Let me just head this off at the pass
Submitted by GraceComesFirst on November 26 2000 23:38:42
In reply to Newbie submitted by GraceComesFirst on November 26 2000 22:21:53
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So, surely someone will want to start a long, contentious thread about this. Good. You've been hoping to inject some new vibrancy into this forum, from what I just read. So why not? But someone will ask me: am I trying to say that God himself may be a boylover?!?!? (YIKES!) I don't know. No one can know God that well, except the Spirit of God. But get this: Every human being is created in the image of God. Period. God doesn't make no junk. God created men, women, gays, straights, bisexuals, transgender people, AND boylovers. He created whites, blacks, Native Americans, Latinos, Asians, etc. He created young people, old people, and all in between. He created everyone (Gal. 3:23-29). No one should be pre-judged just for being who they are. I can't know for sure where the lustful aspects that you boylovers struggle with come from (I'm pretty sure they are evil--the devil always tries to twist what is good into what is evil [Rom 7]), but the LOVE part can't be wrong. How can love be wrong, when God is love? I just don't get that. And besides, I know a ton of older men who spend lots of time with boys. No one thinks anything of it. Aren't adults supposed to care for children? If you struggle with sexual temptations, just pray for God to help you with that, and he will. Even if he doesn't take the feelings away, he can help you control them. I'm still a RECOVERING sex addict; I will never be as though I never had that addiction. But I no longer feel tempted to have sex all the time. In fact, I hardly feel tempted by it at all anymore. Try exploring 12-step spirituality. It worked for me. The anti-gay, anti-whateverisnotstraight prejudices just don't make sense to me. How can you read Galatians 3:28 and say otherwise? Sex is not the same thing as love. Either your feelings are coming from God, or they are not. Why not discuss that topic for a while? (Or if it's too hard to talk about, then just pray about it). Then why not listen to what those of us who ARE boys have to say. You know, I've talked about this with a number of young gay men. From what I can see, we boys are not nearly as afraid of boylovers, as heterosexual adults are. (I know, a 20ish-yo is not the same as a 10yo, but still, I am young enough to get this.) But someone will surely ask: Am I encouraging child-molestation by saying these things? Well, to quote from Paul, BY NO MEANS! But I don't see how you can read the New Testament and come away with anything other than this: GRACE RULES. Please read ALL of Paul's letters. He had a thorn too. Yet he LIVED with it. DO NOT USE YOUR FREEDOM FOR SELF-INDULGENCE, BUT BECOME SERVANTS OF ONE ANOTHER!!! (BTW, just looking at boys and appreciating their beauty is not self-indulgence, in my book. I look at other guys all the time! So what if my interests are a few years older than yours? We are all just people. God doesn't expect us to starve ourselves to DEATH, does he? Yet gluttony is still a sin. So it works the same way with sexual feelings. You can have them, without acting on them. Personally, I think God gave us masturbation for a reason!) That means, to me, for boylovers, abstinence from sexually-expressed relationships with boys is required (at least with boys who are below the age of consent--by the way, if you are attracted to guys who are over 18, please start thinking about the possibility that you might be bisexual or gay, in addition to being straight or a boylover). But don't hate yourselves. Self-hate is no good to Jesus. God can't do anything useful with self-hate. Self-denial can be good, but self-denial is not the same thing as self-hate. Even the Bible says that those who preach the gospel, still need to make a living. God can OF COURSE convict you of sin, and don't deny that, but don't keep punishing yourselves for sins that have been forgiven, and mere feelings that you can't control anyway. There are plenty of non-boylovers who are also called to lives of celibacy. It doesn't mean you can't be FRIENDS with people you like. To resist temptations with honor, integrity, grace, peace, love, patient endurance, and joy, is what being a Christian is all about. If Jesus was truly tested in all the ways we are, then I think he can indentify with you, and help you. Don't you think God knew when he created the universe, that someday there would be a bunch of boylovers in the world, having all this trouble? It has not been unprepared for. The cross of Christ is sufficient to deal with this issue, just like everything else. In case anyone wants to know, I am a conservative-type evangelical. I take the Bible very seriously, so if you want to argue theology with me, please know that I am coming from that type of perspective. I also believe that there is no such thing as cheap grace. Don't take my words as an excuse to do anything harmful to us boys. |
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