Author: Evan Lenow

Christ-follower, husband, father, ethics professor

Good Reading: The Rights of Children: Biology Matters

~ Evan Lenow

There is an interesting article on the Public Discourse regarding anonymous gamete donation and the rights of children to know their biological parents. Here are some of the highlights:

Now that many children conceived with the help of donor sperm or eggs have reached adulthood, many of these donor-conceived adults have claimed a right to know their biological parents. This phenomenon has led a number of European countries to outlaw gamete donation. Even in places where anonymous donation remains legal, such as the United States, there is a growing trend toward the use of non-anonymous donors. This shift away from the use of anonymous gamete donors parallels the shift toward greater openness in adoption, and it marks an increasing recognition that knowledge of one’s biological origins and contact with one’s biological parents when possible are important for human well-being.

This recognition points to a more fundamental critique of donor conception. Indeed, the basic premise of arguments against anonymous gamete donation—the recognition that children have a fundamental interest in knowing their biological parents—implies that conceiving children with donor gametes is always morally problematic, even when the donor is not anonymous, because it always involves conceiving children with the intention of depriving them of a parental relationship with (at least) one of their progenitors. Thus, it is different from the usual case of adoption, in which a child already exists; putting a child up for adoption is an attempt to give that child the best possible care in non-ideal circumstances.

After further explaining her premise, the author provides the following scenario to illustrate her point:

Amanda and Arnold are in desperate need of money. Amanda learns of a local fertility clinic that is offering generous compensation for participation in a study on the effectiveness of fertility treatments. Amanda and Arnold decide to participate in the study, foreseeing that Amanda will most likely become pregnant as a result. If conception does occur, they plan to give the child up for adoption as soon as he or she is born, because their financial situation would make it impossible for them to care for the child adequately.

This case seems to be the exact moral equivalent of what egg and sperm donors do. Just like Amanda and Arnold, donors knowingly perform actions that will most likely lead to their becoming biological parents, while having no intention of raising their offspring themselves. If we think that Amanda and Arnold’s actions are wrong, we should also think that the actions of gamete donors are wrong, and for precisely the same reason: a child has a prima facie right to be raised by his biological parents, based on the absolute right to be loved by his biological parents.

The entire article is worth your time and can be found at here at the Public Discourse.

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Melissa Moschella, “The Rights of Children: Biology Matters,” The Public Discourse, February 20, 2014.

Confused about Gender Confusion

~ Evan Lenow

Last week the Associated Press released the following Tweets announcing a major change to Facebook profiles:

The accompanying story describes that Facebook has introduced 50 terms for people to use in order to customize their gender. Now all you have to do is edit your personal information, select gender, and type away until you find a term that fits. Fifty different choices can certainly make you confused about gender confusion.

Now let me contrast that with something that happened to me today. I went by an early voting location in order to cast my vote in the Texas primary. Having recently moved within the county, I asked the poll worker for the form I would need to update my voter registration address. He handed me a simple yellow card with about half a dozen pieces of information to fill out. One of them was gender. There were two choices: male or female.

If Facebook is setting the trajectory for the future of gender identification, the elections commission has a long way to go. In fact, every government agency will have to update their forms and documents.

But this is a bigger issue than simply voter registration. As we have seen, the push to redefine gender apart from biology has come to the forefront in schools in California as they now must allow students to use whatever restroom or locker room they want based on gender self-identification. Imagine the little girl who finds herself in a restroom with a boy who claims to be a girl today but changes his mind tomorrow. What about the recent announcement that a 17-year-old senior boy will be playing girls’ softball this spring. Self-identifying as a female despite the biological evidence otherwise will allow this much larger male to play a sport with and against physically smaller girls.

There is no wonder that our culture is confused about gender confusion. There is no objective standard in gender self-identification. Facebook may not make the laws, but don’t surprised if in years to come you go to fill out a government form like I did today and you find many more choices in the gender section than I did today.

Thankfully, the Bible is clear on gender. There is no need for confusion regarding God’s Word. In Genesis 1:27, we read, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” God’s intent from the beginning is two genders inextricably linked to biology. No questions. No confusion.

Good Reading: Is Anything Lewd (for Christians) Anymore?

~ Evan Lenow

Waylan Owens, dean of the Terry School for Church and Family Ministries at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, has written an intriguing post about the use of the term “lewd.” His post asks why this word is not used and whether it should return to our vocabulary in light of some recent events in pop culture.

Here is an excerpt:

In all the hubbub over Katy Perry’s ritual dance and Jay-Z’s and Beyonce’s sex show, and in all of the Christian commentary, I noticed a word was missing.  In fact, I have noticed that this word is seldom used at all in such cases, like Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl wickedness with Justin Timberlake, even though it seems to be the most appropriate word for it all.  In fact, I do not hear the word used even by Christian pastors to describe anything that goes on in American culture.

The word, of course, is “lewd.”  According to the online Merriam-Webster, the first definition for the word is “evil, wicked,” but that definition is now obsolete.  In fact, that definition has been obsolete at least since 1975, according to my “old” Webster’s New Collegiate Dictionary.  That is a shame because a strong case can be made that anything we would call “lewd” would be called evil and wicked in the Bible.

The second definition is “sexually unchaste or licentious.”  Licentious means “lacking legal or moral restraints; especially: disregarding sexual restraints.”  That would fit the Grammys, and it would fit much of what is on television and in the movies these days.  I doubt that even the actors on-stage, doing the lewd things, would disagree that what they were doing was “sexually unchaste and licentious.”  The point of their music is and the point of the show was to disregard sexual restraints.

So, if we, Christians, do not use the word “lewd” to describe aspects of our culture, is that because we do not think these aspects are lewd?  Have we adopted a better word?  I am not sure just what that word would be.  Concupiscent?  Lascivious?  Lecherous?  Wanton?  Obscene?

The entire post is worth your time, and I encourage you to read it. In fact, you should probably bookmark Waylan’s blog at http://waylanandbetsyowens.com/.

Radical Reformation and Religious Liberty

~ Evan Lenow

Today I had the privilege of speaking in chapel at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary for our annual Radical Reformation Day chapel. Dr. Patterson had asked me to speak on the issue of religious liberty. You can watch or listen to the entire message here, but I also want to provide you with some highlights.

Historically, the Anabaptists fought for religious liberty all the way to the point of death. They believed that the church and state should not be wed in a way that the state enforces doctrinal purity by punishing those who believe or promote false doctrine. The Anabaptists believed that the state’s role was limited to protecting peace and order in society. Since the state could not coerce beliefs, then the Anabaptists also believed that conversion cam on the basis of persuasion through the Word of God rather than at the point of the sword. Finally, the Anabaptists taught the free exercise of religion in that heathens and heretics were to be allowed to continue in their unbelief. No one had the right to coerce them to change.

There is much more to discuss, but this gives you the historical highlights. I hope you enjoy the message as much as I enjoyed preparing and delivering it.

Radical Reformation and Religious Liberty

Guest Post: How to Embrace a Season of Stillness

~ Evan Lenow ~ 1 Comment

This is a guest post from my wife, Melanie. She originally wrote this post for Biblical Woman, the blog site for the Women’s Programs at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. The post originally appeared here.

Everything is still and dead. I look out on my backyard and that is what I see. My ferns are brown and droopy and my trees are bare. Had my husband not raked for endless hours, dead leaves would have created a brown carpet over the ground. In the place where the daffodils bloom is a hard bed of earth. Even the birds are eerily quiet and the bugs save their song for another time.  Now is the time of year where living things go into dormancy. It’s a time to conserve energy and not fight against the harsh conditions on the outside.

God has built into every living thing a cadence or rhythm of life. Solomon describes it in Ecclesiastes 3:1 “To everything there is a season. A time for every purpose under heaven.” He is reminding us that the Lord has a specific time for everything that He has called you to do. During this time of year, there are new ministries to join, new classes to take, New Year’s resolutions to accomplish. The idea of “getting back into the swing of things” thrills us. One more meeting? Sure, I need to be there. A playdate? Of course, my children want to see their friends (and so do I). A party to throw? Yes, a friend deserves it. A task to volunteer for? Absolutely, for if I don’t do it, who will?

We are, by nature, brilliant multi-taskers. God has wired within us the ability to accomplish a great deal for our families, our homes, and our community. We are moms, sisters, daughters, students, professionals, makers of the home, and our gift of nurturing is a vital component of who we are. However, as I look out onto my backyard, I see stillness and quietness and a silent preparation for beautiful things to come.

In God’s divine grace and wisdom, there is a time for activity and a time for rest. Rest brings a conservation of energy. In reading about daffodils, I discovered that you are supposed to remove the dead flowers immediately so energy is not wasted in making new seeds that will not develop before the dormant season. I don’t need to remind you that the activities that God has called you to require large amounts energy. Like the daffodil, we cannot afford to waste energy on unnecessary activity. We are finite beings, and it is arrogant of us to believe that our energy is everlasting. That is not God’s design.

In the life of Elijah, there were times of extreme activity. First Kings 17 begins with him predicting a drought to King Ahab. Then, in the midst of the drought he ministers to and rescues a widow and her son from starvation. Then, on behalf of the widow, God uses Elijah again to show His glory and raise the widow’s son from the dead. In a magnificent climax, Elijah calls out the prophets of Baal and, through him, God proves to hundreds upon hundreds that He is the all-powerful, one true God. And finally afterwards, Elijah is the first to notice the rain clouds that bring an end the horrible drought.

It is obvious that God is not against activity. However, let us read between the events. This is why God’s Word is so precious in its entirety; for between the amazing activities of Elijah’s life are periods of mandatory rest.

After Elijah predicted the drought, God commanded him to go and dwell by a brook. He relied on God for even his basic sustenance. The ravens brought him bread and meat in the morning and again in the evening (1 Kings 17:5-7). He stayed there, trusting God for everything until the brook dried up. Can you see that those lessons of patience, trust, and total obedience were paramount for him grasp in order to perform the miracles that were to come? After the victory over the prophets, Elijah was once again driven into the wilderness as he ran from the threats of Jezebel. When he was exhausted and unable to run any longer, he sat down and slept only to be awakened briefly by an angel to give him nourishment. His unplanned yet God-ordained time of rest in the wilderness brought Elijah to a new level of awareness of who God is, for God spoke to Elijah clearly in a “still small voice” (1 Kings 19:12).  Elijah accomplished everything God had ordained that he accomplish.

In the same way, God has great plans for us and wants to use us mightily, but we must heed his call to rest. It is during the quiet times where God does a mighty work within our own hearts.

I might not know you personally, but I am almost certain that you are a busy lady. However, it is a challenge to me and, I pray, will be a challenge to you to submit our hearts to God’s calling on us to rest. Throughout the next year there will be seasons of activity and opportunities for rest. When God leads you there, embrace the season of stillness and rest. We never know what God will teach us as we lay dormant and conserve our energy for a period. It is there that we will hear His still, small voice. He will tend to us and nourish us spiritually. And only then can we burst out of the ground in a splendor of colors, praising God for his faithfulness and head back into our ministries for the glory of God.