ALL in

Sport is about finding the fastest and strongest human. Almost always, this turns out to be a man. In order to allow women to compete in elite sports, we created a category for "women", and have excluded men from competing in this category. But for over 100 years, we've battled to define who a woman is in sport. Back in 1936, for example, both the gold and silver winners of the 100m accused each other of being men. A "nude parade" was required for all elite women athletes - to literally stand naked in front of a panel of judges to prove they were women. This was changed in the 1960s and 70s to a "female passport". It then shifted to chromosome testing, and today a court has confirmed it relates to hormone levels. But none of these are adequate, and all have been flawed.

This bonus episode of the ALLin podcast looks at the fascinating history of how sport has tried to define who a woman is, and what it means for us that they have essentially failed to do so in over a century.

Of course, sport is merely an example. This also applies to how we might define who can go to a girls school, or who gets counted as a woman on your Board or Executive leadership team if your country requires a specific quota of women in those positions.

This bonus episode concludes the mini-series on "Are there only two genders?". The answer, it is clear, is NO.

This episode looks at the science, biology and creation facts around gender, sex biology, sexual orientation and a number of other factors that determine male and female. We'll see that all of these exist on a spectrum, and between 7 and 20% of the population exhibit some mixture of genders based on these factors. In addition to our longest episode yet (at just on an 1 hour), there is a list of highly recommended readings below, and a PDF slide deck to download and follow along (see https://www.futurechurchnow.com/2020/01/31/allin-podcast-episode-09-there-are-more-than-two-genders/).

Our study of the Old Testament verses dealing with homosexuality concludes with a detailed word study of the concept of toebah ( תּוֹעֵבָה), translated as "abomination" or "detestable". This word is used 117 times in the Bible, and it is very clear what it is referring to... and it is NOT sexual sin. 

The ALLin podcast provides resources and insights for Christians who affirm the LGBTQI community. In this episode we look at the two Old Testament Laws that talk about male gay sexual activity. We look at the context, the Holiness Code and ancient Israel’s sexual ethics.

Summary: The commands against gay sex in Leviticus 18 and 20 were given to the Israelites before they entered the Promised Land, and they were about the people who already lived there. Look at the first few verses of Lev 18 and 20 and you’ll see clearly that these Laws were about what the pagan nations did in their temples. These temple rituals included tattooing your body, shaving your head and having gay sex with teenage boys. They also included child sacrifice. And God said to the Israelites: don’t do any of these things in MY temple. These chapters in Leviticus are not meant to be a code of sexual ethics for all time, but a specific set of restrictions related to temple Worship in the pagan nations that surrounded Israel. They do NOT apply to gay people today. And they have nothing to say about gay marriage. 

Episode 6 of ALLin pod looks at how we should interpret Old Testament Laws. Do they still apply to us, as Christians today?

If so, how we do distinguish between those laws that do apply and those that don't? And what does this mean for the two verses in Leviticus that prohibit "men sleeping with men as they would with a woman"? It's a longer episode than normal (44 minutes), but well worth this deep dive into how to apply Old Testaments laws in our modern world.

The Bible is not meant to be used as a legal textbook. On many issues, we are required to look for principles in the Bible, rather than direct instructions. This includes issues such as slavery, women leaders, and democracy. On these issues, we need to identify principles from the Bible that help us understand how God would have us live.

In this episode of the ALLin podcast, we look at ten passages in the Bible that provide principles for affirming gay marriage and LGBTQI people.

Resource and recommended reading: 
* https://sojo.net/articles/10-bible-passages-teach-christian-perspective-homosexuality 

Many Christians who are against affirming gay marriage and LGBTQI people reference the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah to show that God is angry with homosexuality and will judge it. But this is not what these stories are about. In this episode we get into the Bible, and look at why God judged Sodom and Gomorrah, and what these stories mean for us today.

In this episode of the ALLin podcast, Graeme Codrington gives an initial overview of the seven Bible verses most often referenced when Christians are considering issues related to LGBTQI people and gay marriage. He shows that the traditional interpretation of these verses needs to be questioned. The rest of the Bible presents a strong argument for accepting LGBTQI people into our churches and faith communities.

We understand why conservative Christians might be nervous of affirming LGBTQI people and welcoming them to church. There are seven reasons why they shouldn’t be scared, and why we should change the traditional Christian views about gay people. This episode lays out the goals for the ALLin podcast, and invites you to start changing your mind.