How Christian Parents Should Rpond to Their Child's Gay Inty Crisis | U.S. News

Contents:

• HOW CAN CHRISTIAN PARENTS RPOND TO THEIR GAY CHILD?
• HOW SHOULD CHRISTIAN PARENTS RPOND IF ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN OUT AS GAY?
• HOW CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD RPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S GAY INTY CRISIS
• A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON PARENTG A GAY CHILD
• “MOM, DAD… I’M GAY.” A CHRISTIAN PARENT’S RPONSE
• RPONDG LOVE TO AN ADULT GAY CHILD
• SHOULD CHRISTIANS “DISOWN” GAY SONS AND DGHTERS?
• RPONDG TO A “GAY CHRISTIAN” THE FAY

HOW CAN CHRISTIAN PARENTS RPOND TO THEIR GAY CHILD?

A Hot Topic Requirg Patience and LoveOf all of the trendg topics seen the media today, none is more emotnally charged or ntroversial than the topic of homosexualy or same-sex attractn.

Christians are havg a difficult time articulatg a posn that is both biblilly fahful and grac/lovg to those wh a homosexual part of this discsn has to do wh should Christian parents do if their son or dghter “ out” and clar themselv to be gay? How n Christian parents rpond to their gay child?

Thankfully, Christians have a rich text that giv the words and heart of the Creator of the me give three practil prcipl that n help Christian parents rpond to their gay child. Reject Gay Therapy as an End GoalOver the past or longer, this seems to have been the prevalent Christian parental rponse for havg a gay child. The goal of “gay therapy” is to reorient the sexual orientatn om homosexual feelgs to heterosexual feelgs.

HOW SHOULD CHRISTIAN PARENTS RPOND IF ONE OF THEIR CHILDREN OUT AS GAY?

Parents should not have the goal of nvertg their child om homosexualy to heterosexualy. Parents of gay children mt pot their child here everyday!

We also need to extend grace to those children who have been abandoned or abed by their parents or fay who have mishandled the 1:16 – For om his fullns we have all received, grace upon is how parents should rpond to their gay child; grace upon grace.

If a child reveals his or her homosexualy, the first thg for Christian parents to do is let their child know that, no matter what, love and grace will w the day. Parents should also enurage a child who has “e out” not to fe himself as a “homosexual. Parents n e alongsi a stgglg child and help him see that he is not “gay” simply bee he has homosexual thoughts.

HOW CHRISTIAN PARENTS SHOULD RPOND TO THEIR CHILD'S GAY INTY CRISIS

Rather, he is stgglg wh homosexual sir or same-sex attractn.

The difference between stgglg wh homosexualy and intifyg onelf as gay may seem subtle, but is a huge distctn, and here’s why. God never created to be homosexual. Christians may stggle wh same-sex attractn, but that do not make them homosexuals.

A CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE ON PARENTG A GAY CHILD

Y, homosexualy is sful, but not to a level above that of heterosexual lt or lyg or pri. And the Bible says that homosexualy is unter to God’s tend purpose for human begs.

If a child says, “I am homosexual. How should Christian parents rpond if one of their children out as gay? When a child first out to their parents as eher beg gay or havg same-sex attractn, their ial rpons are ually the wrong on, says Chris Doyle, a psychotherapist who specializ York Cy gay pri para crowd this undated photo.

“MOM, DAD… I’M GAY.” A CHRISTIAN PARENT’S RPONSE

"Sce homosexualy is beg more wily accepted Amerin society, an creasg number of teens who experience SSA are intifyg as gay. They believe that if you experience same-sex attractns, then you're gay, " Doyle told the negative rpons parents have, acrdg to Doyle, are avoidg the issue by barrg their child om talkg about SSA or their gay inty; believg that 's a passg phase; or threateng to kick their olr teen or 20-somethg child out of the hoe. He also emphasized that parents nnot talk their child out of beg gay or havg SSA.

"We know, our clil rearch over the last 25 years, that fay culture, environment and other non-blogil factors play a signifint role the velopment of same-sex attractn, " he asserted, addg that parents shouldn't seek therapy as an attempt to change their the book, Gay Children, Straight Parents: A Plan for Fay Healg, wrten by Richard Cohen, executive director of IHF, Doyle said 12 prcipl are discsed to help fai navigate through SSA and s . "Regardg sleepovers and big life events such as parents' attendg a child's same-sex weddg ceremony, Doyle suggted that parents treat their homosexual child the same as they would their heterosexual the se of sleepovers, parents should mata the same standards for every child and not allow their gay intified or SSA child to have somone they're attracted to spend the night wh them. "The same l should apply to heterosexual upl and homosexual upl, " he when down to attendg a child's gay weddg ceremony, Doyle suggted that attendg the ceremony don't necsarily reflect that the parents agree wh same-sex marriage, their prence merely shows their love for their child.

Your child is gay. But for many Christian parents, nothg n prepare them to hear that their beloved child is gay.

RPONDG LOVE TO AN ADULT GAY CHILD

If you are a Christian parent, fay member or iend to whom your loved one has e out as gay or lbian, then this is for you. They did not “choose gayns” to rebel agast you, get back at you or make your life miserable. As a younger Christian, tght that homosexualy is a s, I believed that trma somewhere someone’s past ed homosexualy, even if they didn’t remember .

To my surprise, God pletely shifted my unrstandg and revealed to me the many people who had a great childhood are still gay. Some gay teens have been shamed, banished, threatened, beaten, and shunned.

If dog the thgs meant that homosexualy would not vis a Christian home, then we wouldn’t see croppg up so often. But please unrstand that even if we disagree, nothg chang regardg our rponsibily, our blsg as a Mom or a Dad to unndnally love, accept and affirm our gay children – as God has done wh .

SHOULD CHRISTIANS “DISOWN” GAY SONS AND DGHTERS?

Colon was shot several tim at the Orlando gay nightclub durg the 2016 mass shootg and has sce left homosexualy and started the mistry Fearls Inty wh another Pulse survivor. For a now, Christian parents have been askg my wife and me for help parentg their gay kids. As a Christian dad of a gay son, I wish there had been someone to talk me through the issu raised by my son’s disclosure of his sexualy.

But the evangelil church has until very recently said very ltle about homosexualy, except that is a s and that those who practice are worthy of nmnatn. As a rult, most gay young people the church stayed silent about their sexualy until they uld no longer ignore . Most parents, if they knew their kid was gay, told no one about and had no one to talk to.

In orr to love the fai and their gay kids well, the church needs to do a better mol to parents. (We’ve wrten extensively about this journey our book, Space at the Table: Conversatns Between an Evangelil Theologian and his Gay Son. My rpons here are directed specifilly to parents of gay kids, not to the kids themselv.

RPONDG TO A “GAY CHRISTIAN” THE FAY

I should add, too, that I am only speakg om my own experience as a parent of a gay kid, not speakg on behalf of all parents of LGBT+ kids. *To ntue readg, click the lk below to download a ee py of "A Christian Perspective on Parentg a Gay Child" by Dr. Rachel Held Evans nclus her blog post If my son or dghter were gay wh this paragraph:.