Research and Reading

The good thing about the internet is that information is at your fingertips. The bad thing about the internet is that information is at your fingertips. You can search for “gay and Christian” and get all types of results.

Your search results could be on the non-affirming side with John MacArthur telling parents that they “cannot have this in their household”. You could uncover types of “therapy” such as the now-defunct Exodus International or Bethel’s current “#Changed #oncegay stories”.

Some people stop there and assume their child is doomed. Their family will never be the same and they must all work to “pray the gay away.”

Those who keep searching may find the other side, the affirming side, which is what I was looking for. My first purchase was the book, Torn by Justin Lee. I couldn’t put it down and in a few days, my formal education began. My eyes were opened to a world I didn’t know existed. Within the book I saw my son, Johnny. Just as Justin was often called “God-Boy” during high school, Johnny had also been very involved in church youth group, playing in the worship band, and teaching Bible clubs to children during the summer. His faith was strong and he had many friends at church. His life was more than church and included school band, track and field and other activities. He was not sheltered within the church. He had a balance of friends - Christian and not, guys and gals, athletes, scholars, and band members. He was well-liked and had a balanced life.

How encouraging it was to read that there were others just like Johnny. How discouraging it was to hear all that Justin Lee had to endure when he came out in the late 90s, early 00s.

My husband read the book. Johnny read the book. I shared it with a few others and each one saw the honest revelations of someone who loved God and just happened to be gay. Someone who was willing to struggle through the challenging verses in the Bible that were being thrown in his face in order to convince him to change.

This was my first introduction to the “Clobber Verses”. I knew there must be verses that churches used to substantiate their anti-gay stance. Now I knew I needed to do a lot of work.