Homosexual child

You have my sympathy as you strive to maintain relationships with your homosexual child and friend. I am thankful that you DO desire to maintain a relationship since that will allow you opportunity to give suitable witness to your convictions and to demonstrate parental kindness despite the spiritual plight of your loved one. I recognize that your doing this will necessarily involve awkwardness, often leave you in situations where you will be unsure of how best to conduct yourself in Christian love, and periodically arouse anger and resentment in your child and partner because of their impenitent lifestyle. And you will grieve over the inaccurate and flawed example that will be set before your grandchildren on a daily basis. You have a daily petition in your prayer life until repentance is shown.

You ask “how much of a relationship” should be maintained. There are no strict formulas to follow. Christian love is keenly alert to specific relationships, opportunities, threats, and people—and expresses itself with flexibility as long as divine truth is not compromised. You have already identified key issues and voiced proper concerns, so I suspect you will do just fine despite awkwardness and emotional pain. Perhaps all I can counsel is that you maintain clarity in your testimony as you speak the truth in love. Clarify what you cannot and will not accept and why you at the same time desire to maintain a relationship with your child. Take every opportunity your child gives you while being content when your child gives you precious little opportunity. And maintain the cheerfulness that comes with the confidence that God does not desire to be done with your child and that he does not have the limitations imposed on you. In your intercessions ask God to work miracles, to use other witnesses for the truth to interact with your child, and commend your child confidently to divine providence that can crush the rebellious spirit and make sinners open to the truth. The pressure is ultimately on God, not you, just as the power is his, not yours or mine.