Compassion without Compromise (Adam Barr & Ron Citlau)

Compassion Without Compromise

How the Gospel Frees us to Love our Gay Friends Without Losing the Truth

In the next year at least one of these events is likely to happen to you:

• A family member will come out of the closet and expect you to be okay with it.
• Your elementary-age child’s curriculum will discuss LGBT families.
• The company you work for will talk about building a tolerant workplace for LGBT co-workers.
• Your college-age child will tell you your view on homosexuality is bigoted.

Are you ready?

In their role as pastors, Adam Barr and Ron Citlau have seen how this issue can tear apart families, friendships, and even churches. In this book they combine biblical answers with practical, real-world advice on how to think about and discuss this issue with those you care about. They also tell the story of Ron’s personal journey from same-sex attraction and sexual brokenness to healing.

Truth does not preclude kindness–and a good dose of humility is necessary to love our neighbors. With sensitivity and winsomeness, this book will offer an honest but inviting message to readers: We are all in need of the healing that can only come from the truth of the gospel.

About the Authors:

Adam T. Barr serves as senior pastor at Peace Church in Grand Rapids, Michigan. He is the president and founder of Borderlands, a worldview ministry, and serves on the board of RCA Integrity, a renewal movement in the Reformed Church in America. Adam lives with his wife, Jennifer, and four sons in Middleville, Michigan.

Ron Citlau is Lead Pastor of Calvary Church near Chicago. He helped produce curriculum on sexual healing now used by Desert Stream Ministries in hundreds of churches throughout the country. Ron lives with his wife, Amy, in Crown Point, Indiana. He is a graduate of the University of California, Riverside and Western Theological Seminary. Ron has served in ministry positions in Southern California and Kansas City. He is the pastor of Calvary Church in Orland Park, Illinois, part of the Reformed Church in America.

Ron struggled with same-sex attraction his whole life and has worked with and walked alongside many others who have struggled with this, as well as equipping pastoral leaders to serve those dealing with sexual sin. He also worked with Andrew Comiskey, producing curriculum on sexual healing now used by Desert Stream Ministries in hundreds of churches throughout the country. Ron and his wife Amy have four sons.

Table of Contents

Introduction: We Understand… It Would Be Easy to Panice

1. Something Beautiful: Why did God Make Sex?
2. Two-Faced: How can a Bunch of Hypocrites Cast the First Stone
3. Not the Same: Why is Sexual Sin Different from any other?
4. Jesus is my Homeboy: If He didn’t care, why should we?
5. Ban All Shrimp: Shouldn’t conservatives be consistent in their reading of Scripture?
6. Perception and Reality: How can homosexuals trust Christians when they act like a bunch of homophobes?
7. Here’s the Church, Here’s the Steeple: How should my church deal with this issue?
8. Spots on the Leopard: Can the gospel transform someone’s sexual orientation?
9. When Push Comes to Shove: How can we navigate the soon-to-be-everyday issues of living in a gay world?
10. Don’t Panic: Things might get hard, but we’re not alone

Appendix: The Watershed