Ten years ago, transgenderism was hardly on anyone's radar. Today it is at the forefront of social issues.
QUESTIONS NEEDING ANSWERS
1. Can a man become a woman? Can a woman become a man?
2. How and when should children be confronted with the debates about gender?
3. What are we to do with children who are a member of one biological sex but feel as though they were born in the wrong body?
4. What do we say to someone experiencing these feelings and desires?
5. How do we love and help those who are deeply hurting?
This is about understanding that goes beyond gender. It's about what it means to be human, how we got here and what role God plays in all of this. All this will be covered later, but first we have to know how we got here. Many avenue have taken us to the transgender debate. Let's look at a few prominent ones.
(1). RELATIVISM - Relativism is now embedded in our Western culture whether we know it or not. Relativism says that meaning and truth are relative or subjective. In other words, what's right for one person may be wrong for another person. Relativism is easily identified when someone says there's no such thing as absolute truth or in phrases like "live your truth" or "you do you". This is the ethic of our culture. Relativism appears to be non-judgmental on the surface as it denies that there is no one right way to understand the world. Any attempt to make objective claims of reality, according to relativism, is just a way to gain power over someone else.
(2). POST-CHRISTENDOM - By most statistics, Christianity is on the decline in the West. Thus, the moral truths that Christians teach are having less of an impact on our culture. Fewer people attend church. Biblical literacy is on the decline. With less Christian influence on our culture, the opportunity for opposing view to replace Christianity increases and worldly morality will be accepted as norm. Over the last generation there has been a growing acceptance of lgtbq+ community. Marriage has declined and people are living together as the norm. When all of these values are place alongside Christian values, we are seen as bigoted and hateful.
Every society has a morality. The questions is: whose morality is going to be supreme? When one moral framework gives way, another will take its place. Knowing that Christian morality is being supplanted by worldly morals, we will be on the wrong side of popular culture.
The most influential areas of American culture (colleges, media, entertainment, art, law, businesses) are no longer influenced by Christianity. The leaders of these arenas are not Christian and they do not like Christian morals or values.
(3). RADICAL INDIVIDUALISM - Individualism says that what you want is the highest good. It believes that it's immoral to tell others that his/her choices or believes are wrong. The greatest sin, in this philosophy, is judging other. Interestingly enough, these beliefs are self-defeating in that they are judging others as immoral when others don't follow their mantra.
In many parts of the world, individualism is not a major philosophy. In those culture the question are geared towards the group or tribe. What is best for us?
(4). SEXUAL REVOLUTION - If it feels good, do it. The sexual revolution of the 60's gave rise to this notion. The sexual revolution emphasized that our bodies are our own and should be used to enjoy whatever we want. It was during this time that hormonal contraception was popularized and approved by the FDA. Prior to this, sexual activity carried a greater risk when it came to pregnancies outside of marriage, which was often frowned upon. But the growing and widespread use of "the pill" helped fuel this notion that sex outside of marriage was wrong since one of the major consequences was reduced. The legalization of abortion in 1973 would soon follow on the heels of "the pill" making the social risks of premarital sex even less. The sexual revolution led to declining marriage rates and increased divorce rates.
(5). GNOSTICISM - Gnosticism has been around a long time. Even the letter of 1 John deals with issues related to Gnosticism. Gnosticism taught that matter was bad and that the spiritual realm was good. Thus, what mattered was a person's self-awareness and spiritual being, not what they did with their bodies. Gnosticism has to do with attaining this higher knowledge of who you really are, not what you physically are.
In the letter of 1 John the apostle was combatting a couple problems. One problem was that false teachers were claiming that the Christ did not actually take on flesh but only appeared to take on flesh since God, who is pure, would not take on flesh, which is impure. John argues that the Christ was indeed human. The other false idea that John was combatting had to do with how we lived in our bodies. Some were living in habitual sin and being taught that what you did with your body didn't matter since your spirit was pure. John writes to defeat this heresy.
In our culture Gnosticism is alive. It shows up in this transgender debate: that your body and soul are separate. It proclaims that your body doesn't matter. Your inward perception of your true being is what matters.
You can see, then, how transgender ideology takes its cues from relativism, the sexual revolution and Gnosticism and it thrives in a post-Christian culture.
NT Wright has observed: "The Gnostic, one who 'knows', has discovered the secrete of 'who I really am'. This involves denying the goodness, or even the ultimate reality, of the natural world.
Wright goes on to say that vulnerable and impressionable youngsters are going to eventually pay the price for these fashionable fantasies that are pushed by the elders of our society.
These ideas and movements that we have just examined mean two things for us Christians in our current climate. (1). It is wrong to judge someone else's morality. (2). It is wrong to fail to fulfill your desires. These are two sins that our postmodern, post-Christian, individualistic, sexualized world will not tolerate or permit the Christian to speak against.
DO GOOD - We will increasingly find ourselves on the wrong side of culture. But we are reminded that we need to not grow weary of doing good because we will reap a good harvest if we do not give us (Galatians 6:9).
As Christians we must not call evil good, nor good evil. We cannot simply follow the culture because it has moved. God has placed us where we are to live out godly lives even if it puts us at odds with society. So we must think about how to speak and how to do good when it comes to dealing with real people with real pain that are part of this issue.
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