However, Allberry observed that sin is not merely a physical action. “Matthew 5 tells me that actually mentally acting on it is also a sin,” he said. “So I think the distinction is not between the attraction and the deed, but between the temptation and the sin, whether the sin is physical, whether the sin is mental.”
When Stetzer asked how pastors can best “welcome, minister to, walk alongside people who are same-sex attracted,” Allberry said, “Thank you. That’s such a thoughtful question.”
“I think that the short answer is that we recognize the ways in which Jesus always levels the playing field. And so one of the things that has helped me with the particular sins I’ve struggled with, temptations I’ve struggled with,” he answered, “is knowing that I’m around Christians who know their own sins as well. And so I’ve never felt people looking down on me simply because my sin struggle is different to theirs.”
“You might struggle with something that I’ve never struggled with in my life, but I don’t other you because of that. I don’t put you in a different Christian category to me,” Allberry went on. “I think, ‘Well, I know what it’s like to be a sinner too.’ So I think that makes it easier for people to confess sin if they know that there’s already a general culture of, you know, all of us are very aware of our own sins.”
The pastor pointed out that in 1 Timothy 1:15, Paul refers to himself as “the worst” of sinners. “I think what Paul is showing us is that if we know our own hearts, we find it very hard to believe there’s another person out there more messed up than we are,” Allberry said. “And if each of us comes to church with that perspective, then we become approachable to others. We become people who it’s safe for others to confess their sins to.”
This “mutuality” means that we all need encouragement from one another. “All of us can be an encouragement to others,” Allberry said. “All of us have something to give that will strengthen the brothers and sisters around us.”
