Sitting at the Feet of Jesus

This week’s article details abuse and sensitive subject matter. It is my aim to uphold the healing and comfort of Christ instead of controversy or hurt. I recommend the Association of Certified Biblical Counselors if you or a loved one would like to seek counseling on any of these topics.

After her mother died, a young girl was sold by her father into abuse and prostitution to fund his addiction.

Even after the girl moved out, she was raped by a relative.

After calling the police, she called me. I’m not a counselor, but I am a friend. We sat. We cried. We prayed.

After several years of abusive relationships, the young woman turned to a homosexual relationship. She wanted to know my thoughts about it. I invited her over for dinner. 

If she had turned to drugs or alcohol, we would all try to persuade her not to practice destructive behaviors. We would urge her to go to treatment or seek out a counselor. I have seen the destruction and devastation brought about by homosexual behaviors, so I shared lovingly about her need to turn to Jesus for healing instead.

This story, in a variety of forms, has happened so often that the progression has become well-known to me. An abused or neglected child is driven by fear, loneliness, or bad advice (often from a school counselor) into a homosexual lifestyle that further sinks him or her in bad decisions, addiction, and hurt. Suicide is one outcome. A life of misery is another. All struggle with depression, mental illness, and anxiety. No amount of Xanax or Zoloft drives the struggle away completely. 

Many states, including my state of North Dakota, recently passed legislation ensuring free speech of those who speak out about the risks and dangers of homosexual behaviors. Several states have limited the activities and venues of individuals and events that expose children to sexualized content. 

And the question is being asked: Are these actions Christ would demonstrate? What should His people think and do?

Not every person who engages in homosexual behavior has a story as dark as the one I have described, but I have never met one who had not experienced sexual abuse or been exposed to pornography at a young age. 

Several contemporary studies agree. The U.S. National Epidemiologic Survery, the U.S. Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, and the U.K. Avon Longitudinal Study all find that “a history of childhood sexual abuse predicts increases in the prevalence of same-sex attractions, partners, and identities.”

The outcomes of homosexual behaviors are equally discouraging. According to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, homosexual youth are four times as likely to attempt suicide as their peers. Even WebMD admits, “In general, LGBTQ people can be at a higher risk of having a mental health condition.”

So, what would Jesus do with this ever-increasing, hurting portion of society?

When He encountered the societal outcast of the Gerasenes, there was only one thing to do. 

Jesus went towards him, not away like other people did, and He was speaking healing en route: “Come out of him, you unclean spirit.”

We all know that the enemy comes to steal, kill, and destroy, but Jesus has come that we may have life and have it abundantly. Homosexuality isn’t the path to abundant life. No sin ever is. We must submit to the radical healing of Jesus.

Afterward, this man was “sitting at the feet of Jesus, clothed and in his right mind…” 

That is the miraculous healing that Jesus has worked in the lives of all of His followers- no matter what hell He saved us from- and it is the healing we long for- for all! 

As Christians, we should never fear to speak Jesus’s radical truth and show Jesus’s radical love, even when the people who see us say, as they did to Jesus that day, “Please depart from our city.” We should advocate for laws and restrictions that protect children and free speech so that we can continue to share the love of Jesus and the truth of the damage that comes from the traumatic outcomes of sin.

Like Jesus, we desire that all men would be saved so that they can be found sitting in peace at His feet.