Ex-Gays go missing
Former homosexuals like Chris Keane say their voice is being suppressed by the media, and as a result Christians do not hear the full story. He believes the issue of homosexuality is far more complex than the way it is portrayed in the secular media.
One of the great tragedies in the continuing debate about homosexuality is the lack of acknowledgement of the many Christians struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction who are part of the Church but choose to be faithful to God’s teaching in the Bible about sexuality.
I didn’t make a deliberate choice to be attracted sexually to men. I very much doubt anyone chooses to be homosexual. But I did make the choice to live as an active homosexual for 15 years.
In time, I found it to be a destructive and unhappy experience. Realising that homosexuality hadn’t worked for me, I decided to leave it and to try to live my life by the standards God has revealed in the Bible.
I wasn’t seeking change; I wouldn’t have thought change was possible until it began to happen to me. My experience has been that, as what I consider to be contributing factors of my homosexual condition were dealt with, a significant measure of change occurred in my sexuality. I am not saying this happens for all, but it has happened for me. I have absolutely no regrets about my choice to leave homosexuality, as it has brought me happiness, contentment, and spiritual, emotional and sexual fulfilment.
For 16 years I worked with other Christians who chose not to embrace active homosexuality but, tragically, many of these people have chosen never to disclose their unwanted same-sex attraction or their journey of recovery. This is a tragedy because a great many people would certainly benefit from honesty, openness and a clear testimony of the truth of their journey.
Martin Hallett is an ex-homosexual who for many years has worked in a ministry in Britain called True Freedom Trust and has had years of experience supporting Christians who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction. He says:
There are probably nearly as many Christians with homosexual feelings who do not believe that homosexual sex is right for Christians as there are those who are advocating its acceptance. Apart from one or two people like me, the majority of these ‘celibate homosexuals’ (for want of a better phrase) are silent.
They fear rejection from their (mainly evangelical) friends, but they also feel very uncomfortable with liberal views and believe that ‘gay Christians’ will not understand or accept them either… If only their voice was heard, if only they could be encouraged to speak out, I believe that the church situation, its witness and ministry would be vastly different. Perhaps there would even be less of a risk of major splits and divisions in denominations debating the issues of homosexuality.
Martin Hallett has chosen to be a voice encouraging truth and openness. One can only hope more people will be encouraged to follow his lead.
We are now living in an age where many people, including some Christians, believe there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. It is commonplace to see homosexual characters portrayed in movies and plays and on television. Some advertisers are now blatantly using homoerotic images to sell their products. It has been ‘normalised’ by the world, as well as some parts of the church, as just another option we have about our sexuality. Anyone who dares to commit the heinous sin of being ‘politically incorrect’ and challenging or questioning homosexuality is labelled as ‘homophobic’.
Even some openly gay spokespeople see this for the humbug it is. In his book A Strong Delusion, Joe Dallas quotes Andrew Sullivan, the gay editor of The New Republic, who says:
Perhaps the most depressing and fruitless feature of the current debate about homosexuality is to treat all versions of this (conservative Christian) argument as the equivalent of bigotry. They are not. At its most serious, it (the Christian prohibition against homosexuality) is not a phobia; it is an argument.
Much of what we hear in the media and see in movies about homosexuality is very far from the truth and is misleading to our understanding. We need to ask ourselves if what we are being presented with is the truth. For example, statistics have been inflated and then used shamelessly, and we are told that homosexual people make up 10 per cent of the population. This is simply not true. The 10 per cent figure was based on flawed research.
We are also told people are born homosexual and they can’t change. Is this really the truth, or are we once again being sold a lie?
Dr Neil Whitehead, (PhD, biochemistry), who has worked for 25 years as a research scientist, says in the book, My Genes Made Me Do It!:
Here is a very basic truth. There is nothing fixed or final about the homosexual orientation and its natural expression, homosexual behaviour...No politician, church leader, church member, judge, counsellor, homosexual person, or friend or family of a homosexual person, needs to feel forced into a position on homosexuality based on the apparent immutability of the homosexual orientation.
People have been fooled into thinking that anyone who has a sexual attraction to a person of the same sex should proclaim themselves as ‘gay’ and rapidly move on to fully embrace a ‘gay’ identity. As a consequence, many Christian men and women with same-sex attraction believe they are powerless to do anything about it.
The church is now divided on the issue of homosexuality. The more liberal parts of the church want to legitimise homosexuality by both ordaining practising homosexuals and ‘marrying’ or ‘blessing’ same-sex couples. On the other side of the fence the more bigoted Christians march against homosexuals condemning them. Neither of these extremes will do. They are not godly nor are they biblical.
Many in the church are in a state of confusion about what the Christian attitude to homosexuality should be. This means that some Christians give up entirely about the issue because they find it all too hard. Some parents with a gay child embrace a liberal theology for fear of losing the child’s love.
Homosexual activists recognise that religious convictions drive opposition to their political agenda and have consequently targeted the Church as a place to work for change to achieve their aims. Let’s recognise this challenge for what it is: a blatant attack and manipulation of the truth of the teaching of the Bible about our sexuality.
My hope and prayer is that as people read this article they will be encouraged to read more widely on the subject of homosexuality from a Christian perspective. This will enable them to be informed and aware of the truth, which is especially important when the Church is facing division over the issue.
To embrace the liberal view of homosexuality and twist what the Bible clearly teaches about our sexuality is to betray the many Christians who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction.
One of the great tragedies in the continuing debate about homosexuality is the lack of acknowledgement of the many Christians struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction who are part of the Church but choose to be faithful to God’s teaching in the Bible about sexuality.
I didn’t make a deliberate choice to be attracted sexually to men. I very much doubt anyone chooses to be homosexual. But I did make the choice to live as an active homosexual for 15 years.
In time, I found it to be a destructive and unhappy experience. Realising that homosexuality hadn’t worked for me, I decided to leave it and to try to live my life by the standards God has revealed in the Bible.
I wasn’t seeking change; I wouldn’t have thought change was possible until it began to happen to me. My experience has been that, as what I consider to be contributing factors of my homosexual condition were dealt with, a significant measure of change occurred in my sexuality. I am not saying this happens for all, but it has happened for me. I have absolutely no regrets about my choice to leave homosexuality, as it has brought me happiness, contentment, and spiritual, emotional and sexual fulfilment.
For 16 years I worked with other Christians who chose not to embrace active homosexuality but, tragically, many of these people have chosen never to disclose their unwanted same-sex attraction or their journey of recovery. This is a tragedy because a great many people would certainly benefit from honesty, openness and a clear testimony of the truth of their journey.
Martin Hallett is an ex-homosexual who for many years has worked in a ministry in Britain called True Freedom Trust and has had years of experience supporting Christians who are struggling with unwanted same-sex attraction. He says:
There are probably nearly as many Christians with homosexual feelings who do not believe that homosexual sex is right for Christians as there are those who are advocating its acceptance. Apart from one or two people like me, the majority of these ‘celibate homosexuals’ (for want of a better phrase) are silent.
They fear rejection from their (mainly evangelical) friends, but they also feel very uncomfortable with liberal views and believe that ‘gay Christians’ will not understand or accept them either… If only their voice was heard, if only they could be encouraged to speak out, I believe that the church situation, its witness and ministry would be vastly different. Perhaps there would even be less of a risk of major splits and divisions in denominations debating the issues of homosexuality.
Martin Hallett has chosen to be a voice encouraging truth and openness. One can only hope more people will be encouraged to follow his lead.
We are now living in an age where many people, including some Christians, believe there is nothing wrong with homosexuality. It is commonplace to see homosexual characters portrayed in movies and plays and on television. Some advertisers are now blatantly using homoerotic images to sell their products. It has been ‘normalised’ by the world, as well as some parts of the church, as just another option we have about our sexuality. Anyone who dares to commit the heinous sin of being ‘politically incorrect’ and challenging or questioning homosexuality is labelled as ‘homophobic’.
Even some openly gay spokespeople see this for the humbug it is. In his book A Strong Delusion, Joe Dallas quotes Andrew Sullivan, the gay editor of The New Republic, who says:
Perhaps the most depressing and fruitless feature of the current debate about homosexuality is to treat all versions of this (conservative Christian) argument as the equivalent of bigotry. They are not. At its most serious, it (the Christian prohibition against homosexuality) is not a phobia; it is an argument.
Much of what we hear in the media and see in movies about homosexuality is very far from the truth and is misleading to our understanding. We need to ask ourselves if what we are being presented with is the truth. For example, statistics have been inflated and then used shamelessly, and we are told that homosexual people make up 10 per cent of the population. This is simply not true. The 10 per cent figure was based on flawed research.
We are also told people are born homosexual and they can’t change. Is this really the truth, or are we once again being sold a lie?
Dr Neil Whitehead, (PhD, biochemistry), who has worked for 25 years as a research scientist, says in the book, My Genes Made Me Do It!:
Here is a very basic truth. There is nothing fixed or final about the homosexual orientation and its natural expression, homosexual behaviour...No politician, church leader, church member, judge, counsellor, homosexual person, or friend or family of a homosexual person, needs to feel forced into a position on homosexuality based on the apparent immutability of the homosexual orientation.
People have been fooled into thinking that anyone who has a sexual attraction to a person of the same sex should proclaim themselves as ‘gay’ and rapidly move on to fully embrace a ‘gay’ identity. As a consequence, many Christian men and women with same-sex attraction believe they are powerless to do anything about it.
The church is now divided on the issue of homosexuality. The more liberal parts of the church want to legitimise homosexuality by both ordaining practising homosexuals and ‘marrying’ or ‘blessing’ same-sex couples. On the other side of the fence the more bigoted Christians march against homosexuals condemning them. Neither of these extremes will do. They are not godly nor are they biblical.
Many in the church are in a state of confusion about what the Christian attitude to homosexuality should be. This means that some Christians give up entirely about the issue because they find it all too hard. Some parents with a gay child embrace a liberal theology for fear of losing the child’s love.
Homosexual activists recognise that religious convictions drive opposition to their political agenda and have consequently targeted the Church as a place to work for change to achieve their aims. Let’s recognise this challenge for what it is: a blatant attack and manipulation of the truth of the teaching of the Bible about our sexuality.
My hope and prayer is that as people read this article they will be encouraged to read more widely on the subject of homosexuality from a Christian perspective. This will enable them to be informed and aware of the truth, which is especially important when the Church is facing division over the issue.
To embrace the liberal view of homosexuality and twist what the Bible clearly teaches about our sexuality is to betray the many Christians who struggle with unwanted same-sex attraction.
