The world’s focus on LGBTQ issues means the topic is on your students’ minds. And if the Church doesn’t help them think through these matters, the world will. Here are biblical responses to three common questions your students are wondering about.
Q: What does God think about people who identify as LGBTQ?
Start by giving teens the short answer: God loves them. He loves everyone, regardless of how they identify. His very nature is love, so He’s unable to do anything else.
The Bible’s most famous verse (John 3:16) affirms that God “so loved the world” that He sent His Son to die to save us. The apostle Paul reiterates this, saying that:
But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Romans 5:8
And just as a loving parent gives kids rules and boundaries to protect them and help them flourish, God instructed humans how we should live—according to His good design for the world.
As part of that design, He made us male and female (Genesis 1:27) and gave us the acceptable pattern for marriage and sex (Genesis 2:24), truths that Jesus affirmed while He was on Earth (Matthew 19:4-6). That pattern is for sexual activity to be confined to one man and one woman, within a marriage covenant.
God calls all people to turn away from actions and desires that fall outside of that boundary and instead turn toward Him for salvation. Through that gracious salvation, we find forgiveness for everything we’ve ever done, said, or even thought that goes against God’s perfect design.
It’s also important to remind students that we should have the same attitude of love toward people as God does, regardless of whether they follow His design. After all, one of the two commands on God’s short list is to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Matthew 22:34-40), and the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:27-35) makes it clear that our neighbors include those who have different spiritual and behavioral views than we do.
Q: Are people born LGBTQ?
You might feel like you’re in over your head if a student asks this question, but there’s no need to wade into scientific studies or anecdotal evidence. You can keep the answer simple and scriptural by saying that, according to the Bible, it ultimately doesn’t matter what tendencies people are born with.
Let teens know that all people are born sinful—with a natural tendency and desire to choose our own way over God’s. Those sinful desires take different forms in different people, but they separate all of us from God.
Paul explains this truth in Romans 5:12-14:
Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned—to be sure, sin was in the world before the law was given, but sin is not charged against anyone’s account where there is no law. Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who is a pattern of the one to come.
The Good News is that when we trust in Jesus’s death and resurrection for salvation, God forgives all our sin. He then sends His Holy Spirit to dwell in us and give us the power to live according to God’s ways.
That doesn’t mean it’s easy. We may continue to struggle against unholy desires for the rest of our lives, but through Christ we can now choose His ways over ours. As Paul says in Romans 6:14:
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
And Peter attests that:
[God’s] divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. 2 Peter 1:3
Through God’s grace, we can have victory over sinful actions and desires—and we also receive a new identity:
Yet to all who did receive [Jesus], to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God… John 1:12
After we trust Christ, we’re called to root our identity in being God’s child, versus in our feelings or desires. We can also trust Him to give us an abundant, joyful life as we follow His ways.
Q: How do I share the Gospel with my friend who identifies as LGBTQ?
This one’s easy: You can encourage students to share the Good News the same way they would with anyone!
They can start with a Prayer – Care – Share approach, meaning they:
- consistently pray for their friend to put their trust in Jesus.
- find ways to be kind and show their friend they care.
- clearly share the Gospel with them.
To share the Gospel effectively, they can employ a different three words: Ask – Admire – Admit.
- Ask good questions that show an interest in their friend and get them thinking.
- Admire what they can about what their friend believes, without compromising the truth.
- Admit that they need Jesus themselves, which can be an opportunity to share their testimony.
Remind teens that the goal isn’t to argue people out of their beliefs about LGBTQ issues but rather to point them to Jesus by clearly sharing the Gospel. After all, none of us are even capable of cleaning ourselves up before we come to Christ.
On the contrary, salvation happens when we come to Him to confess our mess, acknowledge that on our own we can’t remove our sins, and trust in Jesus’s death and resurrection for forgiveness. Then the Holy Spirit comes into our lives, and He’s the one who begins to transform our thinking and desires.
To give students a deeper look into a biblical approach to LGBTQ issues, take them through Hard Questions: Examining gender, sexuality, and identity through a Gospel lens. This free, four-week student curriculum includes opening activities, PowerPoints, a teaching script, and discussion questions—everything you need to help your teens engage around LGBTQ topics in both truth and love.
