Christopher Yuan speaks at Convocation about his story

On Feb. 7, the Liberty Worship Collective opened Convocation with their newly released song, “A Wonder.”

Following worship, Christopher Yuan, author of “Holy Sexuality and the Gospel,” shared his testimony in a message called “Sexual Identity, False Identity.”

In his testimony, Yuan spoke of his past, living openly in the gay community. Yuan expressed that his parents never gave up their prayers for Yuan’s salvation.

“My mom and dad, they were not Christian; but through that, God saved them,” Yuan said. “And yet, I went in the total opposite direction.”

Yuan shared that after he was expelled from graduate school, he began to live as a drug supplier within his promiscuous circle. 

“I had exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and I began worshipping and serving the creature rather than the creator,” Yuan said. “In my world, I had become God.”

Yuan’s lifestyle of drugs eventually led to his arrest and imprisonment for drug possession and distribution. While in prison, Yuan began reading the Bible.

“I just thought, I had a ton of time on my hands, and I’ve got to pass it somehow,” Yuan said. “By God’s grace, I followed Jesus.”

Although he chose to follow Christ, Yuan still had to surrender his struggles with sin to Christ. Most importantly, he had to decide whether he would still live as a gay man. This was a difficult decision for Yuan.

“I realized that my sexuality should not be the core of who I am,” Yuan said.

He placed his identity in his feelings. Ultimately, he not only surrendered his sexual orientation to God but his entire life. Yuan decided to apply to seminary so he could follow his calling in full-time ministry.

“I realized that unconditional love is not the same thing as unconditional approval of my behavior,” Yuan said. “My identity should not be defined by my sexuality. My identity should not be grounded in my desires.”

Yuan described that often, people view the opposite of homosexuality as heterosexuality. However, Yuan believes that the opposite of homosexuality is instead holiness.

“As a matter of fact, the opposite of every sin is holiness,” Yuan said. “I don’t need to focus on whether I’m tempted or struggling, but I need to focus on living a life of holiness and living a life of purity.”

After receiving his education, Yuan began traveling and sharing the gospel and his testimony alongside his faithful parents. Eventually, he and his mother co-authored their memoir, “Out of a Far Country.”

“Who would’ve thought our testimony is now a textbook,” Yuan said.

Freshman Eliza Kernstine appreciated Yuan’s courage to speak from his heart about the difficult topic of sexuality.

“(Yuan) speaking about how my identity is not in who I was but in being a child of God really impacted me,” Kernstine said.

Yuan is now the founder of The Holy Sexuality Project, a discipleship resource designed to walk children and parents through topics like temptations, singleness, marriage and more. He and his mother work to spread the gospel and the message that identity is not found in sexual orientation but in Christ alone.

Lunney is a news reporter for the Liberty Champion