Does Exodus Ministries' about-face on "pray away the gay" signal a theological change?
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Exodus International, and its founder, Alan Chambers, recently made news by very publicly changing its methodology of helping to change h*m*sexual orientations. Once derisively called "pray away the gay," Exodus' insistence that h*m*sexual orientation can be changed through prayer has been abandoned. Futhermore, on June 19, 2013, Exodus International willingly ceased all operations. This caused a situation in which Chambers said:
It is also strange to be an outcast from powerful portions of both the gay community and the Christian community. Because I do not completely agree with the vocal majorities in either group and am forging a new place of peaceful service in and through both, I will likely continue to be an outsider to some degree.
In his apology letter here, Alan Chambers writes:
And then there is the trauma that I have caused. 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.
He is apologizing for not for doctrine, but implementation. He apologizes for what he considers to be an ommission, not a doctrine. He explictly states:
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.
I cannot apologize for my deeply held biblical beliefs about the boundaries I see in scripture surrounding sex, but I will exercise my beliefs with great care and respect for those who do not share them. I cannot apologize for my beliefs about marriage. But I do not have any desire to fight you on your beliefs or the rights that you seek. My beliefs about these things will never again interfere with God’s command to love my neighbor as I love myself.
In making this very public about face, he is clear that he writes this out of a desire for radical alignment with Christ:
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
In short, he saying, "I was wrong about the how, not the what." As such, this is clearly not theological change, but rather a tactical one.
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