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To the Church: Conflict, Conviction and Compassion

By: Joe Dallas

In this final chapter, Joe Dallas makes a call to all Christians to stand firm on biblical teaching concerning the sin of homosexuality but to extend the open arms of love to the sinner.

Sources

"Non-Traditional Churches Welcome Gays to Flock," the Los Angeles
Times, June 21, 1991, section B, p. 12.
Francis Schaeffer, The Great Evangelical Disaster (Westchester, NY: Good News Publishers, 1984).
Richard Lovelace, professor at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary, from "Homosexuals Can Change," Christianity Today, Feb. 6, 1981, p. 27.
Rev. Troy Perry, founder of the Universal Fellowship of Metropolitan community churches (MCC), the largest pro-gay church in existence, adds an interesting point here. "If the Church had really done their missionary work - I don't think that MCC would ever have existed" [from Paul Morris, Shadow of Sodom (Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House, 1989), p. 29]. Though Perry doubtless means that the church should have both evangelized homosexuals and accepted their homosexuality, his words hold true nonetheless. If the church had concentrated more on reaching souls regardless of background or orientation, it is entirely possible that, as Perry states, there would be no "gay churches."
Glenn Wood and John Dierrich, The AIDS Epidemic: Balancing compassion and Justice (Portland, OR: Multnomah Press, 1990), p.279.
"Guy Life, Gay Death," The New Republic, Dec. 17, 1990, vol. 203, no.
256, p.24.
Ibid., p.24.
Ibid., p. 25.
"Kramer Vs. Kramer," the Los Angeles Times, June 20, 1990, section E.
Ibid.
A good argument against such misuse of terms is found in an editorial entitled "Is Homophobia the Equivalent of Racism?" in Newsweek, Mar. 12, 1990, vol. CXV, no. 11, p.27.
It looks as though we're finally beginning to fight back. A Christian who was sharing his faith in the West Hollywood section of Southern California, which has a large openly gay population, is suing the city officials of West Hollywood for failing to intervene when he was assaulted, spat on, threatened, and intimidated by gay activists. According to his suit, city officials took no action on his behalf though they were aware of the incident(s) (Christian Times newspaper, Aug. 1991, vol. 12, no. 8, p. 5).
Glenn Wood and John Dietrich, The AIDS Epidemic: Balancing Compassion and Justice, p. 114.