Bans on conversion therapy were dealt a blow laast week by the Supreme Court. As someone who’s been labeled as a Conversion Therapist (not by choice, it’s a ridiculous term) I’m glad.
But if I’m not doing an all-out happy dance, it’s only because of the caution I feel about what got us to this point, whether or not we’ve learned from it, and how prepared we are for the upcoming challenges.
Not to ignore good news, of course. It’s great seeing our high court protect freedom of speech, religion, and conscience. And while the folks pushing these bans are already regrouping to find other ways to prevent godly counsel for people in conflict over their homosexuality, for now we’ve dodged a bullet. So yeah, high fives are called for.
But so is caution, the kind that says, “Celebrate, but don’t slide back into business as usual.” Instead, this SCOTUS decision needs to be seen not just as a victory, but as an opportunity.
It’s an opportunity for the Church to consider the broader context behind these “conversion therapy” battles, and some of the conflicts that are bound to escalate, and the challenges these conflicts will pose to the Body of Christ at large.
AN ANCIENT BATTLE
Putting the Conversion Therapy issue in context helps explain what led up to it, and why it continues to rage. That means starting with the Book of Genesis, a record of the beginning which is, as Julie Andrews noted, “a very good place to start.”
By the time we get to Chapter 3, we see humanity created in the image of God with exquisite results – a male/female union that was sexual, free, perfect. It would be life giving and life-creating, a heaven-on-earth kind of joy illustrating God’s nature, and the intimate relationship He desires with His people.
No wonder Satan, already hating God, looked at His artwork and said, “I’ll take that if it’s the last thing I do!”
So he did, luring Adam and Eve into an act that would distort the human experience right down to its most intimate detail. (Genesis 3:16-19) Thereby every perversion of what God intended, homosexuality included, is a disfigurement of His art, like scars a maniac inflicts on a child, leaving the Father heartbroken to see this evil inflicted on His loved ones.
You’d best believe, then, that any effort to help people come back into alignment with their Creator’s intention is going to get full-force opposition. The Tyrant staked out his claim on sex centuries ago, encouraging no-fault divorce, pleasure without commitment, human trafficking, contempt for life in the womb, disregard for male/female distinctives, and homosexuality as an inborn right to celebrate. He knew the power of what God called “good” and is eternally committed to crippling it. Challenge him if you dare.
The Conversion Therapy myth is a case in point. It’s a Boogeyman term, formed to discredit any effort to help people overcome what God clearly says they can (I Corinthians 6:9-11) while making victims out of those seeking help, and monsters out of those who offer it.
(For a fuller explanation of the false claims made about so-called conversion therapy, see my article HERE and video links HERE)
Let’s consider, then, how threatening it is to some, but how life giving it is to others, when a counselor, mentor, or pastor says to someone dealing with homosexuality, “There’s a better way. If you want it, I’ll walk with you.”
Last week’s ruling encourages us to keep saying that. But the campaign to silence anyone who does is hardly over. The serpent who declared war on humanity in Eden still reigns as “prince of the power of the air, the spirit now working in the children of disobedience.” (Ephesians 2:2)
So he’s the influencer, still encouraging the influenced to celebrate bondage and then attack anyone (like those darned conversion therapists!) who loves humanity enough to stare him down and say, “Let His people go!”
That’s the backstory behind the mislabeling of godly counsel as “conversion therapy,” and the near-rabid intolerance for it that’s spreading worldwide. We are both witnessing, and participating in, a latter day spiritual battle with roots in Eden, and huge ramifications for the Church and the culture.
God knows that, as does Satan. Do we?
DRIVE CAREFULLY – CONFLICTS AHEAD
Among the warriors joining King David after Saul banished him were men from Issachar who “understood the times and knew what Israel should do.” (I Chronicles 12:32) We could use a few of them, because the upcoming roads are icy, calling for chains and caution, but never retreat.
One SCOTUS decision won’t end the battle. A change in Administration also changes the makeup of a Supreme Court, so at some point, another hearing on Conversion Therapy before a differently inclined High Court is inevitable.
Meanwhile, other ways to intimidate or prevent Biblical counsel are already being considered. So let’s understand the times, and 2 key questions
they pose.
WHO GETS THE KIDS?
Conversion Therapy bans allegedly protect gay and lesbian kids from being forced into counseling that tries to shame them into “going straight.” But that’s a misrepresentation, both of the counseling and the bans.
What’s called “conversion therapy” is in fact counseling to help a person live within Biblical guidelines of healthy relationships and sexuality. It doesn’t seek to change feelings but to manage them, resisting those that are outside God’s will, expressing those within it, and exploring potential for
healthier responses.
What they are is far less than what they’re alleged to be.
Bans on conversion therapy are also widely misrepresented. Though presented as bans against “efforts to change sexual orientation,” they also ban efforts to change sexual expression or behavior as well. Read the fine print – they forbid a counselor to help someone keep their behavior in line with their own conscience and world view.
Should parents not be allowed to seek that for their own kids? If not, then who gets to talk to the kids about their sexual conflicts? Hint: It won’t be someone who shares the parent’s Biblical view.
But the conflict won’t stop there. Already we’ve seen laws in different states not only restricting counselors but parents themselves, insisting that a traditional view of marriage and gender is somehow damaging – even abusive! – so it mustn’t be taught or enforced in
the home.
Watch the trends. Child Protective Services will be enlisted to remove gender-confused children from “abusive” Christian parents.
Adults who “survived” conversion therapy as teens will be encouraged to file lawsuits against counselors, pastors, or parents who imposed “conversion therapy” on them via counseling, or a sermon, or standards governing the home.
Potential adoptive or foster parents will be unable to care for children if they hold “non-affirming” views on homosexuality or transgender.
The conflict, then, will not just be about who influences the kids. It will finally be about whose kids they really are.
WHO GETS THE BRIDE?
The work of the Church includes discipling it’s members “for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ.” (Ephesians 4:12) So the Bride of Christ is to be built up through sound doctrine which, in turn, provides “instruction in righteousness.” (II Timothy 3:16)
Plainly put, ministers are commissioned to instruct believers on how to live the obedient life of a disciple, an obedience shown in the way they govern themselves, sexual desires included. The Bride is preparing for a wedding. The question is, who gets to help her prepare?
When her feelings are in conflict with her beliefs, who will instruct her, the Church or the World?
If conversion therapy bans have their way, the Church’s hands will be tied. Pastors will be unable (without legal consequence) to tell their own parishioners what the Bible says about marriage, gender, and desire. They will, in fact, be unable (again, without consequence) to declare what is or is not a sin, because to say that homosexuality is a sin is to also declare that homosexuality, like all sin, can be overcome.
Don’t look now, but that, according to CT Bans, would make you a Conversion Therapist.
The Church is soon to be told what we may or may not define as sin. We’ll have to decide, at that point, whether we’ll continue being the light of the world, or abdicate our assigned role by allowing the world to become the light of the church.
WE DIDN’T START THE FIRE
Like Billy Joel said, “It’s been always burning since the world’s been turning.” The spiritual battle started a long time before we came along, and when we did, it wasn’t to fight, but to live as Christians through love and service.
But when you think about, hasn’t love always required fighting? We fall in love with someone, so we fight our own weaknesses in the interest of wooing and winning them. We love our children, so we fight for their safety and health. We love our homes, so we fight for their security. Love and battle are, at times, mutual necessities.
I can attest to that. When my own ministry began 39 years ago, my only desire was to help those who wanted help, not to fight those who opposed the help I offered.
How naïve I was. It didn’t take long for me to learn that if you’re not willing to do the second, you can forget about doing the first.
So my happiness over last week’s decision is strong. But it’s tempered with caution over how we’ll respond, and what priorities will guide us when
we do.
My hope, along with yours, is that we’ll consider our calling over our popularity; our own consistent holiness as well as the holiness we want for others; and our own commitment to judging all forms of ministy by the question Paul so aptly posed: “What saith the Scripture?” (Romans 4:3)
The Supreme Court, whether it’s for or against us, can never make that happen, nor prevent it from happening.
Which takes us back to our Lords’ advice when considering the ancient battle between good and evil in this crazy, fallen planet:
“These things have I spoken unto you, that in Me you might have peace. In the world you shall have tribulation. But be of good cheer, for I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33)
Comments
comments for this post are closed