Guest Opinion: An Open Letter to 'Gay' Teens

By Matt Barber
2/26/2013
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Kids, take your sexual confusion - your struggle with sin - to Christ

Yes, you may be physically attracted to people of the same sex, but how you act on those attractions is entirely your choice. Who you are - your identity - is not defined by your sexual feelings, temptations or behaviors. The difference between who you are and what you feel or do is as the difference between night and day. Here is who you are: You are a wonderful, beautiful, precious human being created in the image and likeness of the one righteous and Holy God of the universe. You are priceless. But you are flawed - you are a sinner. I am flawed - I am a sinner.

Homosexual behavior is always wrong - demonstrably and absolutely wrong. Period.

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LYNCHBURG, VA (Catholic Online) - Who am I? I'm a husband and a father. More importantly, and by the grace of God, I'm a follower of Jesus Christ. This is what motivates me to write you. You don't have to read on, but I pray you will.

What I write I write with the purest of aims and with your well-being in mind - physical, emotional and spiritual well-being, both now and for eternity. You will read truth here, not because I say it's true - I'm nobody - but, rather, because the Creator of the universe, the very God Who wove you together in your mother's womb made it true.

His truths never change.

I have three kids, a boy and two girls. My son will soon enter his teenage years. I've had many people ask me what I'd say to my children if one of them came to me and declared: "Dad, I'm gay." Here's what I'd say. I'd tell them exactly what I'm about to tell you.

I love you. I neither judge you nor condemn you. I accept you and I would die for you. But you are not "gay."

Here is who you are: You are a wonderful, beautiful, precious human being created in the image and likeness of the one righteous and Holy God of the universe. You are priceless. But you are flawed - you are a sinner. I am flawed - I am a sinner.

We are all flawed sinners - corrupted beings in a corrupted world. We are all tempted by sin.

Those temptations manifest themselves in different ways for each of us. We are all on equal footing, however, as to how we react to those temptations.

Homosexual behavior is always wrong - demonstrably and absolutely wrong. Period.

Every major world religion, thousands of years of history and uncompromising human biology declare this objective reality from the rooftops.

Though your heart may deceive you, something deep within you knows this to be true. Scripture says, "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. ." (Jeremiah 17:9)

Some say, "But Jesus never mentioned homosexuality." First, we don't know this. We have no record in Scripture of Him specifically addressing homosexual sin, but neither do we have a record of His addressing incest, bestiality or other sexual sins.

Jesus was clear. He condemned all sexual immorality as detailed within the moral law. He was clear that any sexual activity outside the bonds of marriage between husband and wife is sexual immorality - sin.

In fact, homosexual sin is expressly identified in both the Old and New Testaments as being among the list of sins that, if committed without repentance, will prevent you from "inheriting the kingdom of God."

That is to say, yes; unrepentant homosexual behavior is disobedience to God. If we rebel against God and refuse to repent and ask His forgiveness, then we have chosen our own fate - we have chosen to disqualify ourselves from heaven.

We have chosen hell.I know, it's not easy. Temptation is not easy.To sin, however, is easy.

Still, to endure the consequences of that sin, both here and throughout eternity, will be more difficult than our limited minds can fathom.

Romans 6:23 admonishes: "For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." Sin can lead to physical death; but it also leads to emotional and spiritual death.

If you are caught up in homosexual sin, you know - intuitively you know - that such conduct is wrong, that it is both immoral and unnatural behavior. Truth is truth, even though we may deny it.

God has written His law on your heart. You are a physical being; but, more importantly, you are a spiritual being. When we sin, we create separation between ourselves and God.

God's word also says that when we sin sexually, it's particularly egregious because our bodies are the temple of Christ. This separation from God - a natural result of sexual sin - can lead to depression and even despair.

If you feel such despair, know this: it is not "homophobia" causing it, as adult enablers might tell you, but, rather, it is the sin itself that causes it (or struggling alone, absent Christ, with the temptation to sin).

You are being used. Adult homosexual activists with a political agenda are using you as a pawn to achieve selfish goals in a dangerous political game. You're just a means to an end.

They may have convinced themselves otherwise, but they don't care about you. They don't love you. They can't. Their version of "love" is built on lies. It's devoid of truth. Love without truth is hate.

If you continue down this wide, empty path, make no mistake: it will not "get better." It gets much, much worse.

Consider, for instance, that according to the CDC this path will lead you, boys, to a one-in-five chance of contracting HIV/AIDS. The CDC also found that 64 percent of all syphilis cases strike "gay" males and that homosexual behavior leads to astronomical risk of nearly all other forms of STD.

Even more startling is the fact that, according to the International Journal of Epidemiology (IJE), "[L]ife expectancy at age 20 years for gay and bisexual men is 8 to 20 years less than for all men."

Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences. "The wages of sin is death." But there is hope.

Jesus loves you with a love that no human can fully grasp. This is true not because of your so-called "sexual orientation," but, rather, it is true in spite of it.

Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest." (Matthew 11:28) Kids, take your sexual confusion - your struggle with sin - to Christ. No one else can give you rest.
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Matt Barber (@jmattbarber on Twitter) is an attorney concentrating in constitutional law. He serves as Vice President of Liberty Counsel Action. (This information is provided for identification purposes only.)

- - -

Pope Benedict XVI's Prayer Intentions for January 2013
General Intention: The Faith of Christians. That in this Year of Faith Christians may deepen their knowledge of the mystery of Christ and witness joyfully to the gift of faith in him.
Missionary Intention: Middle Eastern Christians. That the Christian communities of the Middle East, often discriminated against, may receive from the Holy Spirit the strength of fidelity and perseverance.

Keywords: teenage homosexuality, gay teens, Matt Barber, sexual sin, homosexuality, gay, Liberty University,

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1 - 10 of 15 Comments

Celia
2 months ago
Well written!! Thanks
Haley
2 months ago
This article is very well written, but I feel that your message is wrong. I respect you, sir, and I thank you for not being full of blind hate. But we absolutely must not call people sinners for things they cannot control. Yes, we are all imperfect; but we are all children of God. I believe all homosexuals deserve to live a full life, and if they truly desire a marriage and children then I believe they deserve it. All the homosexuals I know are kind hearted people who have good intentions. There is nothing wrong with them. Really, they are simply normal people and we cannot hate or judge them for being different in one small way. Nor should we force them to not act on their sexual orientation or ask them to change it, for that is impossible. Remember- gay people are simply people. Not being heterosexual does not make you imperfect.
sue
2 months ago
Dear Matt,
As a mother of a gay son allow me to make a few comments. First of all, there would be no need for you to wait for "an announcement", you would already know. For me it was as early as 3 years of age. Secondly, your letter should have stopped here.... "I love you. I neither judge you nor condemn you. I accept you and I would die for you."
Jesus died for ALL OF US while we were still sinners. I think that pretty much covers it.
Respectfully,
Sue
kent rossi
2 months ago
As with radical muslims, the bedrock of your arguments lies in the proposition that the bible is the word of god. From there, the author and followers pick and choose cryptic phrases to come up with something they believe to be inviolate, universal truth. The problem is that there have been countelss versions of the bible and the bible itself is a group of books or stories whose editors selected, printed and then pronounced to be "the word of god". Had the biblical books been put together at a diffenet time, it could contain Aesop's fables, sayings of confuscious, "folk tales" such as Hansel and Gretl, etc. So the book itself is the product of human editorializing and the interpretation of the book has and continuer to include redaction and interpretation. While "The Satanic Verses" caused such outrage among radical muslims because they believe the Koran to be the one and only word of god... we must, frankly, be better, and renounce the notion that the bible is the word of god. It is demonstrably not so. We will all just have to get along without such absolutes.
Kathy
2 months ago
Bravo! Well written!
David M
2 months ago
David I think that the author of this article and others would read the statement "Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences" as pertaining directly to human beings. As it seems you have recognized with your response:
"That is a very bold statement. Is there evidence to prove that homosexuality is not natural? If we look to other species, homosexuality occurs throughout the animal kingdom. Though yes, we may be mentally superior and be considered a "higher being," humans still have instinct. Such as a mother becomes "attached," so to speak" to their child and become very protective, via instinct."
But to me after reading your response it seems that what you are asking would be "are human beings able to control their instincts/impulses which other animals are incapable of doing?"
Animals like dogs act instinctually. Humans can control their response to instinctual urges. Need we describe what the world would look like if we could not control the sexual impulse. I am glad we are not like dogs. So how much bearing does "instinctual" urges really have on the moral goodness or evil of sexual acts?
It seems that once a person recognizes that human beings are capable of free and therefore moral actions that the question of the morality of homosexual acts can be properly addressed.
youkokun
2 months ago
@ Stephen I agree with your sentiment that the case is closed and people who identify as both gay and Christian/Catholic need to observe God's teaching on all sexual immorality if they really want to follow Him. However, this is a form of evangelization. It's obvious that gays are steeped in a more sensitive, pandering, "mushy" and "angst"-y culture, and that's what they are more likely to respond to. Gay men are usually effeminate (in my opinion more feminine than many of us women care to be, another result of extreme feminism) and so they use feminine language. Mr. Barber did not compromise any doctrine and he did explicitly call out homosexual relations as sinful--but he did it not with straight condemnation as gays are prepared for with their pride and readily close their hearts to, but with compassion and acknowledging their feeling humanity. That's exactly what how the Catechism approaches gays! Don't compromise one inch on doctrine, but don't ignore the image of God in your "enemy".

From one 20-yr old college student: thank you, Mr. Barber, for speaking their language.
David
2 months ago
I respect your opinion. One thing I want to bring to attention, however.

"Unnatural behaviors beget natural consequences."

That is a very bold statement. Is there evidence to prove that homosexuality is not natural? If we look to other species, homosexuality occurs throughout the animal kingdom. Though yes, we may be mentally superior and be considered a "higher being," humans still have instinct. Such as a mother becomes "attached," so to speak" to their child and become very protective, via instinct.

I also completely agree with Jade.

Thanks for the respectful letter. This was a welcome change to the usual, obviously bigoted comments using "faggot" and other messages that organizations like the Westboro Baptist Church use profusely. I really respect you as a concerned Christian.
Cathy S
2 months ago
Beautiful. Thank you for writing what I've been trying to say for years now. I hope people read and share, and spread the message of God's love and redemption.
Stephen
2 months ago
More mush mouth mumble jumble. The only thing the Church need say to one who thinks he is homosexual, no matter his age, is that if you truly believe such then in order for you to be a Christian you must accept the fact that God is calling you to a permanently celibate lifestyle. Just as he is doing with single heterosexuals who decide to remain non married. Period. Let's move on, shall we? Too much ink has been spilled on the angst of homosexuality.

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