By James Wilson
I found myself in a heartwarming encounter on a bus in Canberra, Australia, not long ago. The young gay lady who boarded the bus with me asked me – as soon as she realized I was American and Christian – how I felt about gay marriage. I spoke truth – that my Lord Jesus gave His life for her just the way she is and she need not change a hair on her head to merit His love. I said I oppose the gay marriage political agenda because – in personal experience and studies I know – it does harm to both hetero and homosexual people. We did not debate; we respectfully conversed. We parted with my assurance she is neither more nor less sinful than me in God’s eyes. We need – desperately – personal relationship with Jesus Christ within which He can receive us as we are and lead us into change as we need.
Most of my encounters with homosexual people are similar – because most gays are just trying to get along in an unforgiving and treacherous world, like the rest of us. I remember Jim and Dot – gay and in leadership in the community I served near San Francisco. Jim was one of the most servant hearted people I have encountered and Dot was the only one to speak a kind word one day when disappointment was all over my face. I recall Louie, the gay icon I accidentally misquoted in a newspaper article; plenty steamed when he saw it but invited me out to dinner after I apologized. Gay people are not by and large horrible people.
I have been privileged to participate in or celebrate healing of multiple homosexual people. There was the university student grieving a father who never loved him; he sexualized his longing until the Father set him free. There was the formerly gay man who met Christ and his wife at the same time; he too was freed, albeit not from the consequences of his former lifestyle. I held him in the hospital as AIDS stole his earthly life; he died in his wife’s arms and in the peace of Christ. I know many happily married folks who once embraced homosexuality because they knew no alternative until they were healed.
Unfortunately much of what passes for relationship is political, plural, and aggressive. Most of the aggression of which I am aware comes from the gay side at the same time their propagandists are screaming about how frightened they are of people like me – people they do not take the trouble to know. My conviction is that this aggression comes from real fear; what they really fear, however, is the truth about gay life.
Yet another international study is released in The New Atlantis. Researchers Mayer and McHugh report up to 80% of teenaged males reporting same sex attraction leave homosexuality behind as they enter adulthood. Suicide, addictions, depression, other mental illnesses, and domestic violence are significantly higher in the gay community; some reports rate the violence twice as frequent as in straights. The scientific literature finds no genetic markers for homosexuality while behavioral studies offer much evidence for various kinds of childhood trauma provoking same sex attraction in adolescence and beyond. Mayer and McHugh are the latest in a long line of researchers to publish similar results; there is likewise no evidence these issues diminish where same sex marriage is legalized over the past two decades. Additionally, new studies show much higher rates of developmental and behavioral problems in children raised in same-sex-liasoned homes.
The problem is this: Every rationale for legitimating gay marriage breaks up on the rocks of scientific investigation.
This is no reason for triumphalism from traditionalists – especially if we are Christians. The Lord Jesus gave His life for every one of us just as we are; He loves us that way. Our opportunity and our challenge is to seek and welcome encounters like the one I had on that bus. There is no other legitimate way to apply scriptures from the 2 Corinthians 5 call to be His reconcilers to the 1 Corinthians 6 admission that we are no better – ever – than those we condemn.
I will continue to oppose the agenda as bad and sinful for all concerned. I will also remember my Lord Jesus gave His life for every one of us – straight and gay. The hope for our nation and the Kingdom of God in our nation lies in engagement with people we see as unlovable. We need to ask not “Can I” but “Can God” love and then – holding to our principles – open a dialogue.
James A. Wilson is the author of Living As Ambassadors of Relationships and The Holy Spirit and the End Times, and Kingdom in Pursuit – available at local bookstores or by e-mailing him at praynorthstate@gmail.com
