Introduction

Ever since God created man and ushered him into a relationship with Himself, he has drawn lines which were never meant to be crossed. He drew a line in the Garden of Eden [Gen. 2:16: …“You may freely eat of every tree of the garden; Gen. 2:17 but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat,….”]. He drew lines on the peak of Mt Sinai [Ex. 20:13: You shall not murder, Ex. 20:14 ¶ You shall not commit adultery]. He drew lines on the mountain on which he stood as he delivered the great beatitudes [Matt. 5:32 But I say to you that anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery].

Sermon Thesis

God has drawn a demarcative line between the two genders. He desires that we not cross the line; Also He wills that the genders show consideration one for the other in light of their differences

God has drawn a demarcative line between the two genders; He desires that we not cross the line.

God has drawn a demarcative line between the two genders. Here is a Bible trivia for you. From which Book of the Bible has this statement been coined? Genesis. What chapter? Chapter 1 What verse? Verse 27: (Gen. 1:27: So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.) God has drawn a demarcative line between the two genders. His desire is that we not cross the line.

What are some of the manifestation of gender line crossing?

1. Gayism
I can sense some of you saying this in you heart, “time out preacher-man, drop it guy, don’t even go there, unless, of course, you are confused about who we are, in which case we would be more than glad to remind you: “We are not Americans who (a) are the chief exporters of the gay rights movement (b) have among them a exclusively gay church (Metropolitan Community Church) (c) have plans underway this fall an exclusively gay and lesbian school in New York and (d) a few weeks ago produced the first publicly gay Anglican bishop—bishop-elect Gene Robinson of New Hampshire,” a decision, by the way, that is threatening to split the Anglican church worldwide. Bishop Nzimbi and his team are meeting even as we speak to decide on whether to dis-fellowship the American sector of the Anglican communion, a move that I personally would support without hesitation. “We are not even Canadians in whose land gay marriages are legally recognized in at least two provinces. We need to remind you that we are Africans. If it is vices you want to talk to us about, you know our vices. Speak to us about tribalism, for instance. But please don’t speak to us about homosexuality. Homosexuality is not just our vice.“
If that is you stance towards the subject of homosexuality, deservedly, you have every reason to pat yourself in the back because you follow in the very footsteps of our late beloved president.
Back in the 60’s, the late President, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta is said to have once confidently declared (and I quote) “there is no african word for homosexuality…the practice is totally unknown to the black man” As it turns out Mzee was speaking contemporaneously, not timelessly. If Hayati were to rise from the dead this very second, he would have no choice but to swallow his words. Why? Because
(i) There exists today an indigenous term for gayism, any one knows the term? Shoga. (ii)There are Kenyan homosexual practitioners; we even know the names of some of them. Daily Nation, June 24th, 1998 makes mention of 42-year old Odongo. The same issue named Amin,a 54 year old primary school headmaster. If you jog your memory, you might be able recall an estatemate, someone you grew up with of whom it was rumoured that he was gay. I recall someone who I grew up with who was gay. His name was Thuo. Kenyan homosexuals are now emerging from the closet. A good example is our fellow Kenyan diasporean Kerugo Macharia. Believe it or Macharia has posted his confession on the web for all to read. The confession reads in part: “In 1995, my first year in America, I began to question my sexual identity and to look for positive affirmations of it. I found my first positive affirmations of it in literature written by white gay men. Their voices helped me identify one aspect of my nature and to explore it”
(iii)There exists in our motherland a local chapter of an international advocacy group known as the LGBT advocacy group? LGBT stands for Lesbian Gays Bisexual and Transgender. The local chapter goes by the acronym Galebitra. I could not find the meaning of Galebitra; but I would not be surprised if the term is an acronym for Gay Lesbian Transgender. The coordinator of Galebitra is Jeremy Mirie.
(iv) There is talk out there that the new constitution is homosexuality-tolerant. And that may just be true based on an interview conducted by an East African Newspaper correspondent featuring Prof. Makau Mutua who used to be the Kenya Human Commission Chairman, is a current delegate to the new constitution referendum, and law professor at the Buffalo Law school in New York. Prof. Mutua had this say about homosexuality and the draft constitution: “there is misunderstanding about the view of African culture and African tradition, vis-à-vis homosexuality. My understanding is that before the advent of Christianity in the pre-colonial era, Africans never punished, discriminated against or looked down upon individuals who are today referred to as homosexuals…. It is in fact Christianity and its strict sexual moral code that introduced the hatred, discrimination, and exclusion of homosexuals from society. So the fact that the draft bill seeks to tolerate … homosexuals … is a very welcome development.”

If when I first mentioned the term homosexual, you, for a moment, thought the topic was irrelevant, I hope you now realize your naivete. Homosexuality in Kenya is no longer a myth, it’s a reality and it’s high time we talked about it from the pulpit.

The gay movement poses a two-pronged threat.
–The first threat has to do with the way in which pro-homosexual theologians seek to dilute the forcefulness with which the Bible condemns homosexuality. Let’s look at these passages: Lev. 18:22 reads, You shall not lie with a male as with a woman; it is an abomination. Lev. 20:l3 says, If a man lies with a male as with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination; they shall be put to death; their blood is upon them. Rom 1, 18,26 and 27 says, For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and wickedness of those who by their wickedness suppress the truth (18). For this reason God gave them up to degrading passions. Their women exchanged natural intercourse for unnatural (26), and in the same way also the men, giving up natural intercourse with women, were consumed with passion for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the due penalty for their error.,(27). Pro-homosexual theologians read these texts and then argue that what is being condemned here is the homosexual act itself (act of lying with a male as with a woman or vice versa), not the homosexual relationship or desire per se. In other words, a homosexual is fine as long as the relationship stays platonic.
–The second threat posed by the homosexual movement is the kinds of scientific arguments it advances on its own behalf. An often-quoted psychoanalytical theory states that a father’s detachment or nonparticipation in a child’s upbringing causes a son to develop a compromised sense of secure-maleness because of lack of opportunity for the son to pattern his developing personality after that of his father. Then there is the genetic hypothesis which purports that homosexuality is determined from the word “go,” i.e., at the moment of conception due the presence of the so called “gay” gene

To the extent that you buy into these theological and scientific arguments or reject them totally is to the same extent that you will either grant or deny homosexuality a foothold in your life.
Speaking to the proposed distinction between the homosexual act and the homosexual relationship, I, personally, find this proposed dichotomization to be quite cosmetic and superficial. A Homosexual relationship, just like a heterosexual relationship, sooner or later culminates in the sex act. So spare me the platonic love nonsense.
As regards the psychoanalytical theory, the environment that I grow up in may influence my behaviour but ultimately the buck stops with me. I am ultimately responsible for my behaviour.
As regards the genetic hypothesis, namely the “gay” gene theory, if the hypothesis is true and if the psalmist’s assertion is also true that we owe our conception and uterine development to God, then the only logical conclusion that can be made is that God is responsible for the creation of the gay gene. But why would a God who created the gay gene turn around and then condemn homosexuality?

2. Transvestism.
Due to time I will not dwell much on this particular manifestation. There is one thing that I would like to pint out, though.
Any males in the house that have earing or plaited hair? Some are of the opinion that earing wearing or hair plaiting by the male gender should be categorized as transvestism. I cannot disagree enough. You have to see a real transvestite—I never sone myself until I came to this country- to realize that the male earing wearers or hair plaiters in our midst are nowhere close to passing themselves as females. They are simply being fashionable. Having said that, though, male earing wearers and hair plaiters, the burden is on you make sure you are not violating the Rom. 14 principle about not stumbling the weaker brethren.

God has drawn a demarcative line between the two genders. He wills that the genders show consideration one for the other in light of their differences

Let’s look at 1 Pet. 3:7 [Husbands, in the same way, show consideration for your wives in your life together, paying honor to the woman as the weaker sex, since they too are also heirs of the gracious gift of life — so that nothing may hinder your prayers]

The gender difference that Peter spotlights here is the relative weakness of the female gender. To this end he calls on the male gender to show consideration, to pay honour. I suggest to us that there exists several other gender differences, viz., biological/physiological differences. And for each of these other gender differences, Peter’s appeal still stands: show consideration! show consideration!
Due to time limitation we will only look at two. Besides citing these differences I will also suggest ways in which we can show consideration one for another

(a) Physical strength
Facts:
(i) The male has a BMR (Basal metabolic rate) 10% higher
(ii) the male converts 50% more energy into muscle
(iii) the male has larger windpipes and branching bronchi
(iv) the male has a larger heart which is able to pump larger volume of blood
Bottom line: The male is stronger, he can handle heavy work and is more energetic

Ways of showing consideration
(i) Be willing to take care of household chores that are physical taxing like let’s say scrubbing the bath-tub
(ii) Groceries can be pretty heavy; if there is any single reason why the male should go shopping with the female is so as to handle the heavy grocery
(iii) Since the male is stronger, the last thing you want to do is hit the female. Being the stronger one, males who beat females engage in a mismatch. There is no better expression of cowardice than a stronger person punching a weaker person. If you want to hit someone, males, find your match. I hear Don King Promotions is signing up new recruits. Sign up with Don King. He is bound to find you a good match, like Tyson. Then show us how good a fighter you are.

(b) Sexual Arousal
Facts
(i) The testosterone in the male produces neurotransmitters in the hypothalamus which then lowers the threshold of responses so that it takes less stimulation to attain arousal
(ii) The estrogen in the female causes the inhibition of synaptic firing in the brain leading to need for more sensory and cognitive stimulation
Bottom line: The male is not only easily aroused but is aroused by what they see; the female not only requires more stimulation but is aroused by touch and by words

Ways of showing consideration
(i) Single males, since the female gender is turned on by words, there is a three-word phrase that you should never utter unless you really really really mean it. You may not, should not, cannot, loosely, casually blurt out the words “I love you” unless you are willing to facilitate the fulfillment of the fantasy that this three-word phrase triggers in the female psyche. You see gentlemen, those words fling the female into fantasy land—fantasy land filled with possible wedding colour themes ; fantasy land filled with bridesmaids, wedding bells and pastor Ruto. The female’s expectation of you, Mr. Man, is that when she finally makes her way back from fantasy land to reality you see to it that her fantasy matches reality . Failure to convert her fantasy into reality results in a broken heart, broken pieces.
(ii) Females, since the male is aroused by sight, you show consideration by seriously thinking through your dress-code. For our sake, you may want to set aside the sphaghetti sleeves, the sleevless blouse, the tight miniskirts, the see-throughs. We are not asking that you put on a buibui—as in make it your noble goal to always underexpose yourself, not overexpose yourself. If you did that, you will be fulfilling the biblical principle of modest dressing.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we started out by pointing out that ever since God created mans and ushered him into a relationship with himself, he has drawn lines that were never meant to be crossed. Gender demarcation is an example of such line drawing.