COM Newsletter - February 2020
Transgenderism is moving rapidly into our school systems, churches and families. I have heard stories of transgender teachers having had sex reassignment surgery and then showing up for the new school year as the opposite gender. Can you imagine the confusion this causes for the students?
In another country, a family with two adopted children had moved to the local church. The mother had been teaching Sabbath School for the two years when it was discovered that she was actually a transgender male. How does a church respond to a situation like this?
While speaking in Europe, a pastor inquired on how to interact with a transgender member who had been ostracized and was alone after completing sex reassignment surgery. The church didn’t know what to do with this person and even the member’s family had abandoned them. How does the church show the love of Christ to the member and also to the family? What does that look like?
We have to recognize that there is no getting around these delicate issues in our denomination. How can we be “wise as serpents and harmless as doves”? We cannot stop the momentum of LGBT awareness in our world and in the Church. We need to have conversations and understand how to be redemptive when dealing with situations like these.
‘Coming Out’ Ministries has answers to these challenges and more. Our aim is to Inspire, Enlighten and Equip the Church with compassion that is in line with Biblical ethics. We come with an experience that gives perspective from the viewpoint of the LGBT person as well as recognizing Biblical authority. We need open conversations to understand how to deal with these complicated issues and to help navigate through the confusion that can come as a result. While there are many discussions today on how best to help individuals regarding sexuality and identity, ‘Coming Out’ Ministries is dedicated to bringing both compassion and truth. As we recognize the power of Jesus Christ to redeem and restore us, our churches can stand together as a beacon of light, love and wholeness in Jesus Christ.
Q&A
Question: I am not homosexual, but these days it seems that even straight people are practicing homosexual sex. Isn't it hypocritical to condemn homosexual behavior while partaking of the same practice? It seems that married or straight people do partake of this behavior.
Reply: You make a very interesting point in your statement. It has been said that homosexual behavior has become the experimental drug of this age. In other words, it seems that in the never-ending, thrill-seeking attempts of this generation that it has finally come around to playing with the fire of homosexual experimentation and overt behavior. In seeking freedom from the law of God rather than freedom in the law of God, it seems that there are no limits to rebellion, defiance, and perversion. But there is a limit with God. He says that "As it was in the days of Lot ... even thus shall it be in the day when the Son of man is revealed" (Luke 17:28-30).
But let's face the facts. If someone is fascinated by the excitement of perverted sex, then he or she is a sexual pervert. If someone enjoys having homosexual encounters, then he or she is a homosexual. Some people like to play with words and say that they are "bisexual," that they enjoy sexual behavior with either or both genders. Perhaps we could coin a new phrase and call them "straight gays."
In the eyes of God, participating in sexual activity outside of marriage to one spouse is a violation of the seventh commandment. It doesn't matter if it is same-sex, bi-sex, homo-sex, self-sex (masturbation), or bestiality (with an animal); it is all a violation of the same seventh commandment and a perversion in the eyes of God. I've known people to excuse their persistent sexual immorality with the opposite sex as a "sexual addiction," as though it were some medical condition. They thus deny responsibility for their behavior.
But God asks us only to acknowledge our iniquity, and then He will heal our backsliding (Jeremiah 3). All these games with words are mere excuses, rationalization, and self-justification for bad behavior. God is unable to justify those who are busy justifying themselves.
In Romans 1, the apostle Paul gives a strong warning to such as you describe where he speaks in particular about homosexual behavior. "Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them" (Romans 1:32). In other words, even if they are not actually involved in the overt behavior, but they do take pleasure in it through involvement in pornography and lust and suggestive television programming and movies; they are still guilty. Knowing that God does not approve and will judge accordingly, they persist anyway.
Yes, it is hypocritical to condemn someone else's breaking of the seventh commandment while indulging in lustful practices and overt behavior that is in violation of the same commandment, whether it be homosexual or heterosexual.
Q&A text taken from:
TESTIMONY
The first time I met Gaby was at an academy I’d been invited to in the 2010/11 school year. As I spoke on the topic of sexual purity, there were many young people open to hear what was being presented. But one girl in particular looked at me with a menacing stare. She didn’t seem happy and whenever I would look her way, she would look away or give me a blank stare. I knew to stay clear of her, but I was hoping she would be touched by the Holy Spirit. I prayed that Jesus would break the protective covering of whatever had caused her cold expression.
It was just yesterday that I personally heard her story. She was molested at 4 years old by a female babysitter and so, to protect herself, she learned to cover up her femininity by dressing in boys clothes and doing all the things that boys did. That seemed to keep her “off the radar” from being a further target of abuse. Her dark expression reflected the hurt that she suffered and it became a shield against anyone getting too close. Homosexuality was not a struggle for her though she did experience some issues with sexuality. These certainly could have developed further if she was not diligent in following Jesus Christ and His way for her. Still, she was wounded and frozen from her trauma.
In 2012 her best friend left school, she was alone and hurt. The only one she could turn to was Jesus. He had been reaching out to her and in that year, they started to draw close. As her desperate heart began to melt under the influence of Jesus’ love, Gaby began to feel again. After graduating in 2014, she started college. She would literally practice smiling in a mirror to see what her face was doing but what she saw was the cold icy stare that had been hers for many years. In 2019, Gaby started working as a Bible worker and through the help of Jesus, He provided a safe place for her to lay down all her anger, resentment and hurt. She started to find a more natural and authentic joyful expression that wasn’t put on or manufactured. When I saw her a few weeks ago (January 2020) I was moved to tears. There in front of me was this smiling and radiant young woman. Gone was the frozen expression and in its place was peace and joy.
Included here is the recording and lyrics to the song that Gaby sent me. I was so touched I wanted to share them with you. Please remember, “You stand with the belligerent, the surly and the badly behaved until bad behavior is recognized for the language it truly is: it’s the vocabulary of the deeply wounded and of those whose burdens are more than they can bear.” —Greg Boyle.
APPEAL
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‘Coming Out’ Ministries at PO Box 227, Mount Vernon, OH 43050.
May God bless you for your support!