Q. Does God love homosexuals?
A. Of course! As He defines Himself in the Bible, God IS love! He loves all people. More to the point, He loves all sinners, heterosexual or homosexual. He doesn't perceive people as "gay" or "straight," but simply as people.
While the Bible says that God is love, it also says that God is holy, and that because of His moral perfection, He will judge sin. Since we have all sinned, there seemed to be no hope--no way for people to be made right with a holy, perfect God. But God provided the way: God became man in the person of Jesus Christ and then died for our sins on the cross. All people--whether heterosexual or homosexual--can trust in Jesus Christ's substitutionary death for the forgiveness of their sins and for eternal life.
Q. Are you saying that all gays are going to hell?
A. Not at all! The Bible teaches that all people--whether "gay" or straight--can enter into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ. Through this relationship, anyone can escape hell and be assured of spending eternity with God. Our time on earth is the "testing ground" to see whether we will either accept or reject the God who has revealed Himself to the world through Jesus Christ (the living Word) and the Bible (the written Word). The real question is, "Have you become a Christian by trusting in Jesus Christ alone for the forgiveness of your sins and for eternal life?"
Q. Are there such persons as "ex-gays?"
A. Yes! Thousands of people have chosen to move out of a homosexual lifestyle through the power of Jesus Christ. Many others have overcome a homosexual "orientation" through therapy. According to psychiatrists who treat the disorder, approximately 30% of homosexuals who submit to extended psychotherapy will revert to heterosexuality, no matter why they entered therapy in the first place.
For stories of "ex-gays," see our Personal Pages.
Q. Can I be "gay" one day and straight the next?
A. God has worked this miracle in some lives, but it isn't His usual practice. Homosexuals usually must change their behavior the same way as alcoholics, workaholics, overeaters, and sex addicts do--one day at a time. But God's forgiveness, unconditional love, and acceptance make this possible. His grace releases a person from bondage and gives them the inner moral strength to make wise daily choices, leading them to wholeness.
Q. Are "ex-gays" just repressing their true feelings?
A. Homosexual recovery is a process which occurs over time. As we all know, stopping a certain type of behavior does not mean that our desires or proclivities toward that behavior stop immediately. So "ex-gays" may have continuing sexual attractions toward their own sex. As the underlying causes of those attractions are resolved, however, these feelings usually lessen in both frequency and intensity.
Q. So you're admitting that people just change their behavior--not their orientation?
A. Change goes far deeper than just behavior. But change at a deep level takes longer. There are numerous men and women--formerly gay--who have been out of that behavior for so long that they are not only parents, but grandparents. And their same-sex attractions are totally gone. Others, especially those just beginning the recovery process, continue to have same-sex attractions, but they see them as undesirable and they are working to eliminate them from their lives.
Q. How can I talk to someone who has overcome homosexuality in his or her own life?
A. Visit our Support Groups page, particularly Exodus International, to find a group near you. Or you can contact Exodus International (PO Box 77652, Seattle, WA 98177; 206/784-7799) and their headquarters will refer you to a local ministry in your area. When you contact the local agency, ask to talk to someone who has dealt with homosexuality in his/her own life. Most of these ministries have staff members with a gay past who would love to share more with you about what God has done in their lives.
Q. Can a person be gay and Christian at the same time?
A. Those who are Christians--who have entered into a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ--may continue to struggle with all sorts of feelings and memories because of their previous lifestyles and behavior. The Bible teaches that being pulled ("tempted") toward a certain immoral behavior is not sin, but yielding to that pull in thought and/or deed is. So it's not sin for a Christian to be drawn toward homosexual behavior. But the Bible clearly states that all homosexual behavior is sinful, and must be forsaken in the life of a Christian believer.
Further, Christians may fall periodically into sinful moral behavior. When this occurs, the person can ask God's forgiveness and keep moving forward with a clean heart. Many Christians have been guilty of falling into premarital sex and adultery. But this is different from embracing those behaviors as a legitimate lifestyle and forming your identity as a person around that form of behavior (which is what the pro-gay movement has done with same-sex intercourse).
Another way of stating it: We cannot be an obedient Christian and remain involved in sexual behavior which God has prohibited for His children.
Q. Your site implies that there is something wrong with homosexuality. Isn't that judgmental?
A. All of us appeal to our sense of right and wrong. If someone disagrees with our position on homosexuality, they are doing so by appealing to a sense of right and wrong. All of us have opinions on whether certain behaviors are appropriate or not. We base our presentation on the Bible, which states clearly that homosexual behavior is not God's plan for men and women. Therefore, it is not our intention to judge people, but rather, to communicate the Bible's viewpoint on homosexuality and to tell people about the alternative life that Jesus Christ offers to those who want out of a homosexual identity.
To study the Bible's viewpoint on homosexuality, see Joe Dallas' article Responding to Pro-Gay Theology, particularly the section on Scriptural Arguments.
Q. Is it really possible to "love the sinner but not the sin"?
A. We promote love for people for who they are, not what they do. People have inherent value because they are God's creation. We're not condemning anyone. At the same time, it isn't unloving to talk about sin. Jesus accepted and forgave the woman caught in adultery (John 8), but then He told her "Go and sin no more." That's the proper order for things and the one we try to emulate on this site.
Q. Isn't your site persecuting homosexuals?
A. Persecution, according to the Random House Dictionary of the English Language, means "persistently to harass, oppress, injure, or punish an individual or group of people, usually with the intention of driving them away, subjugating them, or exterminating them." Those are not our goals at all! We don't want to drive people away, but rather to bring them into our family; we don't want to subjugate them, but rather to tell them about a life of freedom; we don't want to exterminate them, rather, we want them to have eternal life--all of which are possible through a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
Q. Haven't some Christians, though, persecuted homosexuals?
A. Admittedly, some unloving or immature Christians--or people who claim to be Christians but are actually not--have persecuted homosexuals. We reject such behavior as unChristlike. As Pascal said so well, "It is false piety to preserve peace at the expense of truth. It is also false zeal to preserve truth at the expense of charity." Some "Christians" have failed to combine the Bible's guidelines on homosexuality with compassion. Just as it would not be truly loving to remain silent about freedom from homosexuality through Jesus Christ, it is also wrong to disagree with homosexuality without compassion for people. Love and truth must be go hand-in-hand. Either one--without the other--benefits no one.
Q. Isn't this site being intolerant?
A. Not at all! Intolerant, according to Random House, refers to "an active refusal to allow others to have or put into practice beliefs different from one's own." We're not refusing anyone to do or to believe anything. We recognize that people are free to do and to believe what they want.
In keeping with that freedom, we offer an alternative--not because we're not tolerating them, but because we want them to know the full range of options they have. We tolerate people who want to remain homosexual; however, that doesn't mean we will remain silent to those who don't, which would be unloving.
True tolerance can exist only in an environment where there are different viewpoints. You can't have tolerance without disagreement (otherwise there would be nothing to tolerate). And disagreement doesn't equal intolerance. We are simply communicating an alternative viewpoint for people to consider: freedom from homosexuality through a relationship with Jesus Christ.
Q. If two people really love each other, why does it matter what sex they are?
A. Love is different from sexual involvement. You can love your sister, but that does not mean you should have sexual intercourse with her. The Bible says that certain types of moral behavior are wrong. We do not understand all the underlying reasons, except that God has made us as male and female, then given us guidelines on how we can best fulfill His purposes for us.
The Bible never prohibits love between any two individuals. In fact, it commands us to be loving toward all people. But the Bible is also clear that sexual intercourse is only appropriate in the context of a lifelong monogamous heterosexual commitment.
Q. How can homosexuality be wrong when it is biological? Everyone knows it's genetic.
A. Contrary to recent media hype, there has not been any conclusive or compelling empirical evidence showing any absolute biological, genetic, or hormonal causation for homosexuality. A study of identical twins separated at birth showed that if one twin became homosexual, the other had only a 50% chance of doing the same. If sexual orientation were determined exclusively by genetics, then all separated twins would share the same orientation.
There is a possibility of a genetic predisposition toward homosexuality, which is far different from causation. But even this possibility is far from scientifically proven. And a predisposition toward something does not mean that it's inevitable, or that such a predisposition cannot or should not be resisted and overcome. For example, some people may have a predisposition to alcoholism, yet we don't affirm their disposition but rather help them change.
There is a growing body of empirical data supporting the environment as the greatest influence over sexual orientation. Homosexuals are frequently found to have troubled relationships with parents, or to be victims of a child molester.
For a scientific analysis of homosexuality and genetics vs. environment, see The Gay Gene? by Dr. Jeffrey Satinover and Gender Identity Disorder by Dr. George Rekers.
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