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romans 7
送交者: mean 2012月07月02日21:33:40 于 [彩虹之约] 发送悄悄话
回  答:What makes me to believe it is 由 gaolian 于2012-07-02 19:20:42
"...For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh. For I have the desire to do what is right, but not the ability to carry it out. For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. ...Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?"

I'm sure you've read (we've all read) Paul's desperate utterance before his appeal to the grace of GOD. I also posted someone's thoughts on Nouwen as the "wounded healer" (CHRIST is, in fact, the prototype of "wounded healer"). Why "wounded"? Because they were desperate and desolate; why "healer"? Because in the midst of that desperation and desolateness they found hope in GOD.

I never tried to trivialize the problem of LGBT (orientation). If you think I did, then you didn't read at all what I said. "Christian life is a life of self-denial." If you haven't grasped the meaning of "self-denial", then there is no way you could possibly understand how any LGBT can possibly turn away from their current life to live a life after biblical teaching. "If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of your members than that your whole body be thrown into hell."

It's easy for our society to help LGBT, of course. The society correctly identified that the root cause of LGBT's problem is the social stigmata and prejudice, and therefore their learned shame and guilt over their sexual orientation/identification. The society also correctly prescribed a cure for them: to wear their sexuality proudly and pursue relationships that they desire. In fact, much of the medical community has also been quite enthusiastic about adopting similar measures with drug addicts, alcoholics and prostitutes. This approach is called a harm reduction model.

Except that harm reduction model has a different goal in mind from GOD. Harm reduction aims at affirming individual(s) so they can integrate themselves as fully functional members into the society or at least, cause as little trouble for the society as possible. The concern is primarily sociological. GOD, on the other hand, points to man's corruption and their inherent need for HIS redemption. In a bible-based model, there should be no shame or guilt over one's sexual orientation, but NOT through proudly displaying it in public or actively pursuing it in the bedroom, but through one's intimate knowledge of GOD, knowing that GOD has died for them, that they are not alone, and that they have nothing to fear, even when they fail from time to time. The bible calls for us to take up our cross; the society wants us to know that there is no cross to carry. Do you see the difference?

So to answer your question posed oh-so-long ago: no, the Bible does not propose any mechanisms to "deal with" homosexuality -- no rehabilitation into a heterosexual, no prescription for allowance of failures. It tells us only what's necessary. That GOD despises and hates any and all sins, sexual or non-sexual. The rest is up to us. As Exodus International showed us, celibacy is not easy, but it's not impossible. Do you agree?