Considering Out of a Far Country

When this story began in 1993, discovering that your child was a homosexual was often seen as the end of the world.  In fact, that is the title of the first chapter. What was like a death to the mother was like a new beginning for the son.  What they would discover is that they were both prodigals in need of grace.

Out of a Far Country is written by Christopher Yuan and his mother Angela.  It alternates chapters from their perspective.  It is a humble book in many ways because it exposes the sins of all involved. There is no hero here but Jesus.  The story focuses on the years 1993 to 1999. The book does not focus on the causes of Christopher’s homosexuality.  It does note, in passing, on his father as a distant husband and father, and his mother as overbearing. While this fits one main pattern, it is not used in that way. Even in his early exposure to pornography, he was drawn to the men he saw in the pictures.

In many ways the book assumes this is how one is born: nature rather than nurture.  It doesn’t correct this, nor does it necessarily need to. That is not the point of the book. The point is how Christ redeemed them, as well as his father and grandfather. It is the story of how God changed a family by bringing each of them to the ends of themselves.

For her it was having a gay son. She, a Chinese-American, felt great shame. Her plans for her family had been ruined. All her idolatrous longings were stripped away and she wanted to die. It was then that life found her.

For him it was a drug conviction and a diagnosis. What he thought would bring life actually brought him death. But I don’t want to go into details here.

The book moves quickly and is easy to read. It skips chunks of time.  This works for the most part, but I felt I wanted to know more about his struggle with his longings after he got out of prison.  I thought that would be helpful, but perhaps that is another book.

This comes back to expectations. If you are expecting a treatise on homosexuality, this is not it.  It does not address the “bigger issues”.  It is mostly about how these 2 prodigals were brought home, and that pain that was necessary for that to happen.  There is one chapter, Holy Sexuality, that is the closest to a treatise. Christopher talks about his own struggle with Christianity and homosexuality. He comes to a (I think) more biblical and helpful way of looking at things.  When your sexuality (whether heterosexual or homosexual) is your core identity, you are in a bad place as a Christian.  Our identity is to be in Christ.  Then we can walk in obedience whether in marriage (fidelity) or singleness (celibacy). I thought this was the most important chapter in the book. It is a reflection of redemption and finally articulates some of what he believes. The earlier narratives articulate what he believed as one who was running from God.

I think this book will be of assistance to people who either have a homosexual family member or are homosexual and struggling with matters of faith.  They place both as sinners in need of Jesus, and that is a good place to start. I just wish they presented the gospel more clearly.

[I received a copy of this book from the publisher in order to review it.]

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