When humanity chooses to engage its own gifts and privileges against the Creator’s established laws of nature, he disqualifies himself from authenticity and the consequences are chaotic, as history has proven. When humanity chooses to use his intellectual capacity to ignore his Creator’s original intent, they follow the unseemly designs of their minds and do things that should not be done.

When self-evident truths are not so self-evident, even by national leaders; when they are ignored by the most well-meaning individuals; when they are despised by special interest groups, the results are predictable. History has recorded many civilisations that shifted human morals to facilitate human impulses, but those civilisations either ceased to exist or have become a shadow of former greatness.

On June 23, 2016, the citizens of this island will be asked to vote on what the future of our island home will look like. We will be asked to use our God-given endowments to decide whether or not we support same-sex marriage or civil unions as a natural, self-evident truth.

God the Creator has already declared His original intent for male and female humans. I choose to side with God. Unlike popular opinion, this is not a private matter; this is a matter of the future sustainability and prosperity of our island home.

• Terence W. Stovell is the senior pastor of the Better Covenant Christian Fellowship

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