Many, if not most teens, want someone they can talk to, someone they can trust.

At best, the teenage years are trying. These are the years of internal conflict when sexual identity is still being shaped. Sexual curiosity and experimentation are commonplace but often lead to more confusion and wrong conclusions regarding sexuality.

When it comes to the topic of homosexuality, youth always have the best questions. Questions that deserve a complete and truthful answer rather than what normally is presented through movies, television, and the Internet.

Questions from youth, as you’d expect, cover a range of topics. What are the contributing factors to the brokenness of same-sex attraction? How do I approach someone I believe is struggling with their sexuality? Is it true HIV/AIDS continues to greatly impact the gay community? How do I share the Gospel with my gay-identified friend? As a Christian, should I attend a same-sex marriage ceremony? How do I address someone born one gender but identifies as the opposite gender? Is change possible for the gay and transgender person?

Today, confusion about sexual orientation is all too common during adolescence. As a result, it is risky to label teenagers “gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, or transgender” before they have the wisdom of adulthood and the opportunity to make a fully informed choice. Ultimately, when a teenager is prematurely “labeled,” there is a serious risk of “mislabeling” a portion of sexually confused youth.

Many factors can possibly lead a struggling or questioning youth into homosexual behavior or sexual identity confusion. Such as curiosity, a feeling of not fitting in, the horrific tragedy of being molested, and the desire for attention and a sense of belonging.

Today, I remain extremely concerned that youth, including Christian youth, are not getting all the facts with regard to the many facets of human sexuality in order to make a truly informed and godly decision about sexual identity.

When our path crosses with a struggling youth, we must be open to partnering with the Lord Jesus to help turn the tide in his or her life. During adolescence, most people determine the morals and personal identity they will embrace for the remainder of their life. As a result, much confusion and challenges will take place before any semblance of clarity comes. This is all the more true for youth deciding their sexual identity.

The teenage years are a crucial period for the Church of Jesus Christ to speak to youth tempted by the various and numerous forms of sexual and relational brokenness.

I submit that society, and sometimes the Church, is unwittingly promoting social experiments and various behaviors with no justification in reality and, with all probability enabling inevitable serious moral problems with potentially tragic consequences.

In trying to ascertain the rightness or wrongness of any behavior or misguided identity, it seems to me the determining factor should be consequence, not cause.

We are the ones who bear the responsibility to act if the Lord brings a struggling teen into our lives.