An Approach to Ministering to Homosexuals, by Pr. Rossow

A post I wrote over a year ago still gets an occasional comment. It was about an openly homosexual man who was at the time (and still may be) the organist at an LCMS church in Renton, Washington.

Just today the post got another comment:

October 26th,  2011 at 10:39 | #107
Pastor Rossow – I was born and raised a Lutheran (lcms). I served at a deacon
in the Lutheran Church for 5 years and guess what – I am a gay male. I am
disheartened by the bigotry, hate, and arrogance in the LCMS. I defended an
organist at my own church who was also gay. Because of his sexual orientation,
he never received any pay increases and in the end, was terminated because of
it.

So Pastor Rossow, how would YOU minister to the gay community?

David

It is not clear from the comment if David is a practicing homosexual or considers himself a homosexual but for Biblical reasons does not practice. Here is my response. It assumes that he is the former.

October 26th, 2011 at 14:03 | #108
David,

I would minister with God’s word just like I minister to thieves, liars,
fornicators, doctors, lawyers, bus-drivers, etc.

If someone came into my study and confessed to me that they were a practicing
homosexual here is how I would apply God’s word.

1. I would commend him for his honest confession.

2. I would share with him, that I too struggle with sin.

3. I would point out from scripture that homosexuality is a sin. (I Cor. 6:9, I Tim 1:10, Rom. 1:27, Lev. 18:22)

4. I would point out that Christians fall into sin but do not live in intentional continual sin. (I John 3:4-10) Therefore his willingness to practice homosexuality is slowly destroying his faith.

5. I would ask him to confess this sin and if he does, immediately give him Holy Absolution. (I would probably  suggest we go through the Lutheran Service Book rite of private confession and absolution.)

6. I would offer my pastoral care to him as often as he would like, daily if needed for a while, to build him up in the Good News that through the forgiveness of sin God has conquered our sinful flesh. (John 8:32 ff., Rom. 6:1 ff., etc.)

7. If I discovered that anyone in my congregation hated homosexuals, I would work with them to learn to hate the sin but love the sinner and be willing to help them overcome their sin.

I hope that answers your question.

TR

So, is that a good response? Did I leave anything out? How would you answer David’s question?

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