Homosexuality can be broken down into two distinct words, Homo and Sexuality. "Homo" comes the original Greek work meaning, "same" or "one and the same". http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/homo-
However for a Christan, we generally view Homosexuality more than just a simply combination of two words. Christians view Homosexuality as a Sin. Further more, while Christian Counselors do see Homosexuality as a sin, many in the Profession also would go as far as to refer and avoid a Homosexual client whenever they come across such an individual.
For whatever reason Christians today have come to Demonize Homosexuality. Many would even go as far as to avoid Homosexuals at all cost. I would argue that this thought or notation for Christian's to believe that some sins are worse than others may not exactly align with what God tells us in scripture. To me, a Sin is a Sin is a Sin. The struggles that I deal with day in and day out, and the Sins that I commit daily are no less or more punishable by God. I am a human being in a fallen world, just as the person to my left and right is also. We as Christans may want to take a look in the mirror and address our own weak points before we so eagerly strive to illuminate the sin in someone else's life.
For the Counselor, I believe the situation of counseling Homosexual clients must be addressed. While many Christan Couneslors have been told or encouraged to simply refer homosexual clients, I would take the stand to tell and encourage my colleagues to see our clients not as Homo or Heterosexuals, but rather as a hurting individual seeking hope. A Homosexual client seeking counsel for depression wants healing in their lives. The nature of their sexuality most likely is not of concern.
I want to encourage you today. If you generally don't step outside your comfort zone to take a step out. There is a whole world out their waiting to be explored. There are things we have yet to expirence, see, or comprehend. It would be a shame for us to sit in our comfortable bubbles and miss out on all of creation. And it will be your loss if you fail to seek interaction with the people around us who may be .... "Hetero"!
Interesting post. You state that Christians tend to demonize homosexuality and you are exactly right. However, is it wrong to treat something that is clearly sinful in such a way? No.
ReplyDeleteI am not saying that I disagree with you, but we need to be realistic here. Like you said, a sin is a sin is a sin. All are equally wrong in the eyes of God. However, we have become comfortable with some sins than we are with others. The older ladies in your church who gossip don't seem too bad when compared to somebody living the homosexual lifestyle, right? Maybe it is about time we take a different approach to this, look what we view as comfortable, and look in things in the light in Scripture.
Indeed interesting and controversial post Jake. I agree with you, it seems that on one hand the Christian community ,in general, is somewhat hesitant to interact with individuals who struggle with same sex attraction and on the other hand the secular world attempts to normalize it. We know engaging in a homosexual life style is sinful, and you are right, this is is as much sin as the next sin one commits. As Christian Counselors one must wonder though, how do you handle homosexuality, do you like at is as a disorder, or sin, or both. On one hand DSM stopped categorizing homosexuality as a disorder, on the other hand the Bible declares it sin. Recuperative therapy, used in the past in helping individuals who struggle with same sex attraction seems to be greatly disputed as being unscientific so how do you help an individual in such a situation? You are right Jake, it often seems that some Christians throw in the towel too quickly. Such a complex topic deserves more attention.
ReplyDeleteI also blogged on the topic of homosexuality; although I came from a different perspective, your post had good content. It boggles my mind how society has elevated homosexuality passed almost any other sin that can be committed. We are all with sin, so who are we to judge our neighbor? Although we may not agree with what it is they are doing, it is our duty to confront them in love. As far as the Christian counselor is concerned, they should be jumping at the opportunity to minister to this person (homosexual). You are right Jake, we should be willing to step outside of our comfort zone, but what does that look like? How does a person whose mind has been trained to dislike the homosexual function in that situation? Furthermore, I agree with you, sin is sin. However, recently I have heard others (Pastors) say that not all sin can be measured the same. They claim that certain sin will deprive you from a high ranking in Heaven. With that mindset, I believe it would be difficult to use that in a session with a client. There is always a deeper problem when it comes to homosexuality, as future counselors our job is to expose that base issue.
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