Kingdom Clash 1: Fighting City Hall
We met in front of City Hall next to the Lincoln statue, featuring Abe and his son Tad. Fitting. Here we were, Christians of all stripes, diverse yet united in the love of our Father who listens and stoops down to make us great. Buttoned down Catholics, earthy Jesus people, young Latinos with sassy Pentecostal authority, clear-eyed Baptists who advocate on their knees for His-Kingdom-come, agreed together: ‘Be glorified in our witness of change, a choice every teen deserves…’
We were preparing ourselves for the public hearing on Kansas City’s near slam-dunk efforts to pass a counseling ban for teens seeking change. On the steps slightly above our prayer group, rainbow activists ranted ‘We’re here, we’re queer’… Yeah, we know. In truth, the rag-tag group screaming their intercessions rule the social-political landscape of Kansas City. They shout their laments from every roof-top, the City Council nods dully, and no-one questions.
Standing room only in the City Council chamber: evenly divided between the rainbow set and Christians surrounding Desert Stream. As the stories of torture at the hands of diabolical pastors and therapists wore on, I could not help but notice a disturbing sameness (revisionist history, anyone?) to the plot-lines: innocent teen, wicked helper, now fractured adult whose vengeance is asserting political pressure to make sure every teen experiences the ‘joy’ of adding another bizarre adjective to one’s sexual identification, be it pan-sexual, non-binary, or pre-trans.
As a parent, I could not help but discern the lack of any real fatherly presence/guidance in these young people’s lives. Now subject to one another’s distorted gender identities, these poor ones don’t have a chance to grow through life-giving community. They are vulnerable, not because of ‘conversion therapy’, but because of the weak solutions afforded them by the clinical community and greater culture.
The Father loves them and only wants to heal them. He keeps reaching, but these celebrated rainbow ‘victims’ cannot or will not see Him. Who needs God when your side is carrying the day? The chummy repartee between witnesses and the committee suggests that the Council has bought the LGBT+ lament: ‘we have been hurt and you have to stop everyone from hurting us further.’
Two hours later, we shared our perspectives. My time came. Overcome by a greater power, I combusted and demanded real justice: ‘Why should the LGBT+ freedom to morph into whatever gender variation one wants bar persons who understand freedom differently? Why should persons who want to be reconciled to their biological gender, or to overcome same-sex attraction, be denied good psychological care? I insisted that conversion therapy is a bogeyman argument designed to hide the agenda driving the bill: walk our LGBT+ way or the highway.’
At that the rainbow set went ballistic. They stood up shouting and waving rainbow flags. Behind them, Christians stood and prayed: a few raised Bibles. Kingdoms clashed. The moderator demanded order in her court. Dark powers manifested and nearly lunged at me.
Lines are drawn. Today’s LGBT+ activists criminalize other ways of perceiving and resolving sexual identity issues. Christians are on the firing line. We must be willing to take a stand in the public square for how we understand choice and the freedom to secure good advocates for our choices.
Please pray: the KC City Council will vote this Thursday the 14th on the counseling ban. If this hearing is any indication, the Council has already made up its mind. Pray that the excellent legal intervention of Liberty Counsel will make a difference. Pray for our awakening to Jesus’ relevance for all gender-confused youth and how a wounded few are trying to obscure that truth. We must convey His Kingdom-come as never before, come what may.
You can purchase “Becoming Good News” in book form directly from Desert Stream or get it from Amazon for your Kindle.
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