What Does Healing Mean?
Christians remain divided about responding to people who identify as LGBTQIA+.
This post is part of a series on divine healing so, the focus here is on Christians who believe there is a "cure" for sexuality such that the only sexual desire people would have is heterosexual, which is considered by many conservative Christians to be God's design for people.
I've written about the different ways Christians interpret the biblical texts dealing with same-sex relationships in A House Divided. Here I want to encourage Christians to think carefully about what they want God to do when they pray about sexual orientation.
The phrase, "Pray the gay away" obviously implies being gay is not something a Christian desires and that God can and will answer prayers to take away whatever they mean by being "gay." Whatever biology might be involved in differences in sexual desire, the person praying is in a sense asking for healing. And some testify that they used to be gay or lesbian. Like any other testimony, there usually isn't any observable evidence that a change has been made. How could we even agree on what the evidence would look like? People either believe the person changed and that God was the source of the reported change or they reject the testimony.
NOTE: See this link to understand sex and gender terms.
Bisexuality is usually not addressed in these change testimonies. How do we know a person who no longer reports an attraction to people of the same sex is not a bisexual living as a heterosexual?
"Cures" for Gays and Lesbians
Conversion therapy as "treatment" is discredited. A further complication is the pain people report after going through programs to change from being gay to being straight. In 2019 David Matheson, a former gay conversion therapist, apologized and came out as gay. He left his marriage of 34 years and began dating men. Several years earlier, Alan Chambers of Exodus International apologized on TV for hurting people with the "reparative therapy" "cure" for homosexuality. He stated "I'm Sorry" for the hurt and pain. Exodus closed. In recent years, a number of governments have passed laws banning conversion therapy because of the negative effects. When preparing this post, I see a list of 20 US states have banned the practice of conversion therapy. Surely, if there were a "cure" it should be safe and effective.
What about intersex?
It seems some Christians remain unaware that some people are not born as either biological males or females but present with internal and external differences inconsistent with being a biological male or female. The multidimensional condition has recently been termed DSD where the first D can mean Disorders, Differences, or Diverse and the SD refers to Sex Development. I wrote more on this in 2019.
DSD is a condition and medical and psychological interventions may be helpful to those experiencing distress. And for some, DSD interventions will make sense. In years past, parents and physicians made decisions early on without waiting to consult the child. Presumably, people identified as intersex could pray for healing but I am unaware of documented reports that prayer resulted in healing in a nonmetaphorical sense apart from human intervention.
What about Trans?
People who identify as a transman or transwoman often experience distress. Christians are divided on responding to people who identify as trans. It is not clear what it might mean to pray for healing aside from prayers for guidance in making the best decision when it comes to transitioning or prayers for mental health. Trans people have different experiences and different sexual orientations. Again, the concept of healing, or divine healing, does not seem to make sense unless one is speaking metaphorically about change.
Summary and Comments
Although some Christians talk about LGBTQIA+ issues as problems to be cured or treated, the concepts of healing or divine healing do not fit the conversation. In fact, talking about cures and treatments may interfere with clear communication.
Christians who do not accept people who identify as other than a man or a woman are usually focused on a belief that any other gender variation or sexual orientation is sinful. In this worldview, the cure for sin is theological involving confession and repentance. Prayers may be focused on confession, repentance, and petitions for help in changing. But even in this situation, the concept of healing does not apply.
Christians who are nonbinary or accept people who identify as nonbinary without believing they need to confess sin or make a change to please God do not have a need to pray for healing in a literal sense of the term. Obviously, those who believe in prayer may well pray for guidance or help in dealing with stress and mental distress related to gender or sex issues.
I suspect the confusion about sex and gender will persist in religious and secular communities. And many will feel guilty about their sexual orientation or gender identity, the way they raised their children who do not identify as heterosexual men or women, or the way they treated people who identified as other than heterosexuals.
Some of us will need to forgive ourselves for things we may have said due to our ignorance about sex and gender. People from my generation who entered the mental health field had little guidance in these matters. In fact, when I was an undergraduate, homosexuality was still listed as a mental disorder. That classification did not change until 1973 (see Drescher, 2015). The decision to remove homosexuality from the list of mental disorders was not unanimous so, it took awhile for those of us in the profession to appreciate human diversity when it comes to matters of sex and gender.
Series posts about Divine Healing
Part 1 Observations and research
Part 3 Mental Illness & Psychotherapy
Part 4 “Healing” of Sexual or Gender Disorders
You may be interested in A House Divided, which presents various Christian views on LGBTQ issues and other matters of sexuality.
Professors may obtain exam copies from the publisher.
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