Transformations
Volume 4

Compassion- an alternative lifestyle

By Al Stewart

Jon was anxious about returning to church, having put a great deal of distance between himself and the Christian tradition in which he had been raised. He was fearful that members of the church would misunderstand and reject him because of who he was and where he had been.
Throughout most of his adult life, Jon had actively pursued an openly gay lifestyle. By the time of his return to the church he had been diagnosed as a carrier of the human immunodeficiency virus ( HIV) and had begun a process of recovery from drug as well as sexual addictions
Homosexuals are often assumed to look and act as soft, effeminate males and “butch” or over masculinized females. These gross inaccuracies, which create caricatures and diminish the humanity of homosexuals, encourage some people to treat them in ways that are less than humane.

The term homosexual simply describes a sexual orientation. Despite the fact that the terms “gay” and “lesbian” are often used as synonyms for the word “homosexual”, the terms gay and lesbian more accurately describe our response to the homosexual orientation, rather than the orientation itself. One may be homosexual but not gay or lesbian in the same way one may be a “dry alcoholic” – having the inclination to drink but abstaining. Popular culture sees no difference between gay and homosexual.
Thoughtful pastors and churches should not condemn persons for their homosexual orientation. Than they would condemn a heterosexual for desires of an illicit nature. The most thorough research available suggests that Jon was among the six percent of the population who experience some type of same sex relations during his or her lifetime and one percent of the population who consistently desire same sex practices. Some have advocated that ten percent of the population is homosexual. This has often been cited to suggest a degree of normalcy for homosexuality. A leap in logic has allowed many people to conclude that normal equals natural and natural is the equivalent of morally acceptable.
Health Problems associated with homosexuality go well beyond the highly publicized acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) crisis. Alcohol consumption is twice as high among homosexual males and seven times as high for homosexual females. There is also a high incidence of suicidal thoughts and actions. Christians need to be informed and compassionate in their response to their homosexual neighbors.
There are many theories about the causes of homosexuality. Thomas Schmidt writing from an evangelical Christian respective in the book Straight and Narrow? Compassion And Clarity in the Homosexuality Debate says that biological factors along with cultural and environmental influences, in combination with one’s moral climate, personal choices and behavioral experiences, form our sexual identity. Other contributing factors may be the loss of a father or divorce before the age of ten and childhood sexual abuse.
In a conversion with Jon, shortly before he died of Aids, he left no doubt about the ability of God to deliver him from the addictions which had been a part of his adult life while allowing Jon to remain sexually abstinent. Jon would say “no sex with other people and no sex with myself.” It was not an easy choice because of the misunderstanding from the heterosexual majority as well as the opposition and rejection by homosexuals who had been his closest friends, some of whom had told him about Jesus.
We must be discerning, allowing to be shaped more by the Word of God and refined by his Spirit than by the roaring wind of social opinion. Christians need to be informed and balanced while avoiding paralyzation and fully embracing the truth that will set men and women free. We must be faithful to scripture, affirming what it affirms, avoiding what it prohibits while proclaiming boldly the good news of Jesus Christ who brings salvation and wholeness to all. We must be redemptive, seeking to heal while using our words to show Jesus Christ to other people. To label gays and lesbians as “perverts” and “shameful sinners” only drives them further from the only one who can make a difference in their lives. We must be fair and not create double standards for homosexuals. The sins of the practicing homosexual are no more or less serious than the sins of those with a member of the opposite gender, unless within God’s ideal of sexual intimacy within the relationship of heterosexual marriage. We must be accountable to one another. Wisdom recognizes that to hold homosexuals and unmarried heterosexuals to an equal standard of sexual abstinence ensures their well-being in ways that other options cannot.
We need to create a new model for ministry. We must risk our reputations to reach out beyond our comfort zones. We must minister to people with AIDS in the same way Jesus touched the lepers of his day. The example of Jesus shows that we need not compromise our moral convictions in order to embrace a lifestyle of compassion toward sinners.
My friend Jon will be looking for us on resurrection day. He will also be looking for others who had a similar orientation to his while on this earth and who, like him, will be there because Christians chose to reach out in life-transforming love through the Grace of Jesus Christ.

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