Jesus: The Justice that Transforms
‘He will not shout or cry out, or raise His voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smoldering wick He will not snuff out. In faithfulness He will bring forth justice.’ (IS. 42: 2, 3)
‘Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him and He will do this: He will make your righteousness shine like the dawn, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.’ (PS 37: 5, 6)
Who is like our God? On behalf of all who contend with same-sex attraction and a gay-affirming world (‘gay marriage’, the collapse of Exodus, the strangely silent church), Jesus shines like the sun. He is the Father’s justice for all who know the afflicting power of sexual brokenness and who turn to Jesus as their source of light and life. He fulfills the Psalmist’s declaration: ‘He works righteousness and justice for all the oppressed.’ (PS 105:6)
To impart His justice to us, Jesus asks two things. First, persons with same-sex attraction must recognize they are oppressed, not only by the attraction itself but also by a deceiving, idolatrous world that holds out false consolation—‘be who you are, celebrate your homosexuality!’ The Christian can and should refuse that solution, as it desecrates the Father’s will for our humanity.
Secondly, in light of the depth and power of same-sex attraction, we can and must surrender wholly to Jesus. That is nothing less than the call to every Christian. Those of us blessed with the burden of same-gender attraction have the unique privilege of entrusting to Him a whole network of friends, feelings, self-perceptions, and motives. Sounds like the basis of a profound conversion to me!
Jesus wants everything. We may, in the spirit of the rich young ruler, count our homosexuality a ‘gay right’ (Matt. 19: 16-26). Pity those who claim to love Jesus but withhold from Him their sexuality. In order to take up all He has for us and wants to give through us, we must let go of our rights. Our only boast becomes His cross, which we share in our ongoing surrender to Him. We die to worldly solutions and live only for Him and the new creation we become when He becomes our hearts’ desire.
But what genuine riches await those who surrender all to Him! He serves justice by reconciling us to who we really are—men and women called to reveal Him in the way we love others purely, seeking only the other’s best. That excludes any romancing of our own gender, as well as any using of the opposite gender to prove we are ‘normal.’ (Both reduce the true selves of others.) Rather, we seek to build others up in Christ, loving them according to His image of their humanity, not the one that seems right to us.
We become lovers after His heart; our joy is full because our giving to others is free from the entrapment of idolatry. How can we bow down to a mere creature? He has become our heart’s desire.
In that process, Jesus is faithful to use same-gender desires to take us deeper in His healing justice. He reveals wounds and deprivations that inspired our attractions; He shines His light on the self-defenses we created to protect us from further harm. We can let go of these strongholds because He has become our cornerstone, the very foundation of our humanity. As its Creator and Redeemer, we are in good hands!
Jesus is the Father’s justice for all who follow Him amid same-gender attraction. The systems of the world fail us here, so we must look keenly, and surrender utterly, to Him alone. He will never fail us. Might this be His shining hour as the Shepherd of afflicted sheep? He will not be moved. Justice will be served.
‘As a shepherd looks after his scattered sheep when he is with them, so will I look after my sheep. I will rescue them from all the places where they were scattered on a day of clouds and darkness…I Myself will tend My sheep and have them lie down,’ declares the Sovereign Lord. ‘I will search for the lost and bring back the strays. I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak, but the sleek and the strong I will destroy. I will shepherd the flock with justice.’(Ez. 34: 12, 15, 16)
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