Facing sexuality issues with Biblical truth

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Wednesday, February 14th. Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day. Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

LINDSAY MAST, HOST: And I’m Lindsay Mast.

REICHARD: Coming next on The World and Everything in It: It’s Valentine’s Day. Not everyone will have a sweetheart to celebrate with, but all Christians can celebrate God’s good design for marriage and sexuality.

MAST: Of course, American culture offers a very different story about sexuality and gender. WORLD reviewer Emily Whitten says parents who want to share godly sexual values with their teens should check out a video series released last year.

EMILY WHITTEN: The Holy Sexuality Project is a 12-lesson video curriculum for families. It grew out of a 2018 book called Holy Sexuality and the Gospel written by Christopher Yuan.

LESSON 1: As we kick off this Holy Sexuality video series together, I want to give you a quick overview of where we will be heading. For the next four lessons, we will study three aspects of sexuality: attractions, actions, and identity.

The series takes on challenging issues with biblical truth and hard won wisdom from Yuan’s own struggles. After his conversion, Yuan became a Christian author and a professor at Moody Bible Institute. But his prodigal journey was a rocky one. Here’s how Allie Beth Stuckey introduces him in a 2023 interview.

STUCKEY: He has an amazing testimony of being a drug dealer who went to prison, who was deeply involved in the gay community as a homosexual man, and then came to Christ through a powerful turn of events.

Yuan tells his personal story in the first lesson of the Holy Sexuality Project. It sets the tone for the entire series, highlighting the seriousness of sin as well as the power of God’s love to change anyone.

CHRISTOPHER YUAN: By God’s grace, I followed Jesus. As the days and the weeks and the months of abstinence passed, I realized that my sexuality shouldn’t be the core of who I am.

In early lessons, Yuan helps families see through some common deceptions of our culture, such as the idea that all desires are good. He also highlights foundational doctrines like Creation, the Fall, and our sin nature, as well as God’s redemptive plan through faith in Christ.

YUAN: Scripture consistently celebrates the goodness, beauty, and wholesomeness of sex in biblical marriage.

Later sections go deeper on topics like singleness, transgender ideology, and how to minister to those who struggle. Yuan takes on ­popular questions like this one: “Is God really concerned about what goes on in my bedroom?”

He helps families reject worldly, me-centered views of our ­bodies and sexual desires. In contrast, he ends each lesson with 1 Thessalonians 4:3:

YUAN: “For this is the will of God, your sanctification.” Now go and follow Jesus.

In Lesson 8, he even teaches families how to interpret the Bible using literary, historical, and canonical tools. Those analytical tools can help teens see through worldly claims and respond to progressive Christians’ arguments that the Bible is pro-gay.

For about the cost of a large pizza, parents can get a two-year license for the series at the website, ­holysexuality.com. They’ll also get a 65-page downloadable Parent Guide that complements the videos. In terms of production quality, the series holds up well. Yuan delivers short, conversational talks punctuated by stylized graphics and Bible verses. Yuan also models many good qualities, leading viewers to pray before each session.

YUAN: But before we start, let’s begin with a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, help us to understand, embrace, and celebrate Biblical sexuality. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

The videos might be too much for some church youth groups used to more entertainment-based teaching. These lessons include topics and terminology that may take thought and discussion to process.

One minor criticism–I came away slightly confused by some of Yuan’s statements about the relationship between our sexuality and our identity. For more clarity on that topic, I recommend families read the 2017 Nashville Statement, a declaration of what the Bible says about marriage and sexuality that Yuan has signed.

When today’s parents were teenagers, we didn’t face the challenges related to sexuality that our teens face today. That makes it hard to walk alongside them and give them the wisdom they need. Christopher Yuan’s The Holy Sexuality Project can help fill that gap.

YUAN: How do we respond to someone in unrepentant sexual sin? Show them the love of Christ and a life transformed by the gospel.

I’m Emily Whitten.

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