Confessions of a Gay Christian - Some Thoughts

I just read an article published in Relevant Magazine and I think it's an important article for Christians to read because it articulates a very painful struggle for some of the people in our churches. Here are several applications I took from it and I think Christians, especially Christian men, need to consider:

1. "Gay jokes" are unwise, insensitive, and unacceptable. If you struggle with this, I'd encourage you to study and meditate on Ephesians 4:29, James 3:9-12, and Matthew 12:33-37.
2. Christians tempted with same-sex attraction need the Church to be a community marked by humility, compassion, and truth. Humility = I'm not better than you. Compassion = I am drawn to you in love not repelled by you in disgust. Truth = Love is not synonymous with unbiblical compromise.
3. Christian men shouldn't be afraid of gay men. (I'm sure this applies to women also but seems to be predominant among men).
4. Parents, we MUST teach, emphasize, and model passion for the Gospel and not just the "rules" of Christianity. D.A. Carson says, and I agree, that people don't usually remember what you teach; they remember what you're passionate about.
5. Parents, we should create an environment where our children can doubt, ask questions, and seek truth. They will do that with or without your guidance.
6. Pastors, we can't just preach against homosexuality in the abstract, we must disciple people dealing with it.
7. Pastors, we need to equip the men in our churches to put off the homophobia of secular masculine culture, and put on the grace-and-truth-filled character of Jesus.
8. Christians who stay faithful to the biblical view of sexuality will be increasingly treated with disgust, "moral" indignation, and hostility. And yet, out of love for people and faith in God, we cannot cave in to societal pressure (2 Timothy 3; 1 Peter 4:12-19). Quite frankly, this is a hard one for me because many racists made the same argument for upholding New World slavery and, later, Jim Crow segregation. Bigotry has often been defended by appeals to purity. However, we must hold fast to truth, knowing that biblical truth, truth inspired by the Holy Spirit, is always accompanied by humility not self-righteousness, service not oppression. The wisdom of God has a distinctly humble quality to it (James 3:17). So while we will be treated like bigots, our lives must prove that to be a false accusation (1 Peter 2:12).