I used to live entrenched in promiscuity and sexual sin. Masturbation and occasional pornography use were accepted, often-joked-about parts of life among my unbelieving friends. But after God lifted the veil from my eyes and gave me salvation in Christ, I began to experience the Holy Spirit’s conviction. For a few months as a new believer, I struggled. Being the taboo subject it is, no one told me masturbation was wrong. But the Spirit who’d taken up residence in my heart was grieved by my actions, and I knew it. I’m grateful for the Spirit’s work in this area of my life, but I also think we need to speak clearly about this issue as believers. In social media posts and everyday conversations, some Christians seek to justify masturbation. Maybe you’re engaging in it and wondering if it’s OK. I want to challenge four arguments that seek to normalize masturbation. 1. ‘Masturbation isn’t mentioned in the Bible, so it’s OK.’ This is a common argument, but not a strong one. A host of sins aren’t explicitly mentioned in the Bible. Consider illicit drugs, for example. Is it OK to snort cocaine or use LSD since the Bible doesn’t specifically forbid them? Of course not. We can infer from passages that remind us to be sober-minded that using these drugs isn’t permissible (1 Thess. 5:5–7; Titus 2:2–3). Likewise, you won’t find the word “masturbation” in your Bible’s index, but we can know it’s wrong based on principles in God’s Word. God created sex to be relational—between one man and one woman in the context of marriage (Gen. 2:24–25; Mark 10:6–9). Spouses are called to selfless service, pursuing not simply their own pleasure but that of their husband or wife (1 Cor. 7:4–5). To remove sex from this context morphs God’s good design into a selfish act. Solo sex is undeniably self-focused and self-gratifying. Solo sex is undeniably self-focused and self-gratifying. As Christians, we’ve been called out of the self-gratifying life we once lived and into life in Christ where we walk by the Spirit so that we don’t “gratify the desires of the flesh” (Gal. 5:16). First Thessalonians 4:4–5 calls us all to “control [our] own body in holiness and honor, not in the passion of lust like the Gentiles who do not know God.” 2. ‘It’s OK as long as I’m not lusting.’ Lust occurs when we desire someone sexually and picture sexual interactions with him or her. This doesn’t only include real people but imaginary lovers too. Some argue that lust is what makes masturbation sinful, since we know that Jesus directly condemned lustful thoughts (Matt. 5:27–28). According to this logic, if a person were to masturbate without lusting, it’d be permissible. While there are situations where lust could be absent from masturbation (i.e. young children discovering their bodies), is it reasonable to believe that adults do this without having fantasized at all—whether through a book, mental pictures, or pornographic material—even if it isn’t at the moment of self-gratification? Often, something the person encountered earlier in the day or even weeks ago feeds her desire. To say someone can masturbate without lusting lacks awareness and honesty. 3. ‘It’s not harmful.’ Some claim that because masturbation isn’t harmful to the body, it’s OK—even healthy—to engage in solo sex. But just because something isn’t harmful physically doesn’t mean it’s not harmful spiritually. There’s a reason guilt and shame are widely experienced by Christians who masturbate. The guilt they feel afterward points them to the truth: They’ve sinned against a holy God. The more they ignore that alarm, the more they quiet their consciences. The more they quiet their consciences, the harder it becomes to tell right from wrong. Dulling our consciences is harmful. Masturbation is also addictive. Because of the physiological response that makes the body want more sexual stimulation—a wonderful gift in marriage, but not appropriate outside marriage—masturbation can become a snare in the believer’s life. 4. ‘It’s how I abstain from sexual immorality.’ Some singles claim that masturbation helps them abstain from sex outside marriage. Similarly, some married people say they partake in solo sex because their spouse doesn’t meet their sexual needs, and masturbating keeps them from adultery. But nowhere in Scripture are we told to commit one sin to avoid another. Whether your sexual desires are unfulfilled because of singleness or issues in your marriage, the Lord still calls you to faithful obedience. Authors Deepak Reju and Jonathan D. Holmes explain, “Masturbation skirts around and removes any need for a person to exercise self-control in the arena of sex.” Scripture warns, “Do not stir up or awaken love until the appropriate time” (Song 8:4, CSB). Masturbation awakens erotic love before marriage. It increases the desire to reach for things that God hasn’t yet given an unmarried person. And it can begin a pattern of behavior that doesn’t stop with marriage. Many men and women who eventually commit adultery can trace their steps back to the unchecked sin of masturbation. If a person doesn’t learn how to control his sexual desire while single, he’ll still be prone to sexual sin when married. Nowhere in Scripture are we told to commit one sin to avoid another. Why would Paul encourage believers to get married for the sake of temptation if we could simply take care of our sexual desires ourselves (1 Cor. 7:1–2)? The logical conclusion is that masturbation is included in the biblical definition of sexual immorality. While sex is a beautiful gift from God, the self-satisfying act of masturbation is a sin. The idea that we must have our sexual desires fulfilled to live a whole and happy life is a lie. That doesn’t mean it’ll always be easy to resist temptation. But we can submit our sexual desires to God, clinging to the truth that he alone truly satisfies. May he, by the Spirit’s power, enable us to walk in true purity and give us faith to know that even if our sexual desires go unmet, Christ is enough.

In recent years, few issues have generated as much confusion and concern among evangelicals as those related to “wokeness.” Discussions around “wokeness” generate heat, but evangelicals need more light to provide clarity for anxious conversations about race, sexuality, and power. To that end, Neil Shenvi and Pat Sawyer supply their second offering that engages with critical theory and wokeness. Their first collaborative effort, Critical Dilemma: The Rise of Critical Theories and Social Justice Ideology—Implications for the Church and Society, received wide acclaim among evangelicals but was geared for an academic readership. This second work, Post Woke: Asserting a Biblical Vision of Race, Gender, and Sexuality, aims for accessibility and practicality. The authors define the term “woke” nonpejoratively as “the contemporary cultural expression of ideas rooted in the decades-old philosophical and sociological framework of the critical tradition” (22). Though it seems like there’s been a vibe shift, Shenvi and Sawyer see wokeness as an enduring problem for evangelicals and our churches. “Christians,” they write, “should not assume that wokeness will simply vanish” (20). This second volume is therefore intended as a tool to help evangelicals “be hypervigilant in detecting its influence” in the workplace, schools, and churches (21). Critical Theory’s Continuing Appeal There’s a growing disaffection with wokeness in popular culture. But it’d be a mistake to think of the vibe shift as the end of contemporary critical theory. As Shenvi and Sawyer demonstrate, wokeness can still thrive from a minority position. Also, the formative effects of a decade of wokeness will take time to undo, which is evident in the political right’s use of similar arguments for different ends. It’d be a mistake to think of the vibe shift as the end of contemporary critical theory. Moreover, wokeness won’t simply vanish from our churches, because it wrestles with concerns many evangelicals—especially those motivated by compassion and justice—recognize as legitimate. For example, [Wokeness] takes racism and sexism seriously. It highlights shameful, but unfortunately very real, episodes in our nation’s past. It calls attention to widespread racial disparities and present-day mistreatment of women. It expresses love and concern for the vulnerable. It repudiates oppression and injustice. It positions itself as compassionate. It fills the spiritual void left by cultural displacement of Christianity. (52) As Shenvi and Sawyer note, evangelical youth “often find that their education with respect to race and history was deficient. They wake up to real injustices they may not have confronted before” (56). Wokeness seems to address those concerns in novel ways, which is part of what makes it attractive. Deep Discipleship Needed Christians need to learn to do more than identify critical theory’s inroads in our culture. Therefore, even as Shenvi and Sawyer expose the intellectual shortcomings of wokeness, they counter it with a robustly biblical vision for race, gender, and sexuality—some of the most divisive topics in our churches. If awareness of critical theory is the primary need, then careful spiritual formation is a close second. For example, the third item on their list of 15 considerations to prepare for conversations about wokeness is to “know your Bible” and to “study to get a good grasp of systematic theology.” Yet they don’t leave novice theologians on their own: “If systematic doctrinal study of the Bible is brand new to you, start with 107 questions of the Westminster Shorter Catechism. Introduce yourself to the best confessions in church history” (206). This isn’t a boot camp to microwave anti-woke warriors. If awareness of critical theory is the primary need, then careful spiritual formation is a close second. A key element of their strategy is exemplified by the sixth item on that same list: “Play the long game” (207). I believe this is the right and wise approach. After all, as they remind readers, we are “not so much trying to win an argument as [we] are trying to win the person” (206). They’re urging deep discipleship over accruing quick wins. Nevertheless, I’m not sure their advice about slow discipleship will be widely adopted. The battle over the contemporary application of critical theory is part of a bigger cultural problem. In effect, Shenvi and Sawyer are counseling readers to swim against the digital current, which incentivizes impatience and intramural feuding. Danger of Hypervigilance Overall, Post Woke offers a solid framework for engaging important cultural issues with charity and precision. However, I remain concerned that their advice to be “hypervigilant in detecting [wokeness’s] influence” may result in misunderstandings among Christians, even by those who are “exceedingly prayerful in understanding the most effective ways to fight it and keep it out of our families and churches” (21). Critical theory continues to influence our workplaces and institutions in many areas. The purpose of books like Post Woke is to equip people for good works, but a call for hypervigilance may result in well-meaning but excessive criticism against faithful leaders and institutions without a clear path to recovery. Internet culture never forgets, and it rarely forgives. Post Woke would have benefited from a greater emphasis on how to prayerfully reconcile with institutions and individuals once concerns have been addressed. The book assumes elements of Christian maturity that online culture actively undermines. As a pastor who often struggles to know when and how to engage specific cultural issues, I’m grateful for Shenvi and Sawyer’s work. The evangelical conversation on wokeness is needed, and it needs to mature through patient study and discussion as we continually evaluate our culture in light of the rich doctrinal heritage of the evangelical tradition. Post Woke will encourage Christians to remain faithful as the conversation around contemporary critical theory matures.

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