John the Apostle wrote "And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us." (John 1:14) Those few words capture the power, majesty, love and grace of Almighty God. The Great Creator came down to Man's level to experience fatigue (John 4:6), the need for sleep (Matthew 8:4), food (Matthew 4:2 and 21:18), and water (John 19:28). More importantly He came to our level to experience the deceitful draw of temptation and yet to resist--"Because he himself suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being tempted." (Heb 2:18)

What does the incarnation teach the church about reaching the homosexual? "God always initiates the search and rescue." God left the splendor of Heaven for the stench of a cow stall. He surrendered His throne for a cold feeding trough. The omnipotent Creator became a helpless infant who had to depend totally on a biological mother and an adoptive father. As Christians we are called to be a part of the "search and rescue." No, we do not wait for the homosexual to clean up his life before we meet him as his point of need; rather we initiate the rescue. Jesus illustrated this beautifully in His parable of the prodigal son. After the wayward son had wasted his inheritance on materialism (including immorality), he returns to his father. The only time in sacred scripture when God is pictured in a hurry is in Luke 15:20. The father, who represents God, runs to the son!

Someone may say, "But the father only ran to the son when he saw the son returning home. The homosexual must repent, cleanup his life, sprinkle himself with ashes, do a million "hail Marys", etc. before we can help him." That may be a literal interpretation of the text, but we would do well to remember that after Adam and Eve's sin in the Garden of Eden and while they hid from God, God initiated a search for them. Genesis 3:9 reads "But the LORD God called to the man, 'Where are you?'"

In the excellent book, Unwanted Harvest?, we read, "Evangelical Christians will only rescue the perishing (the homosexual) when they can be assured their life preservers will come back clean and in good repair." But as the song says "He looked beyond my fault and saw my need." God does not overlook our fault; rather He looks beyond it, realizing that our need is for a vital relationship with Him. He also knows that "apart from Him we can do nothing." When the Holy Spirit begins to take residence in a homosexual's life, or any other sinner's life, He empowers him to live in agreement with His Word.

Everyday as we celebrate the birth of Christ, let us also navigate the world's confusion and resolve to initiate "search and rescue" missions that take us "where few Christians have gone before"--to the homosexual with a message of hope and healing.

This article was reprinted by:
Exodus International