Pastor’s Post #17: “THE TRANSGENDER REVOLUTION” (04/30’17)

It would seem to be rather simple: In the beginning…God made man (made human beings) in His own image. Male and female, He created them. Humanity is composed of boys and girls, men and women.

But the fall of man into sin – and we must never minimize the effects of that fall – fouled up everything, including maleness and femaleness and the uniquely powerful sexual drives that flow out of now fallen males and females.

We think of sinful lusts that bring fornication and – tragically against the sacredness of the marriage bond and bed – adultery.

And, because of the special relationships constituted within the family, incestuous relations are regarded as unnatural and – as the Word of God says – abominable.

But, likewise, homosexual relations of any sort are condemned by God as unnatural, abominable, and – as the apostle Paul presents in Romans chapter 1 – as a particular form of rebellion against God the Creator: Men and women exchanging natural relations for those that are contrary to nature…consumed with passion for one another (in homosexual activities) and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. The biblical language teems with both implications and applications.

Thankfully, God’s amazing grace in Christ Jesus forgives sins of all sorts, and transforms sinners of all sorts. Those who are guilty of homosexual acts are not excluded. In I Corinthians chapter 6 and verses 9 and 10, both the active and the passive participants in homosexual acts are included in the list of those who will not inherit the Kingdom of God. But – and here we must magnify the love and the power of God in the Gospel – that’s not the end of the story. And such WERE some of you, the apostle Paul continues as he writes under the inspiration of God. But (blessed “but”!) you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God. The Christian Church in all ages has included people delivered from the lifestyles and patterns of conduct which otherwise would have destroyed them. And that includes people who had been guilty of all forms of sexual sin – including male and female homosexuals.

We are living in a day of deep challenges to Christian faith and practice. Those challenges are made more complex by the avalanches of sociological, psychological and medical data that, in so many cases, appear to contradict standards which have, historically, been unquestioned standards of what I’ll simply call “Christian morality.” Everything, it seems, is up for grabs.

It’s quite stunning that in a very, very short time these challenges now bring the most basic distinction of male and female into question. Under the influence of Postmodernism, coupled with extreme individualism, cultural “movers and shakers” now maintain that there is a distinction between sex and gender: Sex, we are told, refers to one’s biological sex determined by birth. Gender, on the other hand, is said to refer to socially constructed roles and behaviors that a particular society has come, for whatever reasons, simply come to consider as what it regards as appropriate for a man or a woman. One’s biological sex may be male or female. But, regardless of one’s biological sex, one’s true identity is determined by how one feels about his or her gender: If a person has a deeply felt sense of being a girl or a woman or a boy or a man (or somewhere in between, or even outside of these categories), that deeply felt individual sense must be honored as one’s true gender identity. And this attitude toward one’s gender must be honored, beginning at the youngest ages when children are developing their personal identities.

Couple this with what has become a medical industry that can perform “sex change operations” and provide hormonal treatments to change the feelings and the appearance of a boy or girl or a man or woman, and you have the stuff of what has been called The Transgender Revolution. You’re faced with it everywhere – and so am I. The January 2017 edition of National Geographic featured the topic of ‘Gender Revolution” and celebrated transgender children. On the cover was a picture of a 9-year old boy dressed as a girl. Inside was a full-page image of a 17-year old girl with a bare chest and scars from her recent mastectomy. “Gender Creativity” was encouraged. And, we were told by National Geographic, children as young as 6 years old could already be “very sure” of their gender identity.

Now without getting into the delicate issues of the very rare cases in which people may be born with genetic or bodily abnormalities that bring some confusion regarding a person’s biological sex – things which can be addressed by medical means and by caring medical and pastoral counsel, with The Transgender Revolution we’re dealing what can only be described as rebellion against God’s work in making man male and female. And rebellion against God’s order in our sexuality – no matter how sophisticated that rebellion may seem to be – will inevitably bring tragic consequences. No one will be satisfied by chemical or surgical means of addressing such profound and painful issues of the heart and the soul. Only God’s grace can penetrate the seat of our emotions, our desires, our struggles, and our internal pain. And it does do that!

Now we are beginning to witness younger and older people who are “coming out” and admitting that medical treatment – treatment that often included the painful defacing of their bodies – was not the solution to their very genuine personal struggles with their sexuality and sexual identity. They are among the casualties of The Transgender Revolution – and they risk great opposition as they tell their stories and earnestly appeal to others not to go down the paths they themselves went.

And – if Christians and the Christian Church would stop condemning and start showing some of the depths of the compassion of Christ, the Savior of sinners – they’ll find a huge field for Gospel ministry. It’s a demanding field. And it requires much patience and love. But it’s a field that holds out great hope and even joy for those who have been swept up in The Transgender Revolution. Jesus Christ is alive and at work! And He is powerfully able to heal people of all forms of sexual sin and its consequences.

As delicate as this issue is, we need to face it honestly and learn how to bring the transforming power of Christ those who are confused and hurting in the area of their sexual identity.

I’m privileged to have two guests with me today. The first is Jamie Dean, a journalist who writes for World magazine. Jamie’s article in a recent issue of World magazine, Suffer the Children, very powerfully drew attention to what’s going on in The Transgender Revolution. The counterpart article, Sounding the Alarm, written by Jamie’s colleague, Sophia Lee, gave a voice to those who are warning others of The Transgender Revolution’s dire consequences.

My second guest is Tim Geiger, a teaching elder in the Presbyterian Church in America, and Executive Director for Harvest USA, a ministry that helps churches bring Gospel hope and help to those struggling in a sexually broken world.

Let’s begin with Jamie Dean. Jamie, welcome to A Visit to the Pastor’s Study…