Boy Erased

Jared! Why are you upset, honey?

I want my jersey.

Well, it's because it's dirty.

I want it.

You know, today is your first day at school.

What?

You like to play something in particular?

Uh, soccer.

You like to play soccer. And?

And basketball!

What's your favorite color?

Uh...

Uh, blue and yellow.

Blue... And yellow.

And yellow.

What would you like to be when you grow up?

Motorcycle driver!

Bye! Hi!

Jared. You should come down for breakfast.

I wish none of this had ever happened.

But sometimes, I thank God that it did.

MARSHALL". Please, repeat after me. Let your light shine.

Let your light shine.

Now, let me see a show of hands

for those of you in this room who are imperfect.

Everybody.

That's right.

And a show of hands for everybody in this room who is perfect.

Nobody. Amen.

I am blessed with a beautiful and deeply soulful wife.

And with a fine, upstanding,

and honest son.

I'm a lucky man.

And I'm grateful for those blessings.

Please don't do that. You know that makes me nervous.

What if a truck comes along and hits your arm?

It's never gonna happen. It's happened before.

It has. It has.

Good morning. Welcome to Love in Action.

Hi.

Name?

Uh, Nancy Eamons.

Oh, um, the boy, I mean.

Unless you're the one checking in. Jared Eamons.

Got you right here.

Great. Do you want to say your good byes?

Can I see the place?

I'm afraid you won't be allowed beyond the reception area, Mrs. Eamons,

but you can pick him up at 5:00 p.m. Oh.

Okay.

It's okay, Mom.

Well, call me any time. I'll be at the hotel on my cell phone.

Uh, we will be holding his cell phone.

If there are any emergencies, we will contact you.

But otherwise, 5:00 p.m.

You'll do great.

Love you.

Newbie. Eamons.

Empty your pockets.

Do you have any numbers or photos we should be concerned about?

We'll check it daily and call any number at random,

so you best be straight with us on that.

There's nothing. And, yeah, call whatever numbers if you need to.

“Sobriety. No smoking, no alcohol or drugs."

"Off hours. All clients to remain within a safe zone area as designated.“

"Attire. Women's skirts must extend below the knee

"and bras are to be worn at all times."

What's that?

on, it's, um... I write stories.

I'm studying in a college...

No journaling. We're gonna have to read that.

"Confidentiality.

"All matters discussed in therapy are to remain private."

"Restrooms.

"Members must be supervised by staff during restroom visits."

Your handbook. Oh, yeah.

Good luck.

Thank you.

"No viewing of pornographic material, no masturbation,

"no physical contact with any member at any time,

"apart from the briefest ofhandshakesf

Michael for Aaron,

how many clients are we expecting today?

Copy, Michael. Hold, please.

Uh, just one second, Jared.

We should have 11 today.

Well, we have more in the lobby.

It's okay. We should get another five minutes.

Copy.

Jared, if you just want to go find yourself a seat

and then make yourself comfortable. We'll get started soon.

Hi. Hi.

Morning.

Hi.

"Sinful, salacious, and extraneous materials.

"All reading material and films and television

"are off limits while inside the program."

lam using sexual sin and homosexuality

to fill a God-shaped void in my life.

lam using sexual sin and homosexuality

to fill a God-shaped void in my life.

But I am not broken, and God loves me.

But I am not broken, and God loves me.

Good. That is very true.

Now somebody tell me what this is.

AUDIENCE MEMBER; A dollar.

VICTORIA dollar.

Now, no matter how much you crumple up a dollar bill,

you can never take away its value.

Now even if you were to rip it,

which would represent our being severed from Christ,

well, guess what?

You can always tape it back together.

Jesus puts us back together.

And even though there is a scar, our value does not change.

You are somebody. Sorry.

You are worth something. That's okay, Jon. Sit down.

And that is a fact. Don't spend it all at once, Phillip.

Now, this may be the toughest, but most rewarding

12 days that many of you will ever face.

But we have just one task,

to bring ourselves back to God.

To invite him back in.

To understand how he truly meant to create us

before all those pieces got torn away.

Now, look, I know the road here wasn't easy for many of you.

But I promise a smoother ride now that you're here.

Because we are about to go on an amazing journey together.

So, who's ready?

That was a question. Who's ready? Say amen!

Amen.

Amen! If you know you're worth a dollar, say amen!

Amen!

Welcome to the Refuge program! Come on!

That's right, great souls! Great!

Now, I'm gonna tell you something

that's gonna make you immediately feel a little better.

People tell you you can be born gay, that's not true.

You cannot be born a homosexual, this is a lie.

Now, I'm a counselor and a pastor, but was I born that way?

NQ

It's behavioral. It's a choice.

Cameron, you, you, uh, play football? Yeah?

Yeah. Were you born that way?

No. No.

Now, you chose to be a football player, right?

It's behavior.

Now, if you... If Cameron stops playing football,

he no longer is a football player.

We gotta learn for ourselves where behavior comes from

so we can cut it out

and then we can no longer be labeled that way.

Now, who can tell us what a genogram is?

Phillip.

Well, a genogram is like a family tree... Mmm.

...only one that shows patterns of family behavior as well.

Sort of like an illustrated one.

Yes. Now, we are going to draw our family tree

and we're gonna list next to these people their behavioral sin.

So, they made us

and they labeled us, so we're gonna label them.

Michael, can you read the behavioral sins?

We use the letters SSA or H

to label same sex attraction or homosexuality,

D for drugs,

a dollar sign for gambling,

A, alcoholism,

P, promiscuity,

M, mental illness,

capital A, lowercase B for abortion,

capital P, lowercase O for pornography,

and C or G, criminal or gang affiliation.

You're forgetting DV, domestic violence.

Capital D, lowercase V, domestic violence.

Okay. Guys, let's dive right in.

Let's grab some cards and some markers.

I want you to write them down

and put the letters next to their names.

I know they're family,

but I can guarantee that one or some of these people

are the reason that you're at Love in Action.

So, Jared, you must be the preacher's son.

You know or you don't know.

What's the question mark for?

Uncle Chris is an alcoholic.

Hmm.

Well, this must be pretty tough on your family, huh?

Give ear, O my people, to my law.

Incline your ears to the words of my mouth.

I will open my mouth in a parable.

I will utter dark sayings which we have heard.

No.

Sounds good, Dad.

Are you ready? We gotta get going.

Why are we going to Dallas tomorrow?

Architect's updated the, uh, remodel plans for the ministry.

Now we're gonna take a tour of two similar churches right there.

Do you think I could stay at Chloe's when you go instead?

It's okay, I can stay at Wayne's.

Or... Or, I'll just... I'm okay with that.