Lonnie Frisbee, the most influential gay Christian in the last century

 

I listened to this speaker called Simon Foster yesterday at River Camp.

I thought it would be good to have a break in which children and adults had a chance to worship God, and soak in the love of the Father, get re-acquainted more deeply with Jesus, and be filled again with the Holy Spirit

Anyway, this lovely Irish guy called Simon Foster, who looks a bit like Hugh Grant, walks on stage to preach, and something about his bleached blonde hair, his walk, his face, alerts my gaydar.

I whisper to Roy, “He’s gay.”

“Ssssh,” Roy says.

And then Simon sweetly giggles a little bit. Laughs. Says a few sentences, flings his head back, then bursts into song in the most gorgeous singing voice I’ve ever heard from a Christian worship leader.

There’s an indefinable something…

“He’s definitely gay,” I whisper to Roy.

Roy says, “Sssh. He’s an Elim Pentecostal leader.”

I am chastened and silent, wondering if my gaydar gave a false reading.

And then Simon says, “Well, I was trapped in a homosexual lifestyle from many years, but now am married.”

“What did I say, Roy?” I whisper triumphantly, and Roy looks properly flabbergasted.

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Simon Foster has told his story here. He was a Eurovision contestant, and came 10^th with his band, the Duskeys, and then stepped into a life of show-biz, singing in nightclubs and cruises, drinking, substance abuse and homosexuality, which he gives up after an encounter with the love of God, and after he reads the Bible verses about homosexuality which he becomes convinced is sin.

In his case, the move was definitely a blessing. It released him to a fruitful ministry (prophecy, healing, and preaching) in the body of Christ, which is not easily available to practising homosexuals in most Christian denominations.

He said yesterday, “All my life I have been waiting for a man to ravish me. And in Jesus, I’ve found him”

What? Several people looked affronted or offended, and Simon laughed and said, “Oh, I see your religious spirit rising.”

·      * *

This is how Simon explains his homosexuality  “I was set up for homosexuality through circumstances of life. I had a dysfunctional relationship with my dad, which left me feeling unloved and unwanted. My attempt to connect with others boys at school failed which only compounded my feeling that males rejected me. The name-calling and continued rejection left me with nowhere to belong. 

Years of living with this identity problem produced a fantasy life in which I dreamed of men desiring me. The pull to engage with men sexually followed. The father I desired became the man of my dreams and led me to develop homosexual relationships.”

I am sure he believes his narrative that his life’s circumstances led to his homosexuality, but that does not explain how within minutes of observing his face, his hairstyle and colouring, subtle make-up, gait, demeanour, speech, voice, laugh, I realised he was a gay man, or post-gay in this case.

It certainly seemed ontological, as well as circumstantial to me.

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For each Christian gay man or woman who marries and becomes heterosexual, there are many who fail in their quest to do so, to their own heart-brokenness.

And I think of Lonnie Frisbee, the most influential gay man in twentieth century Christianity, a key person in the Jesus People or Jesus Freak movement, who unleashed a wave of the Holy Spirit which was instrumental in the founding, and phenomenal growth of  two major Christian denominations, the Calvary Chapel to which he attracted thousands to his Bible Study, and  the Vineyard, which was established after Lonnie Frisbee asked youth, 25 and under, to come forward, then prayed, “Come Holy Spirit.” And those so filled baptised others in hot tubs and swimming pools!!

Lonnie struggled against his homosexuality, to the point of getting married to a wife who left him after an affair with their pastor; was sad and guilty about his repeated homosexual flings; was rejected by both denominations he helped found and flourish when his homosexuality became obvious, and died broken hearted of AIDS, yet forgiving those whose careers and denominations he had established, but who ostracised him and almost wrote him out of their histories for a sin he could not shake.

And yet he  was responsible for thousands of people being converted and filled with the Holy Spirit,  and changed the direction of twentieth century Christianity through the millions influenced by the Calvary Chapel and the Vineyard Movement.

God’s blessing and anointing was on his life, perhaps because of his brokenness; perhaps because his unsuccessful struggle with what he saw as his sin (homosexuality) convinced him he needed a saviour and needed forgiveness, and led him to intensely love the one who forgave him.

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What interests me is that Lonnie partied on Saturday, including promiscuous gay sex, and preached powerfully on Sunday.

I doubt he was a hypocrite. I fancy it’s like the overweight who eat chocolate, and then preach; those who have a drink too many and then preach; those who are foul to their spouses and kids and bully their parishioners, and then preach.

And sometimes God blesses their preaching for the sake of those who will listen to them, as he blessed Lonnie Frisbee.

We see sin on a continuum with abortion and homosexuality at the far end of the spectrum. Jesus did not see sin on a continuum.  One should not murder nor be angry, he teaches. One should not commit adultery nor lust over women, he teaches. (Matt 5 21-27).

Perhaps Jesus did not see Frisbee’s sin of promiscuous gay sex as worse than the little gossip, pettiness, envy and meanness which good church people are guilty of.

Lonnie Frisbee fascinates me, and I will probably research and write about him some more.