Page 9 - Push Back

Network, and asked if he could issue a public apology for years spent trying to set homosexuals
free. Following is an excerpt taken from Alan Chamber’s apology.

It is strange to be someone who has both been hurt by the church’s treatment of the LGBT
community, and also to be someone who must apologize for being part of the very system of
ignorance that perpetuated that hurt. Today it is as if I’ve just woken up to a greater sense of
how painful it is to be a sinner in the hands of an angry church...

My desire is to completely align with Christ, his Good News for all and his offer of peace amidst
the storms of life. My wife Leslie and my beliefs center around grace, the finished work of Christ
on the cross and his offer of eternal relationship to any and all that believe. Our beliefs do not
center on “sin” because “sin” isn’t at the center of our faith. Our journey hasn’t been about
denying the power of Christ to do anything – obviously he is God and can do anything...

There were several years that I conveniently omitted my ongoing same-sex attractions. I was
afraid to share them as readily and easily as I do today. They brought me tremendous shame and
I hid them in the hopes they would go away. Looking back, it seems so odd that I thought I could
do something to make them stop. Today, however, I accept these feelings as parts of my life that
will likely always be there. The days of feeling shame over being human in that way are long
over, and I feel free simply accepting myself as my wife and family does. As my friends do. As
God does...

Please know that I am deeply sorry. I am sorry for the pain and hurt many of you have
experienced. I am sorry that some of you spent years working through the shame and guilt you
felt when your attractions didn’t change. I am sorry we promoted sexual orientation change
efforts and reparative theories about sexual orientation that stigmatized parents. I am sorry that
there were times I didn’t stand up to people publicly “on my side” who called you names like
sodomite—or worse. I am sorry that I, knowing some of you so well, failed to share publicly that
the gay and lesbian people I know were every bit as capable of being amazing parents as the
straight people that I know. I am sorry that when I celebrated a person coming to Christ and
surrendering their sexuality to Him that I callously celebrated the end of relationships that broke
your heart. I am sorry that I have communicated that you and your families are less than me and
mine.

More than anything, I am sorry that so many have interpreted this religious rejection by
Christians as God’s rejection. I am profoundly sorry that many have walked away from their
faith and that some have chosen to end their lives. For the rest of my life I will proclaim nothing
but the whole truth of the Gospel, one of grace, mercy and open invitation to all to enter into an
inseverable relationship with almighty God.
[Source: http://exodusinternational.org/2013/06/i-am-sorry/]

A similarity found among men and women who continue to profess faith in Christ while
“embracing” their homosexuality, is that they decrease their focus on sin, choosing to consider
only the grace, mercy, and kindness of God. The church at large has been prepared by Satan to
“embrace” homosexuality through a gradual diminishment of focus on the holiness and justice of