There are at least three potential authorities that influence a counselor’s approach: contemporary culture, previous experience, and scriptural knowledge.
Counseling the Hard Cases, Edited by Stuart Scott and Health Lambert, B&H Publishing, 2012, p. 229, Used by Permission.
Many Christians are repulsed by homosexuality and see the sinner not only as broken but also disgusting and dismissible. The reaction of society at large has often shared this disgust – picking on homosexuals, mocking homosexual characteristics, and generally rejecting the homosexual as a “sissy,” mama’s boy,” “dyke,” “faggot,” and “queer.” [Homosexuals] find themselves with nowhere to go – they are as rejected in the church as they are in the locker room – so they turn to other homosexuals for love and acceptance. [Scripture] reminded us that ministers of the gospel are not qualified to serve as ministers of the gospel if we contribute to this harsh and unloving approach toward those who most need our message and our counsel.
Counseling the Hard Cases, Edited by Stuart Scott and Health Lambert, B&H Publishing, 2012, p. 236, Used by Permission.
Yes, the practice of homosexuality is wretched, destructive, hurtful to others, and filled with health risks. I am not minimizing either the sin or its devastating effects on the sinner and those he sins against. What I want you to hear is not that homosexuality is less of a sin but that homosexuality is another sin – one among many. Jesus Christ died on the cross for those who engage in homosexual sins, just as He died to pay the penalty for gossips, complainers, and speeders.
Counseling the Hard Cases, Edited by Stuart Scott and Health Lambert, B&H Publishing, 2012, p. 255, Used by Permission.
The critical issue is how I consider [a homosexual]: Do I see him as the product of his biological makeup or his genetic code, the result of a poor relationship with his same-sex parent, the outcome of early sexual stimuli, or one fearing rejection by others due to low self-esteem? If I accept contemporary secular explanations for homosexuality as part of the cause, then I am ultimately accepting culture as the authority for understanding and helping [the individual]. Or, I can take the perspective that the ultimate cause of…homosexual behavior is [a] sinful heart and that all of these important pieces of data make up various significant influences or pressures to which his sinful heart responded.
Counseling the Hard Cases, Edited by Stuart Scott and Health Lambert, B&H Publishing, 2012, p. 231, Used by Permission.