LGBT+ and the Church

QVII. On Suffering

The Questions (and Statement): 

➢ What are LGBT+ people supposed to do with their attractions and identity as a Christian?

➣ Since these are a part of a person, it requires rejecting themselves, which is malicious.

➢ It is unloving to leave people suffering, therefore God is unloving for having LGBT+ people not be who they are.

The Answer: 

In the Christian understanding of how things ought to be, our identity is informed by Christ. A large part of this is being able to detach what a person is attracted to from who they are, and additionally their understanding of gender being invested in the teachings of the Lord. A Christian manages this, though strenuous, and many things they'd once considered part of their identity they converted instead to what is godly.

A significant portion of being Christian is denying ourselves and carrying our crosses. (Gospel of Mark, 8:34) This is the way of following the Lord. As He says: "And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." (Matt. 10:38) This is a message repeated throughout the Gospels; that we are no longer to be just as we are, but to struggle, to change, and to return to the likeness of God He had created us in. This cannot be done by remaining in the identity we affirm, but taking upon Christ instead, clothing ourselves in Him.

To be a Christian is to possess a new identity given to us by God, for we are new in baptism and chrismation. We die in the waters and rise a new person. We cannot say we have changed if we remain as we are; we cannot say we are following Christ if we reject His ways for our own. Christianity is not a buffet of beliefs that you can choose as you will.

"But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness." (Eph. 4:20-24)

Who we become after our conversion is a creation of God, not of ourselves; therefore, it is of grand importance we abide and follow the will of God in all things and understanding. At our baptism, we cannot cling to our former conduct, but be renewed. Baptism is the birth of our Christian identity. As we are also told by St. Paul: "Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life." (Rom. 6:4)

If you are not changing, you are not walking in newness. This newness, preserving it by God, can indeed be a struggle. It is not unloving to live according to the Christian way of life, but rather it is created out of love for our spiritual nourishment and betterment. Suffering does not equate to a desire for despair. As we read in the epistle of James: "My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing." (1:2-4) 

We eventually grow to find joy and appreciation. When Fr. Seraphim Rose, a gay man, repented of the life he lived prior to his conversion, he did not recall it as something that devastated his entire being. It did not pull him apart nor did he build his existence on his sexuality. Rather, he chose to focus on more beneficial and uplifting matters, finding more to life in his spirituality. Christians, when they've nourished their minds, find their way.