Senkbeil, Harold L., Pastoral Care and Sex Concordia Theological Quarterly, July/October 2015, 79:3-4, 329-345.
In the utter confusion that reigns supreme in our culture regarding sexuality and marriage, it is tempting for pastors to put on other hats in order to address the chaos. And capable historians, psychologists, and sociologists certainly have much to contribute in matters fundamentally moral and ethical. Pastors, however, are called upon daily to tackle these issues not in a theoretical way, but in terms of concrete human existence as it impacts people in their most fundamental vocation: sex. That is, from conception on, each human being is fundamentally a sexual being created male or female in the image and likeness of God. All contemporary “gender theory” aside, there are no generic humans. Humanity is binary and humans live embodied lives from the moment of their conception. Therefore matters of sexuality are always involved in the pastoral care of human beings, even in matters that are not overtly sexual…