Anchored in Christ

The moral revolution the western world is experiencing attacks against truths woven into the fabric of life. Rejecting truth as instituted by God in His created order comes with serious baggage.

Case in point is an article that recently appeared at the New York Times called “How Changeable is Gender?” In this article, Richard Friedman, a professor of clinical psychiatry at Weill Cornell Medical College, exposes a flaw in one of the most perpetuated narratives in the transgender movement that he supports: that gender only has meaning because society gives it meaning. He writes:

But if gender were nothing more than a social convention, why was it necessary for Caitlyn Jenner to undergo facial surgeries, take hormones and remove her body hair? The fact that some transgender individuals use hormone treatment and surgery to switch gender speaks to the inescapable biology at the heart of gender identity.

Or said another way: if gender is only a social construct, then why do so many seek (and encourage) a biological change?

The fact is, the social construct argument can’t stand up to it’s own logic. Denying reality, especially God’s good reality imposed at creation, has to reject logic at some point.

Some have compared much of what is happening in the transgender revolution to Hans Christian Andersen’s story The Emperor’s New Clothes, where people tell each other all is well just like people told the naked emperor his “clothing” looked great—but deep down they can’t deny the truths woven deep into the fabric of life (Romans 1:20).

Friedman’s article continues and shares a few findings unpopular among those who wave the transgender flag:

• One study of Swedish transsexuals reported a 19x greater suicide rate after sex reassignment surgery
• 41 percent of transgender and gender nonconforming individuals attempt suicide at some point in their lifetime compared with 4.6 percent of the general public
• Studies also show that when children have gender dysphoria, a good percentage grow out of it. Friedman says, “gender dysphoria in young children is highly unstable and likely to change.” Many today are quick to encourage sex-reassignment surgery (even some among youth) and should take these study results to heart.

Seeing statistics like that and hearing stories about people not comfortable in their gender is heart-breaking. They are even more heart-breaking when you look at it from a spiritual perspective.

Romans 1 shows this is the evidence of rejecting God and His Word. Rejecting God leads to men becoming wise in their own eyes, leading to them becoming fools with futile thinking (Romans 1:21-22).

How is a Christian to think of the transgender revolution? Or love their transgender neighbor?

No different than the way we think about anything else or love anyone else.

Every human being is made in God’s image and has tremendous worth in His sight (Genesis 1:26-27). Every human is also made in the image of Adam (Genesis 5:3) and are by nature sinners who reject God. We live in what one pastor calls “The Enigma of a Double Image”—both made in the image of God and the image of sinful man.

We need to respond in compassion, because living in the effects of a fallen world is tragic and should cause us to mourn. We should respond by speaking the truth in love when opportunities present themselves.

The good news is that Romans doesn’t end after chapter one. There is hope for those who trust in Christ and are cleansed by His blood.

Let us be people of prayer who keep these truths in mind when we see a new story or deal with gender-related issues closer to home.

“God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8