Christians that are gay

This may not be a huge surprise, but we receive A LOT of questions via email, social media, and in person on Tuesdays. What gentle of questions? Well, anything from, Should I obtain back together with my boyfriend or girlfriend? to What should I execute next with my life? to How should I lovingly engage those in the LGBTQ community?

In this blog series “Ask The Porch,” we’re answering real-life questions that we’ve received from you. Disclaimer: our highest priority is always to first respond with biblical counsel from God’s Word. The hardest questions to answer are those in the “grey” areas. So we’ll do our best to share our biblically-informed opinion, but recognize that we may hold different convictions on the non-essentials (vs. the essentials).

Now, let’s dive into the question for this week emailed in from an online listener:

Can a Christian be gay?

“Hey David,

I am a Christian and own struggled with same sex attraction since childhood. I would not wish it on anyone. It’s very hard being alone and longing for someone to hold hands with. I want the chance to love and have someone love me back. I want to live a life for God but I also don’t yearn to live on this earth alone.

What Does the Bible Say About Homosexuality?

What Does The Bible State About Homosexuality?

Introduction

For the last two decades, Pew Explore Center has reported that one of the most enduring ethical issues across Christian traditions is sexual diversity. For many Christians, one of the most frequently first-asked questions on this topic is, “What does the Bible tell about attraction to someone of the same sex?”

Although its unlikely that the biblical authors had any notion of sexual orientation (for example, the word homosexual wasn't even coined until the late 19th century) for many people of faith, the Bible is looked to for timeless guidance on what it means to honor God with our lives; and this most certainly includes our sexuality.

Before we can jump into how it is that Christians can maintain the authority of the Bible and also affirm sexual diversity, it might be helpful if we started with a brief but clear overview of some of the assumptions informing many Christian approaches to understanding the Bible.

What is the Bible?

For Christians to whom the Bible is God’s very written word, it is widely understood that God produced its content

Is it REALLY ok to be LGBTQ? A look behind and beyond the “clobber passage”

There’s a name for what’s happening here: proof texting.

Theopodia defines proof texting as “the method by which a person appeals to a biblical text to prove or justify a theological position without regard for the context of the alley they are citing.”

If you learn someone say “the Bible says…” run in the other route. The Bible says lots of things!

Here a few things the Bible says:

That the Earth was covered in water when created until God formed land (Genesis 1:9) but also that the Land was completely dry until God brought streams up and watered the planet (Genesis 2:5-6).

That God created animals first and then humans (Genesis 1) but also that God created Adam first, then animals, then Eve (Genesis 2).

That’s right, the Bible contradicts itself in the first two chapters!

“The Bible says” in Exodus and Deuteronomy that if a woman is raped her rapist must either marry her or pay her father (because he’s “damaged” the father’s “property”).

Paul says in 1 Thessalonians that Jesus will return in his control lifetime (4:15-17).

So what does the Bible say?

The Bib

More than 5 million LGBT adults in the US are religious

A new examine by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Rule finds that an estimated 5.3 million LGBT people in the U.S. tell that religion is important to them, attend religious services, or both.

Researchers analyzed data from the Gallup Daily Watching Survey to study religiosity among LGBT adults. They start that demographic patterns in religiosity observed in the general population are also observed among LGBT adults. For instance, among LGBT adults, middle-aged and older adults, Black adults, and those living in the South are most likely to be religious.

“Our study shows that religion plays an important role in the lives of nearly half of all LGBT people in the country,” said lead writer Kerith J. Conron, the Blachford-Cooper Distinguished Scholar and Analyze Director at the Williams Institute. “Religious LGBT adults are socio-demographically diverse, inhabit in every region and state, and participate in all religious denominations.”

Key Findings

Nearly half (47%) of LGBT adults in the U.S. are religious.
Among religious LGBT adults, there are an estimated 1.5 million Protestants, 1.3 million Roman Catholics, 131