Restitutio Podcast 83: Questions about Gay and Lesbian Christians
In the last episode (Boundaries for Same-Sex Attraction), we looked at what the bible says about same-sex attraction. In this one, we consider seven important questions about gay and lesbian Christians:
- How should same-sex attracted Christians think of themselves?
- Isn’t the Christian sexual ethic harmful to gays and lesbians?
- Is having same-sex feelings a sin?
- Can someone go from gay to straight?
- Do people choose to be gay or are they born gay?
- As a Christian, how should I treat gay people?
- How can we support same-sex attracted folks who choose Christ over their sexual gratification?
Links:
- Becket Cook’s podcast, YouTube talk
- Sam Allberry’s book: Is God Anti-Gay?, website: LivingOut.org
- Rosaria Butterfield’s book: Secretly Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert
- Jackie Hill-Perry podcast
- Mark Yarhouse’s book: Homosexuality: The Use of Scientific Research in the Church’s Moral Debate
- Wesley Hill: Celibacy as a Call to Love (YouTube)
- Intro music: “District Four” by Kevin MacLeod. Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License.
Notes:
Becket Cook’s story can help us think through some really tough questions related to same-sex attraction.[1] Our culture pressures us through songs, movies, and stories about finding romance to believe singleness is inferior to relationships. It’s easy to get the impression that to achieve human flourishing and experience humanity to its fullest, you need to get married (or at least be in a serious relationship). What does that say about Jesus? Are we saying he wasn’t a full human being? Did Christ mope around, longing for romance? Did the great missionary Paul think singleness was a curse? Far from it, he wrote, “To the unmarried and the widows I say that it is good for them to remain single as I am” (1 Cor 7.8). He goes on to extol the benefits of celibate singleness, including freedom from worrying about how to please a spouse and freedom to serve the Lord better. He concludes, “So then he who marries his betrothed does well, and he who refrains from marriage will do even better…Yet in my judgment she is happier if she remains as she is [i.e. single]” (1 Cor 7:38, 40).
Question 1: How should same-sex attracted Christians think of themselves? Sam Allberry, author of Is God Anti-Gay, an excellent book, writes:
The gospel of Jesus is wonderful news for someone who experiences same-sex attraction. I used the term “same-sex attraction” just then because an immediate challenge is how I describe myself. In western culture today the obvious term for someone with homosexual feelings is “gay.” But in my experience this often refers to far more than someone’s sexual orientation. It has come to describe an identity and a lifestyle.
When someone says they’re g