Family Policy Alliance (FPA) has launched a new online video series, “Ask Meridian,” where constituents send in questions about culture and policy issues that are answered by the Christian organization’s Policy and Communications Strategist, Meridian Baldacci.
FPA and Baldacci also provided “A Prayer for Our LGBT Neighbors,” encouraging believers to pray for those caught in homosexuality or sexual identity confusion, for Christians leaving homosexuality and transgenderism, and for their families and churches dealing with these issues.
FPA, a Focus on the Family ally, works with “national and state-based allies to advance pro-family legislation, elect pro-family leaders, mobilize churches on critical issues, and be a voice for biblical citizens within their states.” The organization also runs a Statesmen Academy, which “trains and disciples future statesmen and women who are called to serve in the mission field of American politics,” and it works to educate and equip individuals to understand and support issues related to life, marriage, family and freedom.
Baldacci said over the next few months she’ll be responding to questions such as:
Why does it feel like I’m the only one in America who cares about traditional values?
How do I find out what curriculum the school is using for sex education?
I’d like to know positive ways to interact with my school board.
How can I, as someone with little to no political background, be more involved in the public sphere?
But this being June and LGBT Pride Month, the first episode kicked off with a question from a reader in Florida: “What do I say to my gay nephew, whom I love? How do I defend my biblical views, and not seem like I’m judging him?” Baldacci broadened the question to include talking with others who identify as LGBT, like friends and neighbors.
In some preliminary comments, Baldacci encouraged people to approach the issues of homosexuality and sexual identity confusion with love and humility. She also made a distinction between “a policy conversation and a personal conversation.”
Baldacci suggested people pray, seek guidance from the Holy Spirit, and ask themselves a few questions before addressing this issue, including:
Do you have a relationship with this person?
Would it be appropriate for you to speak into their life?
Are they coming to you and asking for your views on sex and gender and on the fact that they identify as LGB or T?
Has your friend or family brought this up to you?
Or, is this “the elephant in the room,” the one thing we never talk about?
She encouraged people to move forward, and pursue a conversation about the issue, with tact and kindness. Later in the video, Baldacci talked about where to point in Scripture to address this issue. She pointed to I Corinthians 6:9-11, saying, “Because I think it’s one of the clearest verses on this and one of the most redemptive, as well.” Right after addressing sexual immorality and lawsuits between believers in the church, St. Paul writes:
Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: neither the sexually immoral, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor men who practice homosexuality, nor thieves, nor the greedy, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God. (ESV)
She said that this passage is especially good for those wanting to leave homosexuality, adding, “Absolutely, we believe that God has redeemed many people and brought them to a place where they don’t feel attraction toward the same sex,” but reminding believers that we can’t promise that complete freedom for everyone. She said some may feel like they’ve moved on from the issue, and others choose to lead chaste, God-honoring lives, while still struggling. God’s intention for all believers is that we move forward in our sanctification process.
There’s more, compassionate, solid advice, and Baldacci’s heart for the truth of God’s word and for the lost shines throughout the video. That concern for the lost can also be seen in a prayer for LGBT-identified individuals which FPA posted online and sent out in an email.
“As Christians, we are saddened by the celebrations of this month, because not only do we know that Pride Month is a celebration of sin, but we also know that we will never be free until we find our identity, salvation, and hope in Jesus Christ,” Baldacci wrote, adding, “Yet, that very realization makes Pride Month an incredible opportunity for prayer and for the Gospel to go forth.”
Here’s the prayer, which we join FPA in encouraging you to pray throughout the month:
A Prayer for Our LGBT Neighbors
Lord, in this month our hearts are heavy for those who identify as LGBT. Your Word is clear about both sin and salvation – and our own consciences testify to this truth – yet so many live with the hope that they will find their “true self” or even their worldly salvation in a broken identity.
So this month, we lift up this challenging issue before you.
For those within the walls of the church who may claim the identity of LGBT, we pray for the work of your Holy Spirit and of the Church to call those in sin to repentance.
For those Christians who continue to struggle in this area, and yet who choose faithfulness to your Word, we pray for great faith and encouragement.
For those who are uncertain about their fearfully and wonderfully made bodies, we pray for peace and confidence that you did not make a mistake – that they were not born in the wrong body.
For children who are hearing messages that make them question their own sexuality, we pray for protection over their minds and hearts.
For all those who identify as LGBT, or who are struggling with their sexual identity in another way, we pray that they would find the joy and freedom that only comes from following you as Lord. We pray that their hearts would be opened to see sin for what it is – and to see the joy of your salvation as greater.
For those in ministry to our LGBT neighbors, we pray for the strength to speak the truth in love – and more than anything, to make your Gospel known in the words they say and in the way they live.
For those of us with LGBT friends and family, we pray for great love and great discernment.
For each of us, we pray the hard prayer for conviction of our own sin and for freedom in repentance. We pray that our first priority – in our own hearts and in our conversations – would always be the magnification of Christ. We pray that our identities would not be rooted first in our work, our sexuality, or even our families, but that we could say as Paul that for us, to live is Christ. May our identity, our security, our salvation be ever fixed to you – and may that be first in our hearts and in our words.
Lord, this month we pray that as we speak the truth, the manner in which we speak it would be such that we are known by our love.
In Jesus’ Name,
Amen.
Related resources and articles:
Family Policy Alliance:
A Prayer for Our LGBT Neighbors
Ask Meridian Episode 1: How Do I Love My LGBT Neighbor?
The Daily Citizen:
Do People Change from Homosexuality? Hundreds of Stories of Hope and Transformation
Is Therapy to Leave Homosexuality Damaging? New Review Says, ‘No Proof of Harm’
Why We Support Therapy for Unwanted Homosexuality
Focus on the Family:
A Change of Affection: A Gay Man’s Incredible Story of Redemption
Speaking of Homosexuality: Discussing the Issues With Kindness and Clarity
Understanding Homosexuality – Books, articles and broadcasts
Photo from Shutterstock
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