Boy Erased? Finding faith amid Pop-culture’s storyline

Contending for the Kingdom of God when you’ve questioned your sexuality

We and all of our friends who have once identified as LGBTQ or experienced any kind of confusion in our sexuality regard films like Boy Erased, with pain and frustration, knowing its scenario is not God’s heart for people. Perhaps you’re not familiar with that film. It recounts the disturbing thoughts and perceptions of a boy questioning his sexuality who feels pressured to attend a pseudo-Christian counseling program. He feels trapped and hopeless and seeks to discipline himself into a different sexual experience. We know his pain first hand. Rejection and misunderstanding while walking out your faith are painful, especially when you question your sexuality. Fearing this, many in church stay hidden.

But we don’t think we’ve seen all that God offers for people questioning their sexuality. And we know that Hollywood’s representation of Christian faith is not accurate.

Equipped to Love, CHANGED, and all our “oncegay” or “former” homosexual friends are seeking to create a model of discovery and healing that welcomes the power and presence of God where all of us will find wholeness and belonging.

Our vision is to cultivate an environment where different experiences of sexuality are regarded compassionately with the expectation that God will meet anyone. We’re confronting self-condemnation and shame by celebrating the gold God has placed in us all as His sons and daughters. All this vicious blame and accusation focused on sexuality needs to stop. Let’s walk humbly together, celebrating Jesus and His love, and pursuing all God has for us.

We expect God to do incredible things.

The elephant in the room is change in one’s sexual orientation. Since scripture so clearly addresses sex, ordaining that it take place only in marriage between a man and a woman, why wouldn’t we expect God to intervene in our sexuality? He’s obviously very concerned about it. As surely as the Kingdom of God is impacting the world, it is transforming lives.

Coming out and embracing the LGBTQ lifestyle, which over-celebrates our sexuality, hasn’t satisfied us. Nor has blaming and shaming our families and friends for not understanding our unusual experience. Instead, we will stand before God and seek His kingdom first—laying down our lives to expect something special and glorious. We want to pull off all the labels and definitions of culture, so we can experience something new—even change in our sexual orientation!

And so, we are gathering people together who want to go for something never seen before: a family of men and women who, with this unusual experience of sexuality, don’t want to be singled out or set aside as we pursue the special things God has. It’s not a program or a protocol as depicted in a painful movie, but a journey together toward life in God.

Let’s acknowledge our weaknesses and seek to discover just how much of God’s kingdom on earth we can experience—even in our sexuality.

We don’t know all God will do, but we’ve already seen amazing things: physical and emotional changes, healings of all types, freedom from addictions, amazing and beautiful fellowship, where Jesus is our focus. Our desire is to love as Jesus loves in order to honor God and one another—in marriage or in singleness. As we contend for the promise of the gospel to enjoy new and abundant life, many of us (like Ken and me) are no longer controlled by same sex attraction or question our gender and live fulfilling (heterosexual) lives with our own families. You can read stories like ours at the CHANGED website.

Equipped to Love is driven to discover a new and better way for Christians to address homosexuality. We’ve come away from the LGBTQ life and are helping each other find truth and hope as new creations in Christ, waiting expectantly for God to show us all He has.

We could settle for what we see all around us as homosexuality is normalized and celebrated, but we don’t want that. We want more. And within community among the entire body of Christ there is life and fulfillment in God. Come and see!

Elizabeth Woning, with Ken Williams
Co-founders of CHANGED and Equipped to Love

You will make known to me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; In Your right hand there are pleasures forever. Ps 16:11

 ©️ 2018 Elizabeth Woning. All rights reserved.