It is with great grief that I begin to write about such a topic. As I assume it might be with a heavy heart that any believer might feel as they reflect on injustice and pain inflicted in the name of Christ. But just as it pains me, it also reminds me that perhaps the true mark of the Christian is their ability to repent, turning even from their most grievous sins. And perhaps it is in our repentance and our forgiveness that we can better demonstrate the power of such a great sacrifice that was given to us through the bleeding hands and sweating brows of our Lord Jesus.

Let me start by stating that this is not a post to debate any theology regarding whether or not a particular sexual relationship is sinful. Nor is it a discussion of the legitimacy or lack thereof, of sex change under the circumstance of gender dysphoria. For one, I believe that conversation too often derails Christians from the needed work of loving our neighbor. Sadly most debates around these issues have far less to do with what scripture says and more to do with individual experiences, interpretation of those experiences, and how to live faithfully in light of conviction and devotion to Christ. As far as I am concerned, for those who claim the name of Christ, the deep and personal decisions of sexual stewardship are better worked out through discipleship, guidance and when necessary, the discipline of the local faith community to which the particular believer belongs. And as we are encouraged throughout scripture, it is not up to the church to judge those who are outside on their morality, but rather is a right given to God. (1 Corinthians 5:12-13) Furthermore, I think any conversation about the complexities of faith and sexuality is better suited in a face-to-face discussion, not as an aside to a different point. Perhaps in the future, I will offer a more detailed look into where I stand theologically on such topics, but for now, I would like to focus not on the queer community themselves, but on our posture towards them.

The belief commonly known as a traditional Christian sexual ethic has turned from a highly esteemed value to an excuse for bigotry and pride-filled judgment. The historic Christian sexual ethic can be summed up as the belief that God created humankind, male and female in his own image and likeness and that through scripture God has revealed his design for marriage and human sexuality. Marriage is then, ordained by God as a lifelong, covenantal union between a man and a woman, and sexual intimacy is to be enjoyed exclusively between a husband and wife, and any expression outside of that would be out of God’s creational design. It is no secret that the dissonance between the Church and the LGBTQ+ community has only seemed to grow over the last few decades, but what many congregations seem to fail to understand is why that is. Some seem to ignore this growing distaste from queer people as a media trend, while others simply write it off as a ‘sin’ of the queer community to hate the Church. Unfortunately, history is far more haunting than Hollywood’s distrust of Christianity or some communal sin of gay activists. 

It is through our reflection on the past that we can perhaps gain a glimpse into the explanations for our current relationships with the queer community. It is common knowledge that the Church does not stand on good terms with those who identify as LGBTQ+, despite some research¹ suggesting that nearly half of all LGBTQ+ people consider themselves to be religious in some way. For much of the queer community, distrusts and hurt has not come on the part of Christ, but from his Church. 

One particularly woeful response of the American Church was our response to the AIDS crisis. While the AIDS crisis claimed the lives of well over 100,000 Americans in the 80s alone, Christians seldom offered any attempt of help or even offer expressions of grief. ^2,3 While the secular world funded medical research, provided social assistance, and offered hospice care for those affected by AIDS, the Church was at best silent, and at its worse hateful. These actions were a result of a belief held by many, that the AIDS epidemic was God’s judgment on the gay community. This was further exacerbated by Christian leaders the likes of Billy Graham making public statements asserting that those affected by AIDS were most likely affected on account of the judgment of God. These statements only further justified the lay Christian’s disdain for the queer community and gave way to a lack of empathy or calls for Christian love. ⁴

While the evangelical church has no shortage of penance to pay for its sins against our queer brothers and sisters, perhaps among our greatest failures is the Exodus International movement, commonly known as the “Ex-Gay” movement. 

Exodus International was founded in 1976 and was actively running for 37 years before being shut down by its President and Board in 2013. Exodus was a self-described “Ex-Gay” Christian ministry, aimed at helping queer Christians who desired to limit their homosexual attraction. Over its many years in operation, the ministry boasted of its ability to lessen and even eliminate same-sex attraction among those who faithfully committed to the programs. Many queer individuals who subscribed to Exodus’s methods would marry someone of the opposite sex, have children, and even join the staff of the organization. 

Over its course, Exodus International had impacted the lives of hundreds of thousands of people, making promises that homosexual desires could be cured. Since its closure, nearly every person who went through the ministry has reported little to no long-term change in sexual orientation, many of whom have since left the Christian faith and some have even made attempts at suicide as a result of their experiences in the ministry. As a result of promises of change not being fulfilled, entire generations of queer people have gained a distaste for any semblance of input from the Church into conversations of queer idenity or sexual stewardship.⁵

Upon the closure of Exodus International, Alan Chambers the ministry President stated, “For quite some time, we’ve been imprisoned in a worldview that’s neither honoring toward our fellow human beings nor biblical.” Chambers himself identified as gay, and upon going through the ministry married a woman and had several children. He now admits he has ongoing attractions to men and was hiding his attractions in an attempt to appear legitimate. Although at the time of the ministry’s disbandment, he still held a historical Christian sexual ethic, he no longer saw efforts towards orientation change to be a viable option. He went on to say, “It is strange to be someone who has both been hurt by the Church’s treatment of the LGBTQ community, and also to be someone who must apologize for being part of the very system of ignorance that perpetuated that hurt.” ⁶

Alan Chambers was not the only staff member to come out against the methods and practices of Exodus International. Many former leaders have since come forth with formal apologies. Jeremy Marks stated in an apology, “Though at the time we did not see it this way, our collusion involved setting up and maintaining an oppressive anti-gay, and I must also say equally anti-Christian view of homosexuality, that profoundly dishonors Jesus Christ and has betrayed the Gospel.” Marks was the President of Exodus’ Europe division, and over time became particularly concerned with the ways in which Exodus International’s efforts towards orientation change continued to perpetuate long-term detrimental effects, such as loss of faith, broken marriages, and suicide attempts. In an effort to correct his errors, Marks shifted his particular ministry to a gay-affirming organization known as “Courage UK”. ⁷

Micheal Bussee was also known for his prominence in Exodus. Bussee, along with Gary Cooper were known for their departure, when they publicly declared their love for one another and left to be together. Bussee was later quoted discussing his experience of Exodus saying, “I needed to believe that I was now heterosexual – to “name it and claim it.”  God would do the miracle over time.  “Keep praying,” they told me.  If I had enough faith, I would eventually be “set free.” I wanted it more than anything and sincerely believed it would come true.” During his time at Exodus, Bussee established his own branch which he called E.X.I.T. which stood for EX-gay Intervention Team. He continued to teach that if queer people prayed hard enough, and claimed it to be true, God would eventually grant them the orientation change they desired. Pastors and therapists from across the nation began to send those experiencing same-sex attraction to Bussee for ministry to help people “exit” their gay orientation.⁸

While many leaders such as Marks and Bussee left Exodus to become affirming, not every leader felt leaving the Christian traditional sexual ethic was in alignment with their convictions or faith. Nate Collins was among many who felt, that although Exodus failed to represent Christ, the Church’s stance on sexual ethics was a worthy pursuit. Upon the announcement of Exodus’s disbandment, Collins was among the last to publicly speak at Exodus’ final conference, which was shaped around repentance and confronting the atrocious acts of the movement. Collins famously shared a story at that conference about his own suffering within the movement, only to boast of Christ’s ability to redeem even the most gruesome tribulations for good. In the weeks following the closing of Exodus International, Collins reflected on his lament of both Exodus’s heinous actions and the reality that in some ways it was a safer place than most congregations. “Exodus International certainly represented a much safer place than the vast majority of churches for Christians to be transparent about their experiences with same-sex attraction. But it nonetheless did so within the context of a triumphalist church subculture that often preferred ‘finished product’ Christians to ‘in-process’ Christians.”⁹

Collins has since gone on to found Revoice, a ministry for LGBTQ Christians who while adhering to a traditional Christian sexual ethic, do not believe there is any orientation change required to be a faithful Christian. Revoice has ministered to thousands of Christians who experience same-sex attraction, and/or identify as LGBTQ+, as well as partnered with churches to support and create safe places for queer people. Revoice now offers community groups, a yearly conference, and partners with several other ministries that make efforts towards healing the relationship between the LGBTQ+ community and the Church.¹⁰

While the AIDS crisis is over, Billy Graham passed away in 2018, and Exodus International has been disbanded for many years, it is no doubt that the rhetoric, often left unrepented, has continued to play part in the passing down of false and abusive uses of God’s name. There are still many ministries alive and active that were once affiliated with Exodus International.¹¹ And many Christian leaders still make attempts to assert both intentionally and unintentionally that LGBTQ people are somehow worthy of death in some exclusive and divine way. We see the threads of this rhetoric prevailing today through outlandish assertions from the likes of Pastor Dillon Awe, who said that queer people should be “lined up against the wall and shot in the back of the head” from the pulpit, claiming “that’s what God teaches”,¹² as well as the intentional and unintentional misuse of scripture to justify violence. 

One common misguided teaching prominent in churches today is the preaching of Romans 1 out of context. Often quoted to prove a point, it has become common practice to quote Romans 1:26-27, and verse 32 which would read “For this reason, God delivered them over to disgraceful passions. Their women exchanged natural sexual relations for unnatural ones. The men in the same way also left natural relations with women and were inflamed in their lust for one another. Men committed shameless acts with men and received in their own persons the appropriate penalty for their error. Although they know God’s just sentence—that those who practice such things deserve to die—they not only do them but even applaud others who practice them.” While this is not inserting scripture not true to the text, it is an intentional avoidance of verses 28-31, which go on to list many other actions deemed “deserving of death” by the author. “And because they did not think it worthwhile to acknowledge God, God delivered them over to a corrupt mind so that they do what is not right.  They are filled with all unrighteousness evil, greed, and wickedness. They are full of envy, murder, quarrels, deceit, and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, arrogant, proud, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  senseless, untrustworthy, unloving, and unmerciful.” This overt omission often leads people to believe queer individuals are somehow more deserving of death than the rest of the world. While for some this may lead to assertions that queer individuals are deserving of death for their queerness, others can jump to conclusions like that of Pastor Awe, claiming that God teaches believers to insight violence against the LGBTQ+ community. 

Perhaps even more concerning, in relation to poor exegesis is the ignorance of the rest of Paul’s letter to the Romans, which offers insight into the phrase “those who practice such things deserve to die”. Romans 2 offers a very important reminder in light of Paul’s seemingly combative statements in chapter 1. “Therefore, every one of you who judges is without excuse. For when you judge another, you condemn yourself, since you, the judge, do the same things.” Paul later goes on to say, “Do you think—anyone of you who judges those who do such things yet does the same—that you will escape God’s judgment?” and “For there is no favoritism with God.” It is through the lens of our depravity, that we must read the scriptures, looking first inwards in self-examination and repentance. 

It is through the rest of Romans, that we find hope both for ourselves and for the world around us. Romans 3:23-25 “The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe, since there is no distinction. For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God; they are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.”  Further on Paul pulls from his concept of being deserving of death in Romans 6:23 “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” While some may point to Paul’s letter to the Romans to justify their fear and detests for the queer community, they fail to see the gifts offered in this sacred text, instead appropriating it for their own self-righteous pursuits. This failure to read Romans 1 in its proper context is not only a failure to the queer community, but to every believer or unbeliever, for it attempts to negate the offering of eternal life that is the gift of God. 

I do not try to suppose that it is simply the Christian ethic itself that is the problem. The Church’s sexual ethics have had success being applied throughout all of church history without the inclusion of prejudice or abuse. C.S. Lewis is known as one of the greatest Christian leaders of the last century. Although Lewis never shied from admitting his views on Christian sexual ethics, he reportedly was intentional in not condemning others for their attractions or orientation and actively spoke against homophobia and the judgment of the queer community. Lewis was known for his friendship with Arthur Greeves, who was gay. He was intentional in his efforts to never speak poorly of Arthur, but only with high esteem. Often in writing, Lewis would speak of his own bend towards taboo sexual desires in juxtaposition to his discussions of homosexuality.¹³ 

Lewis often spoke of homosexuality with a humility that offered hope and honor to his gay friends. He frequently spent time addressing other things he deemed more egregious sins such as jealousy. Lewis often admitted he did not know with certainty why his queer friends faced such tribulations but encouraged them that as in all tribulations, it must be offered to God in faith that he would make all things good for those who loved him.¹⁴

While we cannot undo the harm done in the wake of the AIDS crisis, or in the wake of everything that the Ex-Gay movement has and still is perpetuating, we can ask for forgiveness, and we can repent of our own sins. I believe it is perhaps the most Christian thing to do, to seek forgiveness and reconciliation, both with God and with his children. What better acknowledgment of Christ’s sacrifice, than to admit our failures, and to move towards healing? 

In the midst of outrage and debate over the supposed sins of the gay community, we have failed to acknowledge the sins of homophobia rampant in our culture, our churches, and our hearts. In our attempts to change orientations, we have neglected to love. Through our brawl with the queer community, we have forgotten the essential truth; Jesus died for the LGBTQ+ community too, not so that they can be made straight, or cisgender, but because he loved them just as they are. 

SOURCES:
1)https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/nearly-half-lgbtq-adults-are-religious-u-s-study-finds-n1249273
2)https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00001880.htm
3)https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK234566/
4)https://www.bu.edu/articles/2015/anthony-petro-after-the-wrath-of-god/ 
5)https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/theology-in-the-raw/id1018952191?i=1000526567311
6)https://www.cnn.com/2013/06/20/us/exodus-international-shutdown/index.html
7)https://beyondexgay.com/article/jeremyapology.html
8)https://beyondexgay.com/article/busseeapology.html
9)https://www.hollanddavis.com/developments-at-exodus-international-part-i-the-apology/
10)https://revoice.us/
11)https://www.esquire.com/entertainment/movies/a37210531/netflix-pray-away-exodus-international-true-story-explained/
12)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L61723RQpb8
13)https://spiritualfriendship.org/2013/08/23/c-s-lewis-on-homosexuality-and-disgust/
14)https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/justin-taylor/a-letter-from-c-s-lewis-on-christian-piety-and-homosexuality/