Question: What should someone who has an ongoing, seemingly unchanged pattern of same-sex attraction do in obedience to Christ?





Question: What should someone who has an ongoing, seemingly unchanged pattern of same-sex attraction do in obedience to Christ?

That Christian must, by the authority of Scripture and in obedience to the gospel, submit everything she is to Christ. For someone who has an ongoing, seemingly unchanged, and perhaps unchangeable (in this life) pattern of same-sex attraction, the call to holiness would appear, in most cases, to be a call to celibacy. In all cases, it would be a call to avoid sexual sin and any celebration of a sexual orientation that disobeys God and his Word. No escape from same-sex attraction may come. Thus,

celibacy, honored by Christ himself and regarded by the apostle Paul, would appear to be the requirement of faithfulness and obedience. The Christian church has failed in not affirming the gift of celibacy. It has failed to show how the gift of celibacy reflects obedience to Christ and the glory of God. 

The Christian church has also failed to honor those who give themselves to lives of celibacy for the sake of the gospel, a lifestyle Paul commended for its advantages (I Cor. 7:25-40). Celibacy allows a person to do things for Christ's kingdom that a married person simply will not get to do.

Christians must embrace sexual renunciation for the sake of Christ. All Christians are called to sexual renunciation for at least some time. For heterosexual believers, this means voluntary sexual renunciation until marriage and a renunciation of all sex outside of marriage. 

For those with same-sex orientation, this means sexual renunciation for a lifetime. Jesus himself honored those who, for his sake, made themselves "eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 19:12). For those for whom marriage would not remedy sin, celibacy is the only other option, and the church should honor it just as it honors marriage. It is, in so many cases, a considerable sacrifice. 

We should take Jesus seriously when he speaks of honoring those who become eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom. That shocking language shows that there are those who, in obedience to Christ, are willing to forsake the fulfillment of the flesh in sex, intimacy in marriage, and the joy in having children. If they do this for Christ and for the service of the gospel, they should be honored for their sacrifice. Jesus does not hesitate to honor such people. Neither should we.

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