We are the elderly spinster who has no family to invite her back for Christmas. We are the middle-aged man who stands alone on the edge of a crowd with no other ‘half’ to stand by his side. We are the teenager crying on the bathroom floor wondering how he is going to get through this.

We don’t appear on a church’s strategic plan. We will not provide you with the next generation as we bear no children. We face battles that cannot be dealt with in a single sermon. We are the same-sex attracted celibate believers who are determined to remain faithful to the gospel and the clear teaching of Scripture.

We are not the strong, but the weak. We are heathens to the mainstream LGBT+ community. We are celibate weirdos to the world. Progressives in the Church think we are a problem to be fixed, and conservatives think we are an issue to be ignored.

And yet, is it not in weakness that the strength of God is seen? It is visible in the elderly spinster who has no biological children, yet her spiritual children are so numerous that she has a choice of places to spend Christmas. It is visible in the middle-aged man who has no other ‘half’ to stand next to him, yet he does not try to seek one out because he knows that in Christ he is complete. It is visible when the teenager gets himself off the bathroom floor and bravely chooses to keep going with Christ no matter the cost.

When you look at us, we don’t look very impressive. Yet when you stop and really take us in you will see the very power of God.

‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).