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Yet we do have a hero. Some of us have been delivered by him out of the worst that sin can do. I have had the privilege of being friends with those who lived for years as gays and lesbians, who were adulterers, who were cross-dressers, who were consumed by pornography or obsessed with their own attractiveness—and who now joyfully live a different life thanks to Christ. Among us, too, are some who have not experienced any such dramatic deliverance, but who continue to submit themselves to their friends and to God even in the midst of emptiness that goes as deep as the soul can see.

Is there room for their stories in America, circa 2003? Is there room for their stories in the church? If not, we'd better start building an ark.

Copyright © 2003 Christianity Today. Click for reprint information.

Earlier Andy Crouch columns for Christianity Today include:

Two Weddings and a Baptism | It's still impossible to predict what will advance the gospel in Hollywood. (Oct. 15, 2003)

Wrinkles in Time | Botox injections as a spiritual discipline. (Aug. 11, 2003)

Rites of Passage | Self-improvement is our culture's most durable religion. (June 6, 2003)

Christian Esperanto | We must learn other cultural tongues. (June 4, 2003)

We're Rich | But why is it so hard to admit? (Feb. 20, 2003)

Blinded by Pop Praise | To see God "high and lifted up," just open your eyes. (Dec. 17, 2002)

The Future Is P.O.D. | Multicultural voices have an edge in reaching a rapidly changing America. (October 12, 2002)

Rekindling Old Fires | We can resist technology's chilling effects on how we spend time together. (August 2, 2002)

Interstate Nation | The national highway system is a lesson in how to transform a nation. (June 21, 2002)

Amplified Versions | Worship wars come down to music and a power plug. (April 17, 2002)

Thou Shalt Be Cool | This enduring American slang leaves plenty out in the cold. (March 18, 2002)

Borrowing Against Time | We live in a fallen world. We will die. We need to face that. (Jan. 17, 2002)

Grounded | Our technologies give us an illusion of omnipresence—most of the time. (Nov. 15, 2001)

Zarathustra Shrugged | What apologetics should look like in a skeptical age. (Sept. 5, 2001)

Consuming Passions | One man's "testimony" from the First Great Mammon Awakening. (July 10, 2001)

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December 2003, Vol. 47, No. 12