Following Judah's Lion

The Gospel and the Gays

The California Supreme Court overturned Proposition 8 which banned same sex marriage. Of course many in the evangelical community had apoplexy over such a thing. Why we as believing followers care about the moral or religious practices of a fallen government perplexes me. As it pertains to Christ honoring practices we would do well to examine the church. We have more than we can say grace over. Let the dead marry the dead.
But the gay issue continues to exhume gospel issues which must be addressed and prayed over.
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His name was Bobby Griffith. He grew up in a Californian suburb, and his family belonged to a conservative Presbyterian church. From a very young age he felt a little different. Because he knew what his church believed as well as his family’s derogatory remarks, he suppressed his feelings. He attempted to date girls and drum up some feelings for them, but again his attempts fell short. He thought often of suicide.
He confided in his older brother and out of concern his brother confided to their mother. Bobby’s mother was confident that God would change Bobby’s same sex attractions. His mother felt that counseling and Scripture would “cure” her son. The church’s position was Scriptural, however their approach was intransigent and void of any redemptive perspective. Bobby sunk deeper into a walking depression.
Many, many months passed and things did not change, although Bobby made earnest attempts to alter his feelings. But he was still haunted by them. Eventually Bobby struck up a relationship with another young man. But that only heightened his sense of self loathing. He had let his family down and he could not escape the growing feelings of worthlessness and depression. He eventually became distraught at his failure to over come the ever present feelings. He hated himself.
This is from Bobby’s diary:
“I can't ever let anyone find out that I'm not straight. It would be so humiliating. My friends would hate me. They might even want to beat me up. And my family? I've overheard them....They've said they hate gays, and even God hates gays, too. Gays are bad, and God sends bad people to hell. It really scares me when they talk that way because now they are talking about me.”
After a long struggle Bobby went to a highway overpass, waited for a tractor trailer, and fell in front of the truck to his death. That was on Aug. 27, 1983.
That was a true story. And now I will share a personal perspective and conundrum concerning this very issue. If you have all the answers you need not read this post from April 8, 2008. It is called
An Inconvenient Truth