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Return to Innocence
183
As a result, this young man felt he had no choice but to give in to his
yearning for same-gender love. At about the same time, another young
woman honored me with her confession of same-gender attraction.
Faced with such urgency, I wondered if there were a truly Christian
agency that could help. I also wondered whether Christian churches
had been offering help and guidance to these suffering souls.
I would like to share some frank answers to these questions by
indicating some factors that can hinder the church’s ministry to ho
mosexuals and interfere with the ideal of a church that is open to and
equipped with expertise and love to attract homosexuals who long to
find healing inside her fold.
While some segments of society and the scientific community at
tempt to reduce the distance between
is
and
ought
by moving its flex
ible
ought,
based on social consensus, too close to
is,
the church must
watch for the tendency of some who, while rightly emphasizing the
absoluteness of the biblical
ought,
imply that the
is
of the sinners—
among which are also homosexuals—looks almost hopeless. I know
that, for the most part, it is neither legalism nor hypocrisy but rather
the lack of information and formation that fuels this unhealthy tenden
cy. This is why it is necessary to examine certain theological opinions
in light of the church’s call to ministry.
•
Homosexuality, homosexuals,
and
homosexual acts
are not
interchangeable concepts.
Homosexuality
stands for sexual
desires for intimate relations between persons of the same
gender. It can be treated as an abstract concept. A
homosexual
is a person who has these tendencies. Such people must not be
treated as an abstract concept. Jesus treated every person as a
unique subject, as a son or daughter of God who needs Him.
Homosexual acts
are presented in the Bible as sin, for which, if
confessed and repented from, God in His limitless love has the
complete cure (see Heb. 7:25).
• Homosexuals and heterosexuals alike suffer from fallen human
nature—from the tendency to sin. Sexual temptations may