Jennifer Knapp recently announced publicly that she was a homosexual. For those of you who do not know, Jennifer was big in the so-called Christian music scene a decade ago before vanishing off the map. She now returns with a new look, a new album, a new girlfriend.

We here will not send her to hell. (Sorry.) We at S&S (you may want to sit down for this) still see her as a sister. Our little sister. But just like with any family member who messes up, although we still love her, we are disappointed. Why?

There is now some more fuel for the opposition fire, and we have another seeming lose-lose situation.

Jennifer, whose music I love and who undoubtedly struggled with the whole issue, comes out now. That itself makes me sad that she lost the battle, so to speak. I hope she is sincere when she implies that she is hoping that God will continue to direct her. I think her struggle was genuine, and that she is being honest now. That’s a trait I have always admired in her.

What is worse though, I think, is that Jennifer is coming across as "Well, this is who I am. God made me this way." The CNN article I read was hardly detailed enough for me to read that much out of it, but it at least appears that way.

So, we have a former darling of Christian music, who undoubtedly has many fans, now coming out and pretty much saying it's OK to be gay, to be who you really are.

Whom I feel very sorry for are the kids who followed her, who looked to her as a role model or "star" and may themselves be struggling with homosexuality but are fighting the good fight. Now what? "Well, Jennifer came out and God still loves her and maybe He did make her that way. Maybe I was meant to be that way, as well." End of struggle.

Let me illustrate. It’s as if my pastor came out and said, "You know, I have been struggling with looking at other women for years. But I went father than looking; I admit now that I have had an extramarital affair with another woman for years. But you know, these urges... God made me that way. I think God’s cool with that!”

Now imagine that all the men in the congregation who love and admire my pastor heard this. The wise would call him on it, the not-as-wise would leave the church without a comment or throw him into hellfire. But the weaker ones would say, "Wow. Maybe he is right. And if he is my role model, then I will model his role and go out and find another woman, something I have always wanted to do."

Bottom line. I love Jennifer. I pray the best for her. But coming out and saying pretty much "Just accept me, because this is who I am" may cause irreparable damage in the lives of kids who are struggling.

(And there will be the people in the church who will send her to hell. They, of course, will get the publicity. We will all be guilty of damning Jennifer to hell just by association. Gotta love America!)

I think Jennifer’s Coming Out Party just made our job a little harder.