The Seventh-day Adventist Church has a clear biblical position on human sexuality.1 When we meet a person struggling with same-sex attraction, however, we realize it is not just about a doctrine, but about people and their lives. This article shares aspects and approaches for ministry toward individuals struggling with their sexuality.
To love means to be willing to learn. When it comes to LGBTQ issues, some misconceptions must be cleared up.
A person’s sexual orientation is the gender someone feels attracted to. That they do not feel heterosexual is a shock for many Christians. Feeling trapped in the wrong body and struggling with one’s sexual identity is equally difficult.
Inform Yourself
Most people are unaware of the differentiation between sexual orientation and sexual behavior. The Bible speaks about same-sex behavior, not orientation.2
In pastoral care, to declare someone’s orientation itself a sin is problematic, even if it is a consequence of our fallen nature. Christians with same-sex feelings often suffer from feelings of shame and guilt. But temptation is not in itself sin.
Biblically, there is nothing to prevent a person tempted with homosexual feelings from being baptized, working in the church, or even holding a leadership position if they reject the temptation.
People in the early church who had same-sex inclinations were accepted without being seen as second-class Christians, provided they rejected the behavior (1 Cor. 6:9-11).3
Our primary identity lies in Christ, not in gender or sexual orientation, as existentially close as these may be to us. Therefore, there is no reason to reduce people to their sexuality. Everyone has a place in our church regardless of their sexual orientation.
How Do I React When Someone Comes Out?
If someone reveals their sexual orientation and comes out to you, prove trustworthy! Appreciate their courage, and don’t react with shock. Be discreet, not revealing their orientation to others. Maintain the relationship and pray for them, even if they make decisions you don’t support. Show love and acceptance of the person (not the sin).
Don’t withdraw, as if their orientation is contagious. Behave naturally, allowing appropriate closeness. Don’t place every expression of friendship under suspicion, as if the person is attracted to everyone of the same gender (which is not the case with you, either). If you feel disgust, hatred, or discomfort, be sure to deal with it prayerfully until you come to a different attitude (see Mark 2:16, 17).
Refrain from moralizing. The individual probably knows what Adventists think about homosexuality. Do not put someone under pressure (possibly even with the withdrawal of love) to end an existing homosexual relationship. Decisions are sustainable only if someone makes them out of their own conviction.
Whether we can continue credibly to defend our teaching on marriage and sexuality will be decided, not by more theological lectures only, but in the lived practice of the church.
You don’t have to hide your biblical position. But bear witness to the truth in the greatest possible love, and leave room for the work of the Spirit. Remember, we can encourage people on their journey of faith regardless of church membership or their behavior. God can work with them and guide them in how they should shape their lives. This is a lifelong process; be patient.
No False Promises
Some think that enough prayer and faith will set you free from your homosexual orientation. (This is often accompanied by the idea that the orientation itself is considered sinful and must therefore be overcome.) All things are possible with God, and some have experienced transformation. This simplified view, however, can be problematic when it implies that unchanged feelings mean a lack of faith. This mindset has caused emotional and spiritual harm, for example, in so-called conversion therapies.
The causes of homosexual orientation are controversial. Some consider it to be genetically determined, ruling out any change. Others attribute it mainly to developmental problems (trauma, family ties), making speculations that are overreaching. Current research assumes a complex interplay of several factors.4 There is no simple explanation.
As biographical and personality-related influences can play a role, some find therapeutic support helpful. This, however, should not be associated with the goal or promise that you will feel heterosexual afterward, even if some have experienced minor or major changes during their lives.
Opening Up Life Prospects
The solution for people with homosexual feelings is not to pray them back to health, but to provide an attractive perspective even if their sexual orientation persists, and to accompany them in living faithfully.
We need a church culture where a meaningful, happy life without marriage is possible.
Unfortunately, our natural emphasis on marriage and family often results in marriage becoming the status symbol of being a good Christian or a reward for spiritual maturity or prayer. This marginalizes the unmarried and harms LGBTQ people by depriving them of an attractive life perspective.
The Bible presents two models of life: marriage (a metaphor for Christ and the church) and singleness (modeled by Jesus, who was fully human but not sexually active). Both are equally valuable!
There exists a misconception that celibacy requires a special calling, and that this is recognized by feeling drawn to it. Thousands of Christians, however, are living celibate lives (single, widowed, separated, or divorced) who did not plan or choose to do so. Yet they are called because God’s call is not necessarily into marriage or singleness, but within it!5
Our task is to support each person on their spiritual journey. We need a new perspective on friendship and a church that is not divided by marital status.
An Emotional Home
Honest, deep conversations; hugs; fun; joint activities; vacations—we should become more creative in giving unmarried people an emotional home. People go where they are loved and feel they belong! Do we have something to offer? Whether we can continue credibly to defend our teaching on marriage and sexuality will be decided not by more theological lectures only but in the lived practice of the church.
No matter how lovingly and thoughtfully you present your biblical stance, it can always be read as homophobic and inhumane from the perspective of a secular culture. Nevertheless, our sexual ethics has missionary potential. It can show the world a love that is greater than sex, and a family whose cohesion cannot be explained without the God of love. “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples” (John 13:35, NIV).
Book Recommendations
The authors are Bible-oriented Christians from other denominations. However, regarding the topic of LGBTQ, they have valuable insights and experiences from which we can benefit (1 Thess. 5:21).
- Sam Allberry, Is God Anti-Gay? and Other Questions About Homosexuality, the Bible, and Same-Sex Attraction (Epsom, U.K.: The Good Book Company, 2013).
- Sam Allberry, Seven Myths About Singleness (Wheaton, Ill.: Crossway, 2019).
- Ed Shaw, The Plausibility Problem: The Church and Same-Sex Attraction (Lisle, Ill.: Inter-Varsity Press, 2015).
- Preston Sprinkle, People to Be Loved: Why Homosexuality Is Not an Issue (Grand Rapids: Zondervan, 2015).
- Preston Sprinkle, Embodied: Transgender Identities, the Church, and What the Bible Has to Say (Colorado Springs, Colo.: David C. Cook, 2021).
- Preston Sprinkle, Does the Bible Support Same-Sex Marriage? 21 Conversations From a Historically Christian View (Colorado Springs, Colo.: David C. Cook, 2023).
1 See statements of the General Conference (“Homosexuality” and “Same-Sex Unions”): https://www.adventist.org/official-statements/homosexuality/ and https://www.adventist.org/documents/same-sex-unions/.
2 Although it was apparently already known in antiquity, see, e.g., Bernadette J. Brooten, Love Between Women (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1998); Thomas Hubbard, Homosexuality in Greece and Rome (Berkeley, Calif.: University of California, 2003).
3 It is inappropriate to declare homosexual intercourse the greatest sexual sin, while we make light of sins from the heterosexual spectrum (adultery, premarital sex, pornography).
4 See, e.g., Andrea Ganna, “Large-Scale GWAS Reveals Insights Into the Genetic Architecture of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior,” Science 365 (2019), eaat7693, DOI: 10.1126/science.aat7693; Dean Hamer, “Comment on ‘Large-Scale GWAS Reveals Insights Into the Genetic Architecture of Same-Sex Sexual Behavior,’ ” Science 371 (2021), aba2941, DOI: 10.1126/science.aba2941.
5 Those who are married are called to live a Christian marriage; those who are currently unmarried are called to live a Christian single life.