tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90880742115224535242024-03-14T03:13:54.997-04:00To Gay Christian Teensby Artie Van Whyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12845691854734907291noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9088074211522453524.post-73249012506642868632013-03-15T13:46:00.000-04:002013-03-15T13:46:49.104-04:00<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
I know what it’s like to be a teenager who is a Christian and who is also gay. For years I did all I could to hide my attraction to others of the same sex. I lived with that secret; afraid to tell anyone. I was in constant fear that I was going to hell and pleaded with God to
change me. <br />
<br />
During this past year there has been the very public campaign assuring our gay youth
that “it gets better.” If you are a young Christian and you think, or know, you are gay I want you to know that it can get better for you as well. I want you to know that you have choices. You didn’t choose to be gay
(just as no one “chooses” to be heterosexual), but you can choose how to
live with your sexuality.<br />
<br />
You can believe homosexuality is a sin
and try to change; on your own, by praying or by entering into an
“ex-gay” ministry. I tried all three and, speaking from my personal
experience and years of meeting other gay Christians who tried doing the
same, I don’t think one can become “ex-gay” any more than one can
become an “ex-heterosexual”.<br />
<br />
You can believe that it is not a sin
to be gay, but that it is sin when acted upon. I know of gay
Christians who accept their orientation and choose to live a life of
celibacy.<br />
<br />
You can marry someone of the opposite sex; concealing
your attraction to the same sex, determined you have it under control. I
know many gay men and women who have
done just that. In each and every case, after what might have been
years of suppression, they eventually ended up acting upon their
impulses; some leading a double life. Inevitably the lies and secrecy
caught up with each of them; revealed either by their own confession or
an inappropriate situation they put themselves in. Of all these people I
know, each of their marriages, except for one, ended in divorce; the
unsuspecting spouse’s life shattered, as well as the children’s.<br />
<br />
You
can decide to be honest with your future spouse, trusting he or she
will be willing to partner in your decision to live heterosexually. I
know couples who are doing just that. Publicly, they present themselves
as a typical heterosexual couple. I don’t know how they conduct
themselves in private.<br />
<br />
You can choose to reexamine the scriptures
that are always used against homosexuals. You can decide if they are
speaking out against same sex attraction as we know it today. You can
choose to believe God honors a same sex monogamous committed
relationship. You can choose to believe you can be both gay and a
Christian.<br />
<br />
I, personally, lived through years of struggle and
anguish; trying everything I could to change. The end
result was clinical depression and my own thoughts of suicide.<br />
<br />
As
the years have passed, I’ve come to trust that God does love and accept
me as an openly gay man. I do look at those scriptures in a different
light. I believe God sanctions any relationship (gay or straight) that
is loving, committed and monogamous.<br />
<br />
I belong to a church, in one of the most conservative counties in
Pennsylvania; the only openly gay man there. I was welcomed warmly by
the pastor and the majority of the congregation.
My presence there has generated an open dialogue within the church about
homosexuality and the Bible. People have told me that their views on
homosexuality have changed because of knowing me; some acknowledging I’m
the first gay person, they’re aware of, that they’ve known.<br />
<br />
Our
church now has an outreach ministry (with over 20 people; most of them
straight) to let the gay community know our doors are open to them.
That we not only welcome them, we also affirm them, their committed
relationships and the families they are creating. Know that there are
churches, and Christians, who will accept you as you are.<br />
<br />
If we
are to be judged it will be by God. Maybe at that time it won’t be a
matter of who was right and who was wrong. Maybe God will look at each
of us and ask if we lived our lives being true to who we were. Maybe
God will assure us that He’s always loved us even during those times we
were told He didn’t.<br />
<br />
I say, again, to you who are gay, or are
questioning, it gets better and you have choices. The decisions you
come to are between you and God.<br />
<br />
Know that there is a place for you at the table.</div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif; text-align: right;">
Artie Van Why</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-family: "Trebuchet MS",sans-serif;">Lancaster, PA</span></div>
by Artie Van Whyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12845691854734907291noreply@blogger.com4