The Gospel Can Change Anyone

Evangelical Leader Touts Gospel, Not Therapy, as Way to 'Reorient' Gays

The "reorientation" of a homosexual is not impossible, suggests one prominent evangelical. That is, when Christ is in the mix.

Dr. Albert Mohler, president of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, concedes that therapy – the secular kind – is not likely to change a person. But there is hope when a person acknowledges sin and is redeemed by Christ. "We will hold no hope for any sinner’s ability to change his or her own heart, and we will hold little hope for any secular therapy to offer more than marginal improvement in a sinner’s life," he argued in his blog Tuesday.

"We hold full confidence in the power of the Gospel and of the reign of Christ within the life of the believer. We know that something as deeply entrenched as a pattern of sexual attraction is not easily changed, but we know that with Christ all things are possible."

Mohler is weighing in on a debate that was reignited after a pro-gay group, Truth Wins Outs, accused Bachmann & Associates of showing "great antipathy towards gay and lesbian people" by practicing reparative therapy. The Christian counseling center, owned by Michele and Marcus Bachmann, was recently visited by TWO's John Becker who posed as a Christian wanting to get rid of his homosexuality.

While Marcus Bachmann, a clinical therapist for more than 20 years, has stated that they would help patients struggling with same-sex desires if such help was requested, he highlighted that the counseling center mainly deals with issues such as depression and anxiety.

The debate over "curing gays," as some call it, is one that Christians cannot avoid, Mohler believes. At the same time, Christians should not enter the debate "on secular terms."

"We must bring to this conversation everything we know from God’s Word about our sin and God’s provision for sinners in Christ," [he] stressed.

(Nathan Black, "Evangelical Leader Touts Gospel, Not Therapy, as Way to 'Reorient' Gays," Christian Post, July 19, 2011).