A law in Scotland passed on April 1 criminalizes speech deemed insulting to protected groups. The law is intended to protect transgendered people from “hate speech” and it has stirred international controversy. Ross Douthat, commentator for the New York Times, stated that the new law in Scotland could criminalize a comedian’s monologue or public reading of scripture that opposes the ideology of transgenderism.
In the wake of Scotland’s law, commentator John Stonestreet challenged pastors to let their congregations know their opposition to transgender ideology. This is my statement. I offer it for three reasons:
- People who believe they are “transgendered” matter to God in the same way all people do. Their profound confusion, or their willful defiance, places them in a dangerous state of sin. As is the case for anyone who chooses to defy God’s will and plan, their chosen path, if not repented of, leads to what Jesus calls “the outer darkness where there is weeping and gnashing of teeth” (Mt. 22:13). God doesn’t want that for anyone. So I must clearly state the truth both for the sake of those who believe they are transgendered as well as for others, especially children and teenagers, who could be misled by their error.
- The coherence of western culture has been warped by transgender ideology even to the point of rejecting simple scientific fact. This is one more area in which many are now calling evil good and good evil (Is. 5:20). As a Christian, it is my duty to speak the truth.
- Thoughtful free speech is under assault and I as an American should oppose the erosion of this right.
So let me be clear on gender and transgenderism. The very first chapter of the bible states God created humanity in his own image, in the image of God he created then, male and female he created them (Genesis 1:27). Humans are either male or female; there is no truth in the category called “transgender”. (However, a small group of people are “intersex” – meaning they have mal-formed sex organs. This is a different category than transgendered).
Those who place themselves in the category called “transgendered” are choosing self-hatred and self-rejection, and I will not join them in their self-hatred and self-rejection. Some people who believe they are transgendered are vulnerable people who are misled by the false teaching of secular culture; they need compassion, wisdom, and truth gently spoken. Other advocates of transgenderism are different; they are rebellious and crave attention for themselves. In both cases, indulging their false beliefs does not help them. Rather, it enables self-destruction.
The mystery of gender is a profoundly beautiful creation of God. Neither the abuses of masculinity by men nor the distortions of femininity by women nullify the truth that God has in his radiance created us male and female.
I do agree, though, that our human definitions of what it means to be a man or a woman can be horribly confining. I grew up in Pittsburg during the era of “heavy metal” rock music, and the hyper-masculinity of that era sometimes made life miserable for a sensitive male like me. And how much worse for women and girls who were taught that domination by men was their lot in life! I can understand why people urgently need to reject false gender stereotypes.
People who consider themselves transgendered matter to God. They are cherished and longed for by God, and they can have a place in his family if they want it. But they, like all of us, must give up their self-made salvations, trust Jesus’ forgiveness won on the cross, and come into an obedient love relationship with the Savior.
It often seems to me that some sins are more heartily condemned (by Christian believers) than others. The current gender “identity” LBGTQ+ culture clearly upsets and offends many. I like Pastor’s reminder that these are also people loved by God. Sin is sin, and I hope we can all realize that only God is the judge of all our sins, regardless of the form it takes. Compassion for all is what Jesus modeled, and what I aspire to follow.