Event: EP Co-Workers Fellowship on 7th March 2023
I have benefited much from this afternoon session. I am thankful to the brothers from 3:16 Church for sharing their knowledge on this sensitive topic.
There was much information to digest given the short timeframe of the event. All the sharing by the pastors were intriguing as it is not a topic in which I have the slightest knowledge. There are 2 topics in which I feel are important to take note on a personal as well as church level.
Strategic Framework
The strategic framework info shared at the session was helpful. It is a round circle with 4 quadrants (1) Overcomer (2) Struggling (3) Moderate (4) Activist. It helps to suggest how to approach the person with same-sex attraction.
CATS Framework
It stands for Companionship, Answers, Testimony, and Supplication. Pastor Tou Chen gave a very insightful tip on how to help people with same-sex attraction if they are either Overcomer or Struggling.
What are my thoughts?
Reflecting on ways to avoid going back to the old ways, that is, not to be alone all the time. Agree that once alone, especially with past habits, the mind will start to drift. Sinful thoughts will come because Satan is always waiting at the door, to pounce on the weak person and swallow him or her (1 Peter 4:7). One of the advice provided was to go out with some friends and do healthy stuff together. I agree. One might even go out of the house for a run around the block and sweat it out because friends cannot be around for 24 hours. Perhaps to have victory is to pray unceasingly to God and memorize Scriptures so that they can regurgitate them all the time for prayers. Furthermore, Psalms 119:9b-16 has this advice:
9b by living according to your word. 10 I seek you with all my heart; do not let me stray from your commands. 11 I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin in against you. 12 Praise be to you, Lord; teach me your decrees. 13 With my lips I recount all the laws that come from your mouth. 14 I rejoice in following your statutes as one rejoices in great riches. 15 I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. 16 I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word.
Being a companion to an overcomer or struggler requires plenty of personal commitment on the part of the mentor, but it is a good cause for the sake of the Kingdom of God. It might be a lifetime of walking alongside them because, we are always tempted from all sides to go back to the old ways. The Bible says, “Keep watching and praying that you may not enter into temptation; the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.” (Matthew 26:41).
What can the Church do to help its congregation?
The world is now trying to sell the idea to the younger generation that LGBTQi is acceptable and those who do not accept them are considered as biased and discriminatory. The LGBTQi are accepted in society and Christians are not condemning them, but rather to help them understand God’s truths.
I think it is imperative for the church to begin to acknowledge that it has to do something about it. It should prepare church members to face the new normal and be equipped with the useful knowledge of how to walk with people with same-sex attraction (those who want to overcome it and those who are struggling to overcome) and to motivate them to come out and come home (to God).
Conclusion
Thank you, EP Training Committee, for organising this event. I look forward to the next one to understand even more and be better equipped.