Revoice is just a week away! One of my biggest hopes is that this conference will carve out a space for LGBTQ+ Christians to adhere to historic teachings apart
from threats of hell. If we ever hope to make conservative churches a safe environment for LGBTQ+ people, this absolutely must
become the norm. Also, if you plan to be at the conference, please don't hesitate to say hi! I can't wait to talk!
Letting go of my white-knuckle grip of celibacy was the best thing I ever did.
Now wait a minute.
Letting
go of celibacy?
But isn’t celibacy the very thing that gay Christians must desperately maintain apart from getting married to the opposite sex? Isn’t celibacy, like, the point?
In many conservative churches, it is. The focus upon “no gay sex” in Christian communities often amounts to a type of spiritual suffocation, whereby celibate gay Christians slowly strangle themselves under the mounting pressure to avoid gay sex. Okay, maybe they’re dying, but at least they’re celibate. So, like, it’s fine. Right?
Unfortunately, it’s not.
It’s impossible to cling to Jesus and receive his gift of grace when we’re desperately clinging to something else. God calls us to be desperate for Jesus, not works of the law, and to cling to his righteousness, not our own. But unfortunately, the counsel given to far too many celibate gay Christians amounts to a call to cling to their celibacy and not their Savior.
