Homosexuality: Behind The Mask

To understand the truth surrounding anything, one must first define exactly what that thing is. Homosexuality is viewed by those in the church as simply sin. It is viewed by the secular media and the world at large as an alternative lifestyle, scripted at birth. The truth behind the mask goes far deeper.

Homosexuality is a stronghold of the enemy, formed early in childhood to both derail the called of God and distort future identity and sexuality. Homosexuality never begins in the teen years or in adulthood. The root always traces back much earlier. The deception begins during a child's defenseless, formative years --- not in the womb. However, the origin is so early in childhood that most all who struggle under its oppression soon grow to believe that they were "born gay."

The term gay --- also meaning, and formerly commonly used to mean, happy --- is part of the rewriting of the language to justify the homosexual-at-birth position. To find acceptance for a situation much too horrible to face straight up, we must first redefine the language surrounding the issue. But as someone who has lived the life I can tell you that it is anything but happy.

Let me just get it out of the way and say that in its final form, homosexuality is nothing more than the cycle of emotional and physical sodomy. Nothing sweet or happy about that!

I know well the pain of homosexuality. I have lived behind the mask and heard every argument known to man surrounding the issue. Most who speak of the issue are either seeking to find acceptance of the lifestyle or speaking from a religious platform having little to do with redemption or healing.

Satan's cruelty doesn't get much worse than in the deception of homosexuality, taking hold on a person when he is too young to understand it. Not all homosexual men come from a childhood of physical and sexual abuse, as I did. However, you will never find a homosexual man brought up under equally strong male and female role models in the form of two loving, nurturing and stable parents. Even though you think you can point to such examples, trust me when I say, you weren't there behind closed doors.

Most parents have good intentions. But children form perceptions about acceptance and affirmation. "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" (Proverbs 23:7, NKJV). A child's perception that he is not accepted or doesn't measure up will open the door to anything or anyone else that he might use to fill that void. Most can't even remember how they got so far away from home. Time has passed, puberty has happened, secrets have been kept and masks have been formed for survival in a world too cruel to care, surrounded by a church in America offering no real options for healing and deliverance.

So, is homosexuality in the DNA or is it a choice? Neither one, really. No one is born to be something that God later declares an abomination in His sight nor does anyone choose to live a life of scorn, pain, secrets and exclusion from family, friends and popular opinion.

While adults are ultimately responsible for every choice they make, a child is virtually powerless against the lies of the enemy when he first works his way into the child's life. All the child wants is to matter, to be accepted, loved and affirmed. Later, during the puberty years, confusion surrounding the need crosses over into sexual, physical desire.

As adults, those trapped within the confines of this cruel stronghold have become "master manipulators," carefully crafting masks to guard their hidden secret and survive to find further acceptance from those who just wouldn't understand --- because they themselves don't even understand. But the door that leads into the room, darkened by the cloud of homosexuality, is same door that leads to freedom. The fog just needs to be cleared to reveal the door.

We must be careful within the church today to take several steps to truly reach out with the message of Jesus' saving love to those trapped in a life of homosexuality. We must love as Christ loved. Jesus told us to come as we are and He would take care of the rest. If we are to ever have a true impact, we have to understand the deception, love people unconditionally --- despite the lifestyle --- and offer real hope, healing and change.

We can start by taking a couple of steps down from the peak of religious platitudes and take the stance that Jesus took the night before He was crucified. He was found on His hands and knees, washing the feet of His disciples, never stopping until He had washed the feet of the one who would betray Him.

We need to throw out our religious clichés and rhetoric and replace them with a humble offering of love through the blood of Jesus. People trapped in homosexuality are masters of disguise and manipulation. They can spot a fake a mile away. They will easily recognize those who truly love and care for them as opposed to those who serve up a bunch of empty religious piety.

Homosexuality is one of the most difficult strongholds to break, but all things are possible with God. It begins with a desire to be free, followed by an honest look into the past to find out what may have opened the door to their lifestyle. Diligence in the first two steps is the beginning of breaking free. Skip searching the past and facing the pain, and the vicious cycle of old habits, frustrations and life behind the mask is likely to continue.

However, hope is where it has always been --- in the healing and saving blood of Jesus. It is found in the promise of the Father we have all searched for at one time or another, "I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua 1:5, NIV).

To all of those struggling under the pain of homosexuality let me tell you, "Home is a real place, and Jesus has left the porch light on for your return."

To the church let me say, "Let us be found leading the lost children home."

For more from Danny Wallace, read "Behind the Veil of Homosexuality."

 

Need help breaking free from homosexuality, or just want more info? Visit the ministry of Exodus International for resources, counseling and local support.

 

Danny Wallace is head of Danny Wallace Ministries in Atlanta, Georgia. He is an author (most recently of his autobiography entitled, MASKquerade: The Autobiography of Danny Wallace), speaker and currently regarded as one of the leading authorities on the issue of homosexuality as it affects the church today. Visitwww.dannywallace.org for more information on this ministry, the man and the story.