A searchable, downloadable PDF of the original article appears below. Patricia Allan is the Director of New Beginnings Ministries, Toronto, and is pursuing the Master of Theology degree at Ontario Bible College.
Richard Lovelace, in his book, Homosexuality: What Should Christians Do About It?, speaks of the church’s call to mission, “not only to the groups with societies nearest her, but also to subcultures which are geographically or psychologically distant.” His point is that homosexuals represent, at least psychologically, an alien people. Because of their perceived lifestyle, values and behaviour, most Christians are totally unable to identify with them.
What do you do if a homosexual comes to your church and asks for help? Can we trust his personal relationship with Jesus enough to believe he is following him the best he knows how? Do we believe that Jesus himself will make him aware of any need to change? I’m not suggesting that we take on a compromising attitude toward sin, but that we leave some room for the amazing diversity in the body of Christ. Jesus isn’t afraid of people whose lives are dark and broken, so why should the body of Christ be afraid? What is the church’s responsibility to homosexuals?
First, we need to examine our attitudes and confess that we have failed to minister to the aching needs of homosexuals, and to request that they will forgive us. For too many years Christians have said glib little phrases like “Jesus can set you free,” and “just trust the Lord,” and then have left the homosexual to struggle alone to find victory. There are no quick and easy cures to the homosexual problem. The problem is deeply ingrained and the roots are often hidden and complicated. To promise instant freedom is to build up false hope that can lead to failure and discouragement.
Next, there is a need for the church to set up some form of emotional counselling ministry. At the local church level, Christian support groups could become one of the most powerful forces for good. Imagine people with all sorts of difficulty – including homosexuality – being able to talk about their problems at least, in a spirit of openness and acceptance, searching for solutions through the therapy of faith in Christ.
The church, furthermore, needs to become clear about the facts on homosexuals’ reorientation. We are continually bombarded today by literature that says it is almost hopeless for a homosexual to change. Because of the social climate we live in, this kind of literature gets more publicity than the kind giving the facts of recovery. The facts are that there are experts in the field (e.g. Irving Bieber, Lawrence Hatterer, Masters & Johnson, Lionel Oversey) who report recovery rates. And these results come from secular psychiatrists who are limited in their concepts of the spiritual dimensions of the homosexual problem. We will see results in the homosexual arena when the church takes seriously the word of Jesus, “I have overcome the world,” and begin to move into action.
Personally, I believe that training in how to use faith in Christ as one’s outside point of reference, and training in how to see one’s new identity in Christ, what to do with guilt, and how to develop a new view of the world, comprise the most effective form of therapy to bring about freedom from homosexuality. Then the sexual aspects will shift.
I think, too, that the church needs to put less stress on homosexuality being part of the sin condition, and much more stress on the biblical concept of sexuality to which God is leading both homosexuals and heterosexuals.
In the past fifteen years a whole network of ministries in the U.S. for homosexuals has arisen, bringing love, acceptance and healing. Four years ago a ministry in Toronto began (New Beginnings Ministries). Specialized ministries like New Beginnings act as bridges for people getting into the fellowship of the body of Christ. It can never be a substitute. Real life is out there in the body of Christ, learning to relate to one another.
In all my reading, what has struck me more than anything else were comments from people such as , “Today I am no longer gay. God intervened through two people who really cared about me. They were a couple in my church who made themselves totally available.” People need friends; men need male friendship; women need female friendship. God gave us friends to help us to grow. This is one of the greatest needs among homosexuals. They need supportive friends.
In our bankrupt society, Jesus is attracting people whose lives have been deeply damaged. He’s drawing lesbians and homosexuals, drug addicts and prostitutes, rich and poor, famous and unknown. With his love, he’s drawing people with lonesome empty lives and people who need his life, joy and peace. We are called to minister God’s word and love to all. We are a fallen people, capable of any iniquity. It is by God’s grace that we have been saved, redeemed and changed into the image of Christ. It is because of circumstances and God’s hand that many of us have not stumbled into homosexual sin or something similar. We have been saved from our abominable deeds. And that change process goes on from day to day. It is no different than the process that a person goes through that is coming out of homosexuality. That person needs our encouragement, our prayers, our continued friendship with open lines of communication and our genuine concern for his spiritual growth.