In his book, WHAT DOES LOVE REQUIRE OF ME?, David strives to find what God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit would convey to us about the topic of homosexuality and, specifically, how church leaders should be handling the topic with their congregations. An extraordinarily challenging task in these prophetic times.
Navigating around legalism, David writes, "Grace is my favourite word in all of Scripture, quite simply because I have received so much of it. Grace is the one thing that keeps me running back to God. Grace overwhelms me, amazes me, and delights me. There is only one single-word description that comes anywhere close to describing God. Grace. Grace is love taken to the nth power. Omnipotence, omniscience, eternal, etc. are words that are unfathomable to the human mind, but not grace. Grace is experiential.
Along with grace are all the other attributes of God. When we consider the topic of homosexuality and interacting with the gay community we cannot, and must not, ignore a single one of God's other attributes - even if grace is, from a human perspective, the overarching pinnacle of His attributes.
I recently read the book, Irresistible: Reclaiming the New that Jesus Unleashed for the World, by Pastor Andy Stanley. In this 'must-read' book, Andy asks the question, "What does love require of me?" It is a question that has been haunting me since the moment I read it. Concerning the topic of sexuality and God's people, I believe this question is so important, and the challenge so significant, it is included in the header at the top of each page—to be a 'constant reminder' as we seek the right answers to some very challenging questions.
David noted that while in the process of searching for an appropriate cover illustration, he stumbled across a photo of Michelangelo's Pietà, a depiction of the dead body of Jesus Christ in His mother's arms. It reminded him that from the very beginning, Jesus' mother, Mary, (see Luke 1:38) and Jesus (see John 13:1) were both all in, nothing held back.
This leads to the naturally introspective question, "Am I all in?" How one chooses to answer this question will naturally lead to the beliefs one holds and the actions one expresses - Pietà [compassion] specifically.
David hopes that, in reading this book, and by taking the referenced Scriptures to heart, church leaders will find direction and encouragement in how to handle issues of homosexuality in their congregations.