Yet celibate gay Christians believe this is what God has called them to do, and they have chosen to obey-despite the cost. In a culture that views sexual activity as a right, the idea of choosing celibacy because another value, namely, one's faith, supersedes that right is unthinkable.

Michael Lastoria, professor emeritus, Houghton College, coauthor of Listening to Sexual Minorities

This important book will have value not only to pastors and lay leaders but to the church at large, as parishioners seek to create the kind of community that models a costly obedience for all. These believers offer a fresh perspective and model a costly obedience often lacking in today's Western church. Throughout these pages the reader will learn much about this group, but more importantly he or she will be presented with a challenge that goes beyond merely 'accepting' celibate gay Christians into the church community. In this newest work, Costly Obedience, a simple question echoes throughout: 'Is there a place for these individuals within the church?' The authors answer in the affirmative but point out that the church has not always been well prepared to assimilate these fellow believers. They are highly religious and desire to carry their faith into all aspects of their lives. Unlike any other book on homosexuality and the church, this is a call to examine your life and consider what God is asking you to lay down to take up your cross and follow him.įollowing nearly two decades of research, Mark Yarhouse and his colleagues have brought to light a growing body of believers who identify as gay, experience enduring and stable same-sex attractions, and firmly believe that same-sex behavior is morally impermissible. Through the stories and struggles of gay Christians who are reorienting their lives around the costly obedience required to follow Christ, Mark Yarhouse and Olya Zaporozhets call the church to reorient as well, leaving behind the casual morality that is widespread today to pursue the path of radical discipleship.

There is a price to pay in following Christ and devoting our lives to the call of the gospel, and it is one that we all must pay-gay and straight Christians alike. Instead, gay Christians who make the difficult choice to align their lives with the biblical view of sexuality are a gift to the church, reminding all of us that spiritual growth and maturity is costly. And yet, the answer is not to weaken the demands of obedience. Far too often, the church has elevated homosexuality above other sins and required a costly obedience from gays that it is unwilling to demand of others. The call to follow Christ is a call to costly obedience for all, not just for gay Christians. Though we often hear about the 'gay problem' today, there is an even deeper problem in the church today-one that we often overlook.

Costly Obedience by Mark A. Yarhouse