WATCH CHAPEL VIA LIVESTREAM 10 A.M. EACH WEEKDAY Facebook.com/Cedarville/live YouTube.com/CedarvilleUniversity cedarville.edu/chapellive SEXUAL IDENTITY: FALSE IDENTITY The following is an excerpt from a September 6, 2023, chapel presentation by Christopher Yuan. Listen to his full message at cedarville.edu/YuanSep23. I had this secret through high school, college, even the Marine Corps Reserves. Then I came out of the closet. I began living openly as a gay man. I went home and announced to my parents, “I am gay.” It was my declaration. This is who I am. I went from relationship to relationship seeking intimacy and happiness, but it still left me feeling unfulfilled and unsatisfied. The Bible is the very breath of God, living and powerful and sharper than any double-edged sword. Able to cut through the hardest of hearts, exposing my sin, my rebellion. And it wasn’t a pretty sight. There was just one thing that I felt I couldn’t let go of: my sexuality. I wanted to find any verse that might bless a monogamous same-sex relationship. I couldn’t find any. So, I was at a crossroads. Either abandon God and His Word and live as a gay man, or abandon pursuing a same-sex relationship. How? By not allowing my desires to control who I am and live as a follower of Jesus Christ by God’s grace. Before I knew Christ, my whole world was gay. All my friends, all my relationships, were gay men. My flesh was screaming, “I am gay.” How can we tell someone that this is sinful behavior when the world doesn’t see this as behavior? They see it as a person. Sexuality is not who we are; it’s howwe are. The gay communities are not our enemies. Our battle is not against flesh and blood. They need Jesus. The world is telling you embrace it and act on it. God is telling you embrace Jesus. I see this more insidious claim today that you can somehow be gay and Christian, but just don’t act on it. Jesus says if a man looks lustfully at a woman, he’s already committed adultery. So, is it just don’t act? No, it’s the desires that we need to repent of as well. Being tempted is not sin. Lastly, aren’t people born gay? Actually, if you look at the science, nothing’s conclusive. It’s likely multifaceted. And I don’t have an issue if there could be some genetic factor. Why? Because of the fall. But I hear Christians often say, “No, God made people gay.” Or “The Bible doesn’t actually address this.” There might not be a specific verse, but the whole of theology does address this. Even though people think they may be born gay, Jesus says this: “You must be born again.” You may not have heard a testimony like mine before — a guy who used to identify as gay and now no longer does. This is how I summarize it: I once was blind and now I see. I once was lost and now I’m found. I once did not believe, and now I believe in the Son of God, and His name is Jesus. Christopher Yuan is the author of Holy Sexuality and creator of The Holy Sexuality Project (THSP). THSP is the only curriculum of its kind that focuses on families studying the subject of sexuality together from a biblical perspective. Resources are available at holysexuality.com. 27
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