SEXUAL IDENTITY from HOMOSEXUALITY AND THE CHRISTIAN by Mark Yarhouse
According to Dr. Yarhouse in his excellent book, the crux of the discussion rests in two conflicting “scripts” of how we come to identify ourselves. This is the second chapter of the book. You can read the entire digest here.
This is how Dr. Yarhouse suggests we discuss SEXUAL IDENTITY:
- Chapter two: Why is sexual identity the Heart of the Matter? We’ve allowed our culture to choose the terms of the debate…Both liberals and conservatives focus too much energy on the cause of homosexuality…Both liberals and conservatives make their arguments as if the gospel hinged on these claims….My goal here is to do nothing less than change the entire conversation.
- What is sexual identity. Sexual identity is about labels. But the source of a person’s identity can be complicated. What might influence a person to use one label over another? Here is a list of some of the things that could influence one’s identity: Your sexual attractions; Whether you were born male or female; How masculine or feminine you feel; What you intend to do with the attractions you have; What you actually do with the attractions you have; Your beliefs and values about your sexual attractions and behaviors….two men…One young man experienced a pretty strong same-sex attraction. He identified himself as gay and Christian. We talked about the way different things might impact identity and labeling. He shared that his values and his same-sex attractions were “trump” for him outweighing everything else.