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Albert Mohler asks a “haunting question” concerning the tragic suicide of the college freshman who was the victim of a roommate’s webcast of his homosexual encounter. “Was there no one who could have stood between that boy and that bridge?”
All of us struggle with the effects of the fall. The sin nature is as universal as are the ways it manifests itself. However, the vast majority of us cannot imagine what it is like for those who struggle with same-sex attraction. Conservative churches in general, and fundamentalists in particular, have been slow to develop a biblical response towards this issue. Professor of Psychology Mark A. Yarhouse has written a book that can at least help get the conversation started. Homosexuality and the Christian: A guide for Parents, Pastors, and Friends is a must read for anyone who has found themselves conflicted over a biblical response to the ever increasing acceptance of homosexual behavior.
Chapter One asks “What does God think of Homosexuality?” Yarhouse suggests that rather “than looking at Bible verses related only to homosexuality, it is important to take a broader look at how God’s Word deals with sexuality as a whole. A Christian understanding of sex is best understood through the four stages of redemptive history in the Bible: creation, the fall, redemption, and glorification” (p. 19).
Chapter Two (“Why is Sexual Identity the Heart of the Matter?”) is the most important in the book. The key principle is that “experiencing same-sex attraction is not the same thing as having a gay identity or being gay” (p. 105). The author delineates the differences between attraction, orientation and identity (pp. 41-43). The problem as he sees it is that we have allowed homosexual advocates to hijack the discussion.
In our culture today, experiences of same-sex attraction are typically treated as synonymous with gay identity, and a gay identity carries with it many connotations; e.g., if you are attracted to the same sex, then you are gay. However, being gay means not only are you attracted to the same sex, but you are personally fulfilled through engagement in same-sex behavior (p. 48).
