on repentance
In the last year I’ve spent a lot of time reflecting on repentance, especially after Bethel Church featured CHANGED in a series of hotly debated Instagram posts. For a few days we had the unusual position of being painfully scrutinized by all sides. Some critics accused us of failing to demand repentance. Others accused us of hate speech. I was shocked by the blindness. CHANGED offers a unique and seemingly subtle plea to repent. Each story is a self-contained declaration of one’s changed mind and surrendered heart written to invite others into Jesus’ way. They declare mercy as well as judgment.
About a month ago a friend advised me to closely watch Preston Sprinkle’s teaching. His well researched theology and compassionate heart are inviting, yet I wonder, what is the fruit of repentance according to what he teaches? I want to ask him personally, sincerely, in the hope we can work together to reach the lost. As I ponder the differences between our message at CHANGED and those like Sprinkle’s or Bill Henson’s at Lead them Home, I can’t help but wonder what the Lord is saying to us all. I can feel God’s heart to draw my friends away from queer community to be reconciled to Him. I agree with Sprinkle’s message of love and grace—God’s desire for those of us who have mostly felt unacceptable. Jesus died for ALL of us. Yet, Sprinkle and others like him do not invite us to the “more” available through Christ. He does not seem aware of the power of the gospel to bring restoration to one’s life.
The honest question at hand is, how should we (those of us from LGBT) respond to God’s mercy?
The surrender described by each of us at CHANGED is the fruit of our repentance. It is a sign that we have seen God. We have experienced His presence, His love, with conviction that has drawn us to only one conclusion: life with Him is worth our most costly gift—our own identity. It is a bitter sweet transaction that stretches us to trust Jesus. In our repentance we are exchanging one system of thought for another. We have chosen to lay down the belief we were born gay to accept being born again, with the hope of all that choice gives, including righteousness, peace and joy. For us, it is a sign of love and passion for Christ. We could boast of our sacrifice and demand that others “change,” but somehow I feel that would disrupt the purity of our devotion. Instead, we invite others to join us in this expression of obedience. And we point to Jesus’ directive: If you love Me, you will obey My commands. What command? To lay down one’s life, one’s identity, for His sake.
For most of us the power of a changed mind has also yielded a changed experience of life. I’m fascinated by how this outcome aligns with what science, such as the recent Ganna gene study, tells us about homosexual behavior: namely that culture, family, environment and social influences impact our physical lives. What we “think” or perceive has the power to change our physical bodies. Even more, it has the impact to bring deep emotional healing and inner freedom. There is pain in the LGBT experience that Jesus will touch as only He can.
And so, CHANGED extends this message of repentance:
Leave everything behind and let Him recreate you. God is imparting holiness and righteousness as only He defines and as only He can give.
That does not always look like opposite sex marriage, or families with biological children. God’s life looks like wholeness, healthy relationships, pure-heartedness, spiritual and biological families, Kingdom-minded order and community thriving that only comes through the sacrificial love of Christ. It looks like movement. Change. Surrender wholeheartedly to Him and accept His leadership, but then, accept His analysis of your life. Only He knows the Truth about you.
The repentance God requires does not focus merely on behavior. Repentance offers an invitation to leave same sex temptations and desires, but also to leave a culture that makes sexuality the central factor in relationship and identity. Jesus draws us away from LGBT culture and its alluring power that demands we accept ourselves in our teleological disorder. LGBT does not offer a response to our nature, but rather conforms to the hopelessness of status quo using the false and deceptive mantra, PRIDE. In its place, Jesus offers humility, self-acceptance, acknowledgement of weakness that partners with supernatural strength, joy and hope. His promise, the Kingdom of God within us, transforms from the inside out, revealing the hopeful attainment of integrity, peace, authentic joy, and celebration of Christ’s excellence.
“Repent, for the Kingdom of God is at hand” is an invitation to reformers and pioneers who have the grit to make public stands on sexuality to offer a new and different way forward. It’s an invitation that reflects the character of Christ and His sacrificial love. I am praying that CHANGED becomes a community of reformers that acknowledges the deceitfulness of the “other kingdom” and sees its victims without bitterness so we can compassionately offer a new vision. It’s a movement with Christ at its center, the Kingdom of God among us all.
God, grant us a Jesus movement that restores the LGBT community to the family of God and enters into the beauty of Jesus’ character to bring His Kingdom to earth.