Torn

Torn: Rescuing the Gospel from the Gays vs Christians Debate
By: Justin Lee

I think this is a valuable read (if read as a memoir) to hear Justin's story and to truly understand the hearts behind people who are gay Christians. However, although it does rightly to inspire our compassion, I would not recommend it for any theological content regarding homosexuality. (see the end for further resources)

He is right to say that the church does not do enough to show people who are gay that they are not any lesser of a person and that God does not love them any less than the next heterosexual Christian. I can agree that the church has mishandled these situations and will, unfortunately, probably continue to do so because the church is full of sinners.

So I respect his call to the Church to show more compassion and thoughtfulness to people who are gay. Of all places for someone to feel loved and cared for, it should be in the church.

That being said, I would probably only recommend the first half of this book. As he claims to study the passages in the Bible that talk about homosexuality, he mishandles Scripture and comes to a conclusion that is not biblical. He claims his studies led him to believe that God's words do not condemn same-sex committed relationships. However, he does not cite any of these commentaries or extra-biblical texts or books to support this theory.

Other scholars, more educated than he (as he even disclaim of himself in his book) read the same passages and study them as well and come up with the same belief that has been held by Christians for many years. I can point to Wayne Grudem as one of these scholars that I feel has a better handle on interpreting Scripture and does not agree with Justin.

I can appreciate his desire to seek truth and study Scripture in an effort to find it, but I can’t help but wonder what resources he rejected as false that uphold the traditional view of homosexuality.

I think in addition to his misled conclusions, I was a bit turned off by his writing in general. To me, he came across a bit arrogant. He made it seem as if he were a one-of-a-kind gay Christian that no one could truly identify with, gay or otherwise, and that no one truly sought the same answers in the same way as him.

He wrote that he basically believed it was his calling to single-handedly correct the Church as a whole from the error of their ways. That somehow he stumbled upon a completely unique interpretation so earth-shattering and central to his story that he was responsible for changing the world. I mean the subtitle itself suggests that he is savior to the gospel. The last thing the gospel needs is to be rescued or apologized for.

Though 'Gospel' was in the title of his book, I do not feel as if it was even mentioned in the book at all. All people are born with internal struggles and harmful or unnatural desires- it was not God's original design, but we are all born with the intent towards sin. But we don't have to be defined but those struggles or desires. Christ died and rose, breaking the chains of our sinful natures so we can live in freedom.

It was clear in Justin's story that the title of 'gay Christian' was very important to him. He didn't feel truly known unless people knew him as such. I don't think Justin is ever going to feel truly loved, cared for, or understood, no matter what he believes the Bible teaches about homosexuality, until he stops defining himself as gay and starts letting freedom in Christ be his identity.

That is what the gospel message is—we are no longer slaves to our sin. We are free and called in Christ. And sadly, he didn't portray that in his book anywhere.

For better theology, I would recommend these books (some written by authors with same-sex-attraction):

What Does the Bible Really Teach About Homosexuality? by Kevin DeYoung

Gay Girl, Good God by Jackie Hill Perry

Born Again This Way: Coming Out, Coming to Faith, and What Comes Next by Rachel Gilson

The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self: Cultural Amnesia, Expressive Individualism, and the Road to the Sexual Revolution by Carl Trueman

What God Has to Say about Our Bodies: How the Gospel Is Good News for Our Physical Selves by Sam Allberry

The Secular Creed: Engaging Five Contemporary Claims by Rebecca McLaughlin