‘If I Have Gay Children’: Christian Pastor’s Touching Blog Post Goes Viral

A touching blog post written by a North Carolina pastor entitled “If I Have Gay Children: Four Promises From A Christian Pastor/Parent” has stirred controversy on the web, prompting thousands of Facebook and Twitter shares.

The pastor, John Pavlovitz, who wrote the post on September 17, told The Charlotte Observer that it had been read by more than 1.5 million people as of September 29.

Pavlovitz begins the blog post by writing “Sometimes I wonder if I’ll have gay children. I’m not sure if other parents think about this, but I do; quite often.”

“Maybe it’s because I have many gay people in my family and circle of friends. It’s in my genes and in my tribe.”

“Maybe it’s because, as a pastor of students, I’ve seen and heard the horror stories of gay Christian kids, from both inside and outside of the closet, trying to be part of the Church.”

“Maybe it’s because, as a Christian, I interact with so many people who find homosexuality to be the most repulsive thing imaginable, and who make that abundantly clear at every conceivable opportunity.”

He goes on to outline the promises he makes to his two children if they should be gay.

The first promise he makes is that he will not hide the fact that his children are gay from anyone.

“Childhood is difficult enough, and most gay kids spend their entire existence being horribly, excruciatingly uncomfortable. I’m not going to put mine through any more unnecessary discomfort, just to make Thanksgiving dinner a little easier for a third cousin with misplaced anger issues.”

“If my children come out,” he writes, “we’ll be out as a family.”

Secondly, he promises to pray for his gay children. Not that “God will heal or change or fix them” he writes, but to protect them from ignorance and violence.

“I’ll pray that they enjoy life; that they laugh, and dream, and feel, and forgive, and that they love god and humanity.”

Next, he promises to love them.

“I won’t love them despite their sexuality, and I won’t love them because of it. I will love them; simply because they’re sweet, and funny, and caring, and smart, and kind, and stubborn, and flawed, and original, and beautiful… and mine.”

Finally, he writes, “If I have gay children, most likely; I have gay children. If my kids are going to be gay, well they pretty much already are.”

He adds, “They are today, simply a younger version of who they will be; and today they’re pretty darn great.”

Pavlovitz concludes the heartfelt post, which you can read in its entirety on his blog, by saying, “If that day should ever come for me; if my children should ever come out to me, this is the Dad I hope I’ll be to them.”

The pastor was surprised, but not displeased, with the response to his post — which now has over 2,000 comments on the blog. Some readers support his views; others reacted more like the parents in this Inquisitr article who allegedly beat their child for being gay — condemning Pavlovitz for condoning such “sinful behavior.”

“I was prepared for some people to applaud it, and for others to condemn it. That’s what happens whenever you put an opinion out there,” he told WBTV. “I was fully prepared for the waves of both support and hostility that accompany any vantage point, especially on a controversial topic like this.”

“What I was not prepared for in any way, were the literally hundreds and hundreds of people who have reached out to me personally to thank me for bringing some healing and hope to their families; for giving them a message they rarely get from Christian leaders,” he continued.

“People who haven’t ever before, or in many years, are telling me the piece has moved them to engage with God and with the Church, which is the most any pastor can hope for.”

[Image via JohnPavlovitz.com]