I have a burden to witness to my homosexual friends. How do I go about this?

I know, first hand, of your desire to witness to homosexuals. My brother, Dave, died of AIDS several years ago after living for many years in the “gay” community.

Here are my thoughts about witnessing:

We should steer away from thinking of a group of people and instead see people as individuals. Although there are common threads in homosexuality, everyone is a unique person with unique motivations and thoughts.

The idea that “I am born this way so how could I change” is not unique to homosexuals. We are all born with tendencies which lead us away from God. It’s called a sin nature. We are also all born with the inability to change ourselves (Romans 7). Apart from the Cross of Jesus we always default to our inborn tendencies. A good book about this is Coming Out of Homosexuality by Bob Davies and Lori Rentzel from Intervarsity Press.

Share the gospel (in a nutshell, Romans 3:23, Romans 5:8 and John 1:12,13). Talk about Jesus. Ask about who he is and what He said. Talk about His love and understanding.

A good if/then question is: “If God knows everything (including what’s best for you) and He loves you more than anyone else does, then why would you not want to give yourself completely to Him?”

Your last point is interesting. You say “I just want to make everyone feel at home with God.” I understand this sentiment, we want to break down stereotypes and barriers which give people a warped view of God. However, be careful of sacrificing truth for grace. Jesus was full of both grace and truth. He loved the world more than we can imagine and still most did not feel at home with Him. Share the truth in love. God will be responsible for the results.

Hope this is helpful. God bless you as you follow Him.

For more information, see also this Love Letter to a Lesbian on the Desiring God blog.

Photo by Nicolas J Leclercq on Unsplash