I’m grateful for the ministry of Living Out, a UK-based organization led by Christian leaders who experience same-sex attraction. They’re doing a service to the church in providing resources and support to people who are struggling with questions of gender. One of the issues they address at their web-site (www.livingout.org) is how to respond if your child comes out to you. As a follow-up to Sunday’s message on “Gender and Attraction,” I thought it would be helpful to summarize their advice.
I remember as a new Christian, everything seemed brand new. The possibilities for the Christian life seemed limitless. I couldn’t imagine why everyone wouldn’t want all that the Christian life promised. But before long, I learned that none of that could be taken for granted. I came to see that things like stubbornness, complaining and complacency were present in the church. And I would learn that they were never far from my own heart as well. I’ve spent most of my Christian life trying to understand this gap and what causes it. So, I was glad to read Bryan Chapell’s account of his own journey in this area in his book, “Christ-Centred Preaching.”
I missed the whole phenomenon of Duck Dynasty. I was out of the country when it made it’s splash on A&E. I’m not a huge fan of reality television and so I likely would have missed it anyway. And at this point, I’m not about to try and catch up. But I was touched by Kay Robertson’s honesty in recounting the struggles of her early marriage and how Jesus rescued her in the video by “I am Second”. There were three lessons that stood out to me.
On Sunday we looked at some of the gender implications of Genesis 2:18, the verse that says, “Then the Lord God said, “It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him.” But there were many questions that time did not permit me to answer. Some people assume that the verse is a call to marriage. And Genesis surely does recommend marriage. But Jesus was never married. Did Jesus miss reading Genesis 2:18? Did He believe that “it’s not good for man to be alone?” Was Jesus “not good” in some way because He was single? The answer to those questions sheds important light on what this verse does and doesn’t teach.
