THE EKKLESIA OF GOD

THE EKKLESIA A study of the 1960s Sexual Revolution, and the Role of the Church of God in Influencing the Ethnos

ADEJUWON GBALAJOBI

© 2017, GBALAJOBI ADEJUWON.

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First Words I strongly believe that there is more to the Church than what we have been raised to believe. The Church of God is a living organism and not just a lifeless organization. The Will of God is to Disciple all nations through His Church, and if this is the case, the Church goes beyond a group of people who are saved and are on the merry road to heaven. The Church is an administrative mountain with the mandate to influence, and fill the earth with the Life that is of Christ, hence, it must be active in every sphere of influence, be it political, economic and so on. The Church is to colonize the people of the earth with its own civilization−that which is from above. It is with this in mind that I undertake a study of the 1960 Sexual Revolution. However, seeing that some have done the same and blamed the Church for the success of sexual revolutions, it is not my wish to add to their numbers, so instead, I talked about the sexual revolution, the changes it brought, the medium through which the revolution was initiated and achieved, and lastly, I talked about the Ekklesia of God and how it should disciple the nations with the resources of God.

Adejuwon Gbalajobi 08109649867 [email protected]

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And it cometh to pass, in their journeying from the east, that they find a valley in the land of Shinar, and dwell there; And they say each one to his neighbor, ‗Give help, let us make bricks, and burn them thoroughly: ‗and the brick is to them for stone, and the bitumen hath been to them for mortar. And they say, ‗Give help, let us build for ourselves a city and tower, and its head in the heavens, and make for ourselves a name, lest we be scattered over the face of all the earth. Genesis 11: 2-4. Young‘s Literal Translation.

Beginning from the garden of Delight, man has always chose to make decisions that push him further from God– and that as a quest for freedom and independence. This in a sense is a kind of revolution, howbeit, one that made man slide downwards towards hell, and degrades him to an animal. Men‘s first notable revolution or better put, rebellion, began at Babel, when men discover bricks and slime, and decided to build for themselves a city, and a tower that will reach up to heaven and in to make a name for themselves. Men were so at one in this that God had to step down from heaven to stop them! This shows that behind that decision lays a subtle purpose. Building a city was an outward expression of an inner rebellion. The city is a system of things that opposes God, a government created by man and for man−to set himself up as a demigod. The tower that reaches heaven denotes man‘s quest to set himself up as God, while making a name for themselves is man trying to define himself outside of God, to create an image and identity for themselves−an identity not defined or decided by God− all in all, this is men waging war against God, creating a system that opposes God, His Sovereignty and His purpose. Bricks and Slime signifies man‘s invention, a substitute for God‘s provision−that which was natural and which bores the signature of God. Men wanted their own government, and so, an administration of things outside the government God begins in Shinar. 5

We could remember also remember that God‘s desire was that men will fill the earth. But men wanted something different, something hostile to God‘s will. They said, ―Lest we be scattered over the face of all the earth‖, whereas, what God wants was for men to fill the whole earth. Men‘s plan was foiled−He who is seated in heaven laughed at the quest of men; their action was brought to naught. But this has not stopped man from taking steps towards this end, for men is stubborn in his quest for setting theirselves up as God and creating an identity for themselves outside of God−to set up a system to oppose God. In the 1960s, men took a drastic step towards hell− The Sexual Revolution. The Sexual Revolution, also known as sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the Western. Sexual revolution included increased acceptance of sex outside of traditional heterosexual, monogamous relationships (primarily marriage), the normalization of contraception and the pill, public nudity, pornography, premarital sex, homosexuality, and the alternative forms of sexuality, and the legalization of abortion (Wikipedia). The 1960s saw a series of events in Western countries that created new perspectives and practices regarding sexuality and brought a flood of eroticised texts and images into the public realm. Sweden saw debates on abortion, the Netherlands witnessed Provo’s that advocated general amoral promiscuity in 1965, England was host to a summer of love in 1967, Paris provided the setting for the May 1968 uprising and demonstrations which produced a pivotal image of the 1960s, and in 1969 New York‘s Stonewall Inn became the symbol for gay liberation. The decade saw the ascendancy of the pill, pop music and festivals like Woodstock, feminism, homosexual emancipation and gay liberation, student revolts, sex shops and shows, girls without bras and with miniskirts, sexualized media and the TV that broadcast it all. Marriage and the nuclear family came under attack and people developed alternative relational models such as communal living and group sex. Nudity infiltrated theatre and ballet stages, cinemas showed Italian and German films containing sexual content, and the streets became the site for ‗streamers‘. Pornography was liberalized in Denmark and later on in other European countries. Hippies were busy changing the cityscapes by sleeping in parks and public squares and shopping for food, clothing and drugs in countercultural circuits of squatted buildings such as in Copenhagen‘s Christiana. The political landscape was transformed through organized social movements and demonstrations including Black Power and protests against Vietnam, colonial wars, and nuclear technology. Sexuality became politicized and society eroticized. Western countries made gigantic steps forward in the 1960s with an aperture, upsurge, and liberation of sexualities (Alain Giami, Gert Hekma). 6

The Sexual Revolution was seen as a time of sexual emancipation for many−as practices that were was seen as outright immorality began to gain acceptance in the society. The homosexuals can now come out to declare their sexual preference. Youths can now have sex before marriage without any fear of being reprimanded, there is also no fear for unwanted pregnancy as abortion was legalized and contraceptives were made available−sex without procreation was normalized. The porn industry began to make profit−sex was commercialized. As a matter of fact, all existing acceptable sexual behavior was overhauled. This seems to be a freedom indeed, a time of great emancipation, the freedom of people to pursue their sexual drive without any limitation. People can reach the height of their sexual potential. This revolution reveals the corruption that is in man. The state of his degeneration, for this is an express moral debauchery. But beyond the moral debauchery lays something more terrible — just like in Shinar, this revolution is a plot to challenge God‘s sovereignty, His set law, for man to set himself up as God. How is it so? Let‘s take a look at some of the changes that came with the revolution.

ALTERNATIVE FORM OF SEXUALITY AND ACCEPTANCE OF SEX OUTSIDE OF TRADITIONAL HETEROSEXUAL, MONOGAMOUS RELATIONSHIPS (MARRIAGE)

Then God said, ―Let us make man in our image, in our likeness… So God created man in His own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. And God blessed them and said to them, ―Be fruitful and multiply‖… He created them male and female and blessed them… (Genesis 1:26-28, 5:2)

Alternative sexuality is defined as behaviors, identities, and communities that stand in contrast and/ or opposition to socially and culturally dominant sexualities. Alternative 7

sexualities include prostitutes, bohemians, homophiles, lesbians, transsexuals, bisexuals among others (Dr.Martin Meeker). God in His Divine Wisdom and as the Creator of all things set things in their natural order. When He created man, He created them male and female. The intent behind this is for man to have a partner, a helpmeet which was suitable for him. God created gender roles in the beginning—male and female He created them. Neither was superior to the other, but they are to be partner together in carrying out a given purpose. God created a man and a woman for partnership; the woman having a different appearance from the man, different physiology, different strength and weakness, which they will join together to fulfill a divine purpose, one of which is to be fruitful and multiply. In the heart of God is a desire—to have a family on earth. God desired to be a Father, to have sons and daughters who will be like Him in image and in likeness. It is for this reason that He created man. Man is not an accident, He was thought about before being created— ‖come let us make man‖. God made everything that man will need before proceeding to create him. In fact, He not only created the things that man need, He also made sure that those things are good according to His own standard and taste (Gen1:31). He made a garden and there he put the man He has formed. The man that was created in God‘s image was to have sex with a woman—his wife, and they are to fill the earth with children after the image of God whose image they themselves bore. Many years down the line man came up with an alternative sexual option. Men begin to lust after men and women after women. What happened in the 1960s actually began just few generations after Adam, after he disobeyed God and seek for independence and identity outside God. It was for this same sin of homosexuality that God destroyed a notable city in the days of Abraham—Sodom and Gomorrah. Homosexuality is defiance against God‘s order of things. It is disobedience against the laws of nature as set by God—―male and female created He them‖— —―for this reason shall a man leave his father and mother and be joined with his wife, and they shall be one flesh‖. The idea behind homosexuality is to defy God, to go against all that He has set as the natural course of things, and challenge his sovereignty. Whenever a man take a wife as was set by God, it is a kind of picture of the joining of Christ and His bride—the Church. Homosexuality is God‘s enemy means of scoffing this coming together of Christ and His bride. 8

Bestiality is another terrible sexual behavior heralded the sexual revolution. All these things are an attempt to degrade and destroy the image of God in man, for when men and women begin to seek sexual pleasure from animals, they themselves become animal, loosing every sense of morality and being ruled by their degraded mind and instincts—they became even worse than animals. Man‘s body is a temple that should be indwelt by the Spirit of God. But man denies God the temple of his body; women go into prostitution, selling off their body—by so doing, showing God that He has no claim to her body. And whenever a man joined himself with a prostitute he became one with her, and gradually degrading himself to a brute beast. What about transgender and transsexual? All these things are not only a sin against man‘s own body, but also defiance against God and His Sovereignty. Can we see the larger picture? I believe that all these are attempts of Satan to create conducive environment for his operations and the manifestation of the man of sin.

ACCEPTANCE OF PREMARITAL SEX, NORMALIZATION OF CONTRACEPTIVE AND THE LEGALIZATION OF ABORTION:

The sexual revolution marked the time when premarital sex began to be acceptable in the society, and contraceptives are made available so that people can have sex without the intention of procreation, and abortion was legalized. I have a strong belief that this was targeted mainly at the youth. The strategy is simple−get the youth then you get the future. Get the youth perverted then there is no hope for sanity in the future. What was seen as a social deviance then is now seen today as a part of normal life. The plan is not really for then, it is for later. What Satan had in mind is the integration of perversion into the minds the society and then into the minds of men. These ideas have their source from the corrupt and reprobate minds of men, and the thought that Satan sends into the mind of men. What Satan is waging is actually a war, and since fallen man is united with him, he becomes a ready instrument in the hands of Satan. Satan plants thoughts in the minds of men, and he acts it out.

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As mentioned before, this is a war against God, His Sovereignty, and the Laws that He sets. Satan also desires a kingdom where his will is done, where he is sovereign and where his law is functional−the law of sin and death. Hence, his opposition against all that is of God.

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MEDIUMS THROUGH WHICH THE SEXUAL REVOLUTION WAS INVIGORATED The Sexual Revolution was an outgrowth of a process which roots can be traced back to the Enlightenment. It was a patchwork of ideas and thoughts that led to a paradigm shift from the traditional view and belief about sexuality to that of the modern, there was an astonishing rise of permissive societies−people turn their back on the values of morality rooted in Christian traditions. The sexual revolution was about movements that politicised private and everyday life, subjectivity, the arts and culture as well as other terrains such as prisons, conceptions of justice, army and conscription, asylums, medicine, education, religion. In the 1960s, social movements were created alongside the sexual revolution that sparked a cultural revolution in the sense that many domains of existence were transformed (Gert Hekma, Alain Giami). The sexual question was politicised and became part of political struggles. The concept of sexual revolution was used for the first time by the psychoanalyst Otto Gross just before the First World War. Wilhelm Reich became its main theoretician. He combined theories of Marx and Freud and opined that sexual liberation should go together with social liberation or at least be a part of it. In his view, the sexual emancipation of young people would be an integral ingredient of political struggles for a just society. In 1955, Marcuse published Eros and Civilisation, a philosophical work. Although he was not politically active at that time, his work nonetheless had an enormous political influence in the Western world. He saw sexual misery as restricting libidinal energy and as a consequence of the profit principle that subjected individuals to alienated labour and exploitation. Sexual liberation was not seen as a lever for the social revolution but as its result. This desirable consequence would put an end to alienation from work and mean an eroticisation of social relations with stronger links to nature that would be simplified by an extension of free time – partly due to technological innovations. Sexual liberation would mean a transformation of sexuality into Eros and an abdication of genital primacy. In contradistinction, sexual liberation following the principle of profit as in capitalism would only be a repressive desublimation that would weaken sexual drives and strengthen aggressive ones. Although certain readings of Marcuse view him as the herald of the sexual revolution within a larger social revolution, it is important to insist that he only saw sexual liberation as a result of radical social changes in existing life and labour conditions. His view of sexuality was benign and he strongly defended the social incorporation of what were seen as perversions. He viewed the homosexual as the pivotal outsider and critic of the existing social and sexual system, but positioned sadomasochism as the result of aggressive drives and of a repressive sexual system that people had internalised. Marcuse‘s idea was to promote self- consciousness and open discussions to break through social blockades. In the 1960s, leftists and students saw themselves as the harbingers of this liberation but would soon realise, from a more Marxist angle, how sexuality was used in capitalist, consumerist society to pacify the working class. 11

Intellectuals such as Thomas Hobbes, Bernard Mandeville and Jeremy Bentham began to write in defence of sexual freedom. The most renowned sexual radical however was Donatien A.F. de Sade (1750–1814), who denounced both the sexual morals of the Ancient Regime and the Church and of the enlightened philosophes, claiming that they did not go far enough. He strongly disliked the sexuality that most people practised, coital sex, and endorsed its opposite, sodomy (non- reproductive, particularly anal sex) (Gert Hekma, Alain Giami). At that time, Sodom was demonised by both the State and the Church, and intellectuals wrote to prevent it. However, Sade rejects the stand of the Church, State and family and this was materialised in erotic interest in blasphemy, sodomy and incest. He claimed that all sexual variations are in fact part of human nature hence the need to be accepted and taught to adolescent. It should be noted that at that time, the Church not only frowned at Sodomy, but sex also. In fact, the Church called it a necessary evil for procreation, so the issue of sex was never openly discussed in openly and even in some instances privately among church folks. It was tactically avoided, and as a result, curios youths have no platform through which questions can be asked about sex, since they are raised to belief that somehow God is against it. The revolution was also influenced by scientists, notable of which was Alfred C. Kinsey. His father, a zealously religious and intimidating man, and a teacher at Stevens Institute of Technology, insisted that his son put aside his early interest in biology and instead enroll in Stevens to study engineering. After 2 lackluster years, Alfred rebelled and left for Bowdoin College in Maine, where he enrolled as a biology student. Father and son never reconciled; when Alfred graduated with high honors in 1916, his father refused to attend commencement. Alfred became a student of applied biology at Harvard, where he came under the influence of William Morton Wheeler, an eminent field biologist, staunch Darwinian, and confidant of the irreverent H. L. Mencken. With Wheeler as his mentor, Kinsey jettisoned most of his religious ideas—although not all of his repressive upbringing—and embarked on a massive and meticulous Darwinian case study of the evolutionary taxonomy of the gall wasp. Kinsey made an unusual career move in 1938: he agreed to lead a team-taught course on marriage and the family instituted in response to a student petition. High points of the course were Kinsey‘s illustrated lectures on the biology of sexual stimulation, the mechanics of intercourse, and the techniques of contraception, as were his spirited denunciations of repressive laws and social attitudes. He also attempted to replace conventional ideas of normal sexual behavior with a new biological definition: ―nearly all sexual perversions fall within the range of biological normality‖. With the rise of sexology in the late 19th century, medical authors started to discuss sexuality and to voice liberal and reformist ideas on sexuality. Their assumedly objective, scientific approach made them propose humane ideas on sexuality; for example, Richard 12

von Krafft- Ebing, Albert Moll, Havelock Ellis, Sigmund Freud, and others. Society should accept sexual abnormalities, more as ways of being rather than of doing, and in case prevention and therapy did not work. Their approach stood in contrast to anarchist and socialist approaches that demanded social change in terms of a critique of capitalism rather than asking pity for ‗stepchildren of nature‘ such as perverts and prostitutes (Gert Hekma, Alain Giami). The media also played an important role in the movement. Television, radio, newspapers and magazines help spread ideas that were considered radical. The struggles, skirmishes and rhetorical confrontations happening in the course of these movements also became directly visible to people. Notable for its centrefolds of nude and semi-nude models, and publishing of short, erotic stories of authors such as Arthur C. Clarke and Ian Flemming, the Playboy magazine also spearheaded the sexual revolution. Erotic movies also began to receive wide theatrical release. In 1969, Blue Movie, directed by Andy Warhol was released in the United States. The movie influenced the making of other erotic movies that depicts explicit sex. Artistic drawings and paintings influenced the sexual revolution. Literature also influenced the revolution. Works of poet such as Audre Lorde and Allen Ginsberg, and novelist Margaret Atwood influenced the literary world. Ginsberg‘s ―Howl‖ challenged the repressive traditional American culture. The most crucial moment in Ginsberg‘s poetic career was his decision to move to San Francisco, where a group of young writers, including Burroughs, Jack Kerouac, and Gregory Corso, were already living. Unfortunately, these writers were associated with the Beat movement, a term coined by Kerouac for its punning reference to ―beaten down‖ and ―beatified.‖ Ginsberg credits Kerouac as one of his greatest influences. Known for their alternative lifestyle, the Beat writers experimented freely with drugs, sex, and spirituality. Like Kerouac, Ginsberg travelled extensively, mostly during the early 1960s. His poetry is coloured by this social freedom and wanderlust. Perhaps his most famous poem, Howl chronicles the Beat culture of the 1950s. A radical poem for its subject matter, straightforward exploration of alternative culture (particularly drug-induced experiences), and social commentary, Howl was in danger of being censored in 1957, but Judge Clayton Horn decided that the poem merited publication. The trial made Howl an instant success and brought the Beat movement new prominence. Audre Lorde, who described herself as a ―black lesbian feminist mother lover poet‖ was a feminist poet. All of her writing was aimed at inspiring her readers to confront the injustice of racism, sexism and homophobia. Music also influenced the sexual revolution. Music was sexualized, song lyrics objectify women. 13

In fact, in 1956, rock ‗n‘ roll was inextricably linked with sex. Women musicians started to take charge of their own bodies and embrace their sexuality. And some started to appeal to male audiences by sexualising themselves.

TOWARDS AN END: LAWLESNESS The sexual revolution was aimed towards an end− a lawless society. What Satan planned to do was to nurture lawlessness in men. Lawlessness is rebellion against God‘s authority. The gravest sin one can commits against The Almighty is rebellion against God‘s Authority, for that is a challenge against His Throne, His Sovereignty and His Kingdom. Satan himself as one time rebelled against God‘s Authority (Isaiah 14: 12-14). Satan seeks a kingdom, because of it, he corrupted himself (Ezekiel 28:12-18) and was cast down to earth. God‘s Sovereignty and Authority is absolute in heaven, but since Satan has been thrown down to the earth, he wanted to establish his own kingdom on earth. Earth, was at a point in time the domain of man, but Satan corrupted man and became lord over him, then he became the god of the world. Man was initially given the earth to rule as a representation and representative of God−image and likeness. Before the fell, when man haven‘t partook of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, his lordship on earth was indirectly the Lordship of God. He was a king under the influence of a King−God−this is what Kingdom is: the place where a king has influence and where his will is expressed without challenge. God wanted to rule in and through man, but the Usurper stepped in. The thoughts of men in Genesis 11 verses 2-4 was actually an expression of the will of Satan. Satan, through men, wanted to establish a kingdom for himself. We bless God that this planned was toppled. But Satan hasn‘t given up; he still seeks that kingdom−a kingdom where his will be expressed in and through men as was seen in Genesis 11. Our Lord Jesus prayed a significant prayer in Matthew 6 verse 10, ―Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done on earth has it is in heaven‖. This prayer (I like to refer to it as the Kingdom manifesto) shows to us that there is a contention of wills on earth. For a will to be done on earth, it has to be first done in man. That‘s why Satan lures man into allegiance with himself, so that with him, he can oppose God. There is an ideological war going on, and man is a key player. The sexual revolution was possible because men became a willing tool in the hands of Satan. Satan‘s will find expression in man and that was why it could be expressed in earth. 14

The mind of a fallen man is a notebook for the prince of the power of the air, who sends information in form of thoughts to it. The mind of man is a dangerous tool in the hands of Satan.

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CONCLUSION Having seen what this is all about−the bigger picture, we know that Sons of God has a work to do. Let it be known first that God‘s Will shall prevail at the end of it all. The kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our God and of His Christ (Revelation 11:15). But we have a part to play; we must present ourselves as Soldiers for the Lord‘s army. There is an army rising, whose weapons of warfare are not physical but are thoughts and ideologies. We have seen men who have openly declared their allegiance to Satan, we also must decide to whose side we belong to, nobody can sit on the fence. The armies that are arising are armies that will battle for mountains: mountain of politics, mountain of entertainment, etc. And the weapons through which they will fight are thoughts and ideologies. Kingdoms are established on ideologies. The Stone cut without hands (Daniel 2: 34&45) is beginning to grow and expand and it is left for us to choose to be part of it. God is raising an army of politicians, scientist, musicians, and poets etc., who will bring His Kingdom‘s ideologies to the world. The initial destiny of the Church (original rendition is the Ekklesia, which implies law givers) is to influence and disciple men for God‘s Kingdom (Matthew 28:19-20), for where Kingdom is first, and should truly be expressed is in men. The Ekklesia of Christ is set on the Mountain of the Lord, and from that mountain, it is to dominate and rule over other mountains. “In the last days the mountain of the LORD’S temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it (Isaiah 2:2). This is the destiny of the Church; law givers shall go out of the mountain of the Lord to take over other mountains (Isaiah 2:3). There are mountains that the Church must take over; these mountains are sphere of influences. Mountains in scriptural lingua are spiritual administrative centres. When God‘s Will is done in men, the kingdoms of this world will automatically become our God‘s, and guess what? We shall REIGN WITH HIM. We have seen the mediums through which Satan ushered in the sexual revolution, we should as a matter of fact step into this systems and influence them with God‘s ideologies. We can‘t afford to be ignorant of all these, we should study how these system work and bring in a new order−God‘s order and begin to influence men through politics, literature and every other means available. This has already begun. An army of men who are ready and willing have been prepared, raised and sent by God towards this end. And though God can use a small army to win a war (Gideon‘s 300 men), there is still space available of all who are willing and ready. The final war of ideology is here. Lawlessness such as was never seen before will abound, men will gain stature in sin, they shall be given up to reprobate mind and they shall influence men. We are already seeing it−the rise of transgenders, transsexuals and 16

ecosexuals. Soon enough, sexual intercourse with extra-terrestrial beings will be legalised, it is already being promoted in movies and novels. God is also raising His Law givers, Man Child, men of Stature, who will gain stature in righteousness and rule the nations with an iron sceptre (Psalm 2:9, Revelation 2: 27). These men are like Gideon‘s 300−men who have endured the discipline of the Holy Ghost and who shall judge all disobedience because they themselves have completed their obedience (2 Corinthians 10:6). These are the ones who will influence the world of art and culture, the entertainment industry, the political field etc., and establish God‘s Righteousness.

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REFERENCES

Alain Giami and Gert Hekma (2014), Sexual Revolutions: Genders and Sexualities in History, Palgrave Macmillan Press Allyn David (2000), Make Love, not War: The Sexual Revolution, an Unfettered History, Little Brown and Company Press. Dr.Martin Meeker (2002), Alternative Sexual Identities and Communities in the Contemporary United States. Germaine Greer (1970), The Female Eunuch, Harper Perennial Press Izzy labbe (2012), Sexualized Music Through the Ages: The 1960s Jeffrey Escoffier (2003), Sexual Revolution, Running Press Publishers Kate Flatley (2001), How music Fueled the Sexual Revolution Poetry of Liberation: Protests movements and America Counterculture Theodore M. Brown and Elizabeth Fee, (2003), Alfred C. Kinsey: A Pioneer of Sex Research, American Journal of Public Health.

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