We live at an interesting time, a time in which so much is changing. Norms that have existed and been accepted for decades or even centuries are quickly fading and being supplanted by what is new and novel. This is especially true of those norms that were based on Scripture and its instruction on what is right and wrong, true and false, beautiful and ugly.
Many of the issues that have seen significant changes in the past few years are related to sexuality. Dissenting voices began outside the church but have more recently been welcomed within it—voices telling us that we have been wrong all along and that so much of what we thought God forbade is actually permitted by him and delightful to him. Those who hold fast to biblical teaching are often left wondering how to relate to friends and family members who disagree with them or even friends and family members who define themselves as gay, lesbian, transgendered, or any other number of identities. Thankfully, we are quickly being well-resourced with books and other tools meant to help express love to family and friends without compromising truth.
One new resource is Casey Hough’s Known for Love. Hough is a parent, pastor, and professor and all three roles are evident within his book. He “aims to equip you to be known for love in a world that is ‘no friend of grace.’” In his various positions in life, he counsels parents whose children are confused about what it means to be a man or a woman, he comforts grandparents whose grandchildren are abandoning the faith they once professed in favor of pursuing the sexual revolution, and he works with leaders of churches to sharpen their convictions about sexuality. All of this comes to bear in the pages of Known for Love.
The book’s teaching on the subject is woven around five chapters of biblical theology—chapters that provide the biblical framework that supports his response to today’s urgent issues. That framework will be familiar to many readers: Creation, crisis, Christ, Creation regained, and our place in God’s redemptive plan. “This framework will help us navigate some of the tougher questions about how we are called to live as believers in the New Testament,” he explains. “My interest is not so much in providing some ‘ethical answer key’ for Christians. Instead, I want to equip you with a biblical foundation from which we can develop principles of engagement for a faithful Christian life.” In other words, a faithful Christian life must be built on a right understanding of God, his Word, and his world.
Apart from the framework chapters are the practical chapters and these address many of today’s big questions and concerns.
- Is the concept of homosexuality really in the Bible or have modern translators mis-translated the original words and intent?
- Is it true that Jesus never spoke about homosexuality and, if so, what significance does this have?
- Should Christians who experience same-sex attraction refer to themselves as “gay Christians?”
- Should I attend a wedding for a gay couple or invite them to my home for Thanksgiving dinner?
- How should I relate to people who say they are transgendered? How can I speak to this issue with my children? And what should my church do if a transgendered person wants to join a Bible study meant for his chosen sex rather than his biological sex?
Hough answers these questions and many others like them and does so with wisdom and grace. He looks constantly to Scripture and, as the subtitle states, steadfastly refuses to compromise biblical truth. He speaks the truth with love—true love that will not affirm what God forbids.
Known for Love is an excellent book and one that any Christian can read with confidence. It will provide the wisdom and motivate the courage that will allow God’s people to press on in loving others while standing firm on all the Bible commands.
