Christopher West is a popular Christian author who writes about what’s called “the theology of the body,” the idea that men and women’s are shaped to come together in marriage.
That idea is meant to reflect the love between Christ and the Church, he says.
West, author of the book Fill These Hearts, recently talked with CBN News about how promoting same-sex marriages could keep a culture from seeing the truth about Christ’s marriage to his Church.
“Our bodies tell a story of holy communion,” West explained. “A man’s body doesn’t make sense by itself. A woman’s body doesn’t make sense by itself.”
“But in light of each other we see the unmistakable design of the Creator, that we are meant for one another as male and female, a call to life-giving holy communion,” he said. “That’s the story that our bodies tell.”
“But we don’t see this story when you have two men’s bodies,” he said. “We don’t see this story when you have two women’s bodies. This story is only revealed in the glory and beauty and mystery of the sexual difference. That’s where we see the call to holy, life-giving communion.”
Critics argue, however, that in order to grant people their rights, their freedoms, same-sex marriage must be legalized. But what risk would such move pose to the culture?
“What we’re losing, what we’re risking, is when we don’t live the sexual difference rightly that calls men and women to communion, what is ultimately at stake is we’re not going to see the call to holy communion with Christ,” West told CBN News.
West said he believed the push to legalize gay marriage was a form a spiritual attack.
“Put it this way,” he explained, “If the union of man and woman really is the revelation of Christ’s love for the Church, then it would make sense that an enemy would want to attack the union of man and woman precisely to prevent us from entering the union of Christ and the Church.”
“That’s why I believe Ephesians Chapter 5 is followed by Ephesians Chapter 6, which is a call to take up the armor in the spiritual battle,” he continued.
“And the first piece of armor that Paul says we have to put on to win the spiritual battle? He says we must gird our loins with the truth because it is the truth that will set us free,” West said. “This is precisely what is at stake: the mystery of Christ’s love for the Church.”
While gay marriage advocates frame the gay marriage debate as being about freedom, West suggested they may, unbeknownst to them, be promoting bondage.
“Our culture talks a big line about freedom, especially sexual freedom, right? What the culture means by that is ‘Do whatever you want, whenever you want, however you want, without ever saying no,'” West told CBN News.
“Put it this way: if an alcoholic cannot say ‘no’ to his next drink, is he free? Or is he in chains? I think if we take a deeper look at what our culture promotes as sexual freedom, we’ll see it’s actually promoting sexual addiction,” West said.
“You see freedom is not the liberty to indulge your compulsions,” he explained. “True freedom is freedom from the compulsion to indulge. Only then can we become a true gift to one another.”
“See, the great mystery of our sexuality according to the Bible is this: we are called to love as Jesus loves,” West said. “So we’re back to this idea that freedom comes from directing our desires according to God’s design so we can reach our destiny.”
