Being same-sex attracted is not akin to being racially different or gender different.  Those are visible physical identities that will never change.  They are also amoral identities that are morally neither good nor evil.  Identifying oneself as “gay” is essentially an announcement of celebration and pride.  It’s a hallmark of the LBGTQ agenda.  It’s a verbally nuanced and covert term employed to make certain attractions and sexual relations are natural and normal.

“The wicked are estranged from the womb; they who speak lies go astray from birth”  (Psalm 58:3).

This may be a difficult verse and concept for all of us, but it infers that proclivity and propensity to sin begins in the womb before one is born.  That doesn’t mean one is born “gay.”  It simply means our bent and tendency to sin for “all of us,” regardless of sexual orientation, begins while we are yet in the womb.  None are exempt from any bent or tendency to sin.

Aside from same-sex attraction temptation acknowledged as a proclivity or propensity defined as an inclination or predisposition, such words are rarely, if ever, applied toward other temptations to sin.  Not only are they acknowledged in the former, but allege to support the claim one is born with such attraction.  No undeniable evidence or proof one is so born exists.  But many such major inclinations or predispositions to sin exist in the rest of humankind.  It’s not just a physical or emotional fact, it’s a theological fact.

As to Christians who struggle with same-sex attraction and related sexual drives, a reckoning with biblical truth is vital.  It is vital because there is the temptation to identify oneself and one’s position in Christ by one particular temptation and sin.  No one else as a Christian identifies himself or herself by a particular strong temptation to sin.  By identifying oneself as a “gay Christian” the implication is one is meant to be, was created to be, and will always intrinsically be different from those who are not so attracted.

Being same-sex attracted is not akin to being racially different or gender different.  Those are visible physical identities that will never change.  They are also amoral identities that are morally neither good nor evil.  Identifying oneself as “gay” is essentially an announcement of celebration and pride.  It’s a hallmark of the LBGTQ agenda.  It’s a verbally nuanced and covert term employed to make certain attractions and sexual relations are natural and normal.

It’s time to address Christians who are same-sex attracted with truths and biblically-based facts that inform you that you are not so different from all other Christians.  Perhaps the sense of being so different has inculcated a false self-identity.  What does this mean?

Primarily, we are all affected by the Fall.  We are all born in sin and into sin.  We are all subject to human depravity.  In other words, we are all in one big struggle in life and have three enemies, that is, “the world, the flesh, and the devil.”   We are all in need of atonement and redemption from our pervasive bent to rebel against God’s holy standards.  Ergo, you are not alone.

First, and perhaps most important, is you are not alone with sexual attractions and drives that are prohibited by God.  Heterosexual men and women face an array of strong sexual drives and temptations that they also must abstain from and struggle against.  But they do not define or identify themselves by those very real proclivities or propensities.  Temptation to sexual immorality is one of the most prevalent and pervasive sins humankind faces.  Same-sex attraction is just one among many.

Secondly, sexuality is just one area involving sinful drives that can be quite strong in one’s life.  Therefore, whether same-sex attracted or not, that is not your sole proclivity or propensity to sin or your sole area of guilt or shame.  The same is true for heterosexual Christians.  One may also be bent toward anger, lying, greed, idleness, selfishness, self-centered grandiose ambition, and more, regardless of sexual orientation.

As some have confessed, even though seeking to live a chaste, holy, righteous life after coming to Christ, the strong temptation and urges remain.  However, they resist and succeed in not giving in to them and remain celibate.  Yet, they continue to identify as “gay Christians.”  They are referred to as Side B Christians “seeking to uphold biblical sexual standards while seeing their sexual orientation as an accurate category of personhood,” according to Rosaria Champagne Butterfield.

In light of the fact, that many non-gay Christians struggle with strong sexual enticements, but do not identify themselves based on their sexual temptations, strongly suggests they suffer as deeply and seriously, resist their sexual orientation’s proclivities and propensities to sin—attempting to live a chaste, holy, righteous life.  Yet they would never identify their position in Christ with a particular sexual temptation or urge.  We cannot forget that some are sexually orientated to children and even to animals. The ramifications of identity of such who would come to Christ would prove to be a horrifically serious problem.  Not only do most Christians not identify with sexual temptations, they do not identify with any sinful proclivity or propensity.

These facts should cause those who insist on or prefer to choose to be openly Side B Christians would do well to see what a departure from both biblical and historical Christianity their decisions are.  Your choice fails to acknowledge your culpability of a multitude of sinful leanings, as is true of the rest of us.

Isn’t it time to let go of the proclivity and propensity to be sexually attracted to others of the same sex as an identity when Christ has delivered you from that temptation and sin?

Join and unite with the rest of Christianity in rejoicing in our redemption and salvation from sinful proclivities and propensities through Jesus Christ, our mutual Lord and Savior.  Our identity is in Christ alone.  We all died to sin and live through Christ Jesus.  Resist pride.  Resist aloneness.

Sincerely,
Helen Louise Herndon
A single Christian who rejoices in Christ

Helen Louise Herndon is a member of Central Presbyterian Church (EPC) in St. Louis, Missouri. She is freelance writer and served as a missionary to the Arab/Muslim world in France and North Africa.