IN THEIR GREED:False Teachers And Made-Up Stories
Christmas Day 1999
Rick, you brought up a vitally important point when you wrote about "ex-gay" organizations:
The most burning question in all this is "Why." Why do people inflict this pain you describe on others?
First of all, Jesus Christ does not intend the journey to Him (and with Him, once you have accepted Him) to be a painful one. Therefore, if a person is experiencing emotional pain and suffering from being around members of any group claiming to be "Christian," then he really needs to ask himself, "What's wrong with this picture?"
The Christian heart which has truly invited Jesus to come in takes on a complete reformation. Whatever needs doing, God has the power to do it. Nothing is impossible for the Almighty.
My favorite Bible search engine is currently malfunctioning (of ALL days for that to happen!! LOL). And although there's another one I'm using for backup, it has different navigation than I'm used to, and I'm having a bit of trouble finding everything I want. But anyway, what I can't find, I will back up with the actual quotes later:
A human father, imperfect as he is, will do only kind things to his children. How much more kindness will be shown by someone powerful enough to breathe the entire universe into existence! (My paraphrase of one of Jesus's lessons from the Gospels.)
And as the Apostle Paul explains (this is an actual quote):
So look carefully at those two lessons side by side. Jesus promises that He will live in us, and give us a new nature, and break the hold that sin has on us. And He promises our Father will only do good for us. Now consider the way a homosexual person who feels conflicted about his sexual orientation might approach God and say, "Lord, if it be Your will, and if You find this sinful, please take it away, because it's absolutely too strong for me." (All those gay people among us who come from a religious upbringing who have said this sort of prayer, please raise your hands.)
Is a God who can do absolutely anything going to fail to "change" this person? Is a loving Heavenly Father who promised to do more good for us than any human father could even imagine going to abandon this person like a baby freezing in the snow?
God is not a monster. The Old Testament imagery of God as the Great Thundering Punisher was an inaccurate understanding on the part of humankind to begin with, as Jesus taught in John 4. (More on that in a later post.) God is love.
It is a slap in God's face to suggest that He would not promptly and permanently remove this from a person who truly asked it of Him. Jesus did not say that the struggle against sin would be a constant, daily uphill struggle against an overwhelming temptation the way these "ex-gay" ministries try to paint this situation. If something is sinful in a person and he prays to have it removed, Jesus removes it, permanently. Again, to capsulize: If something needs fixing, God will fix it. And by the way, that is always a matter between the individual and God, and anyone who butts in with this "change" coercion is on very dangerous ground.
"Ex-gay" cultism and coercion are evil. And quite simply, the love of money is the root of all evil. But I hasten to add a clarification: Not every person who has had the misfortune of buying into this is evil, so please don't misunderstand me. I have absolutely no doubt that some people in the lower echelons of this are genuinely convinced they are doing the right thing. But you bet your last earthly breath that the masterminds of these so-called "ex-gay ministries" (James Dobson, Janet Folger, and D. James Kennedy spring immediately to mind) have sold their very souls for the monetary gain that comes out of this wicked scheme.
Beware false teachers and their made-up stories. In their quest for profit, they do not care how much pain they cause for others!
[Author's note: This essay is one which I posted on the message board for the "ex-EX-gay" Internet club to which I belong. Though I do not fit their definition of "ex-EX-gay," the topic is one I find interesting, and the other members have welcomed me to the club.]"Any time spent amongst them, their forums or groups and the level of pain,
mental techniques and fanaticism needed to 'hold' to their rules is amazing."Romans 6:6-8: For we know that our old self was crucified with him so that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves to sin-- because anyone who has died has been freed from sin. Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him.
That leads me to finally answer my first question, "Why?" Why do they do this evil? Consider the words from this epistle by Peter:2 Peter 2:3: In their greed these false teachers will make a profit out of telling you made-up stories.
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