Back in college, long before I became a Christian, I worked in a bookstore. It was one of my favorite jobs, despite the pain the lights caused, and constantly being overstimulated by noise and interacting with people. Why? Because I was around books all the time, and I had coworkers I liked. It’s hard to beat that.

One of my coworkers was a young man, a few years younger than me. We’d gotten to be friends. Over time, he shared that he was gay, and it had been difficult for his family to unde...