But then we call gay Christians to a higher standard of sexual stewardship by allowing straight Christians to misuse marriage for their romantic fulfillment while asking only gay Christians to consider celibacy. This leads to high divorce rates and a void of theology and practice of lifetime abstinent singleness among straight Christians. Most churches today lead straight Christians to assume that they will get married, teach that we need romantic companionship to be happy, and ignore the Bible’s teachings about lifetime celibacy and divorce. Does a mix of silence and hypocrisy in your church lead teens to reject a traditional sexual ethic and, often, God altogether because of their confusion, shame, fear, loneliness, and hopelessness? Or does your church courageously lead compassionate conversations about God’s love and plan for all people, setting up gay teens to embrace the beauty and the burden of the gospel?ġ - Is your church a place where everyone is thinking theologically about their sexual stewardship?
Our Gay Teen Test asks whether what gay teens in your church hear and see sets them up to fail or flourish. What’s our vision for churches? That they would pass EQUIP’s Gay Teen Test.
