John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
Love is not optional for the Christian. Not loving others, means we aren't a disciple of Christ. Our neighbor includes anyone and everyone. See also 1 John 4:20. A lack of love other others proves a lack of love for God. Loving God and others is the whole basis of God's Law (Mark 12:29-31). Love must be the foundation of how we interact with others--including those with gender-dysphoria or those who have embrace a transgender identity. So what does loving others look like?
LOVE PROMOTES DIGNITY
All people are made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27). This is foundational to the dignity of every person. We all have inviolable worth and deserve respect. Nothing anyone can do can eradicate the image of God in them. All classes of people, both genders, all sinners possess dignity. Failing to grasp this results in abuse, i.e., Nazi Germany, African slave trade, abortion, etc. We ought not to mock those who claim to be transgender people or abuse them. We ought to hate it when they are bullied. Though we disagree with their sinful choices, we ought to care for them.
LOVE REQUIRES EMPATHY
We need to try and see things from other people's perspective to build relationships with them. Empathy doesn't mean agreement.
Tim Keller said, "You cannot help with a burden unless you come very close to the burdened person."
Have we made genuine efforts to understand people who struggle with gender-dysphoria? Just because their struggles are foreign to us doesn't mean it's ok to mock or not to try and understand them. Instead of rejecting people outright, we ought to make an effort to listen and seek to understand. People struggling with gender-dysphoria may attend our churches, be in our families or show up in the workplace. Are we going to act shocked or disgusted or will we realize God has given us an opportunity to love, listen, understand and share Christ.
LOVE SHARE TRUTH
See 1 Corinthians 13:6. Love rejoices in truth. We cannot send unbelievers signals of approval of their sin. How do we love our neighbors with gender-dysphoria without giving approval of living in a gender opposite of their sex?
Western culture says that love approves of what others do that makes them happy. Scripture says that love speaks truth. We cannot affirm every desire of others when those desires run contrary to God's Word. We must share the Word. Though we love, the world will not perceive it as love. It's not popular to share the truth of God's Word. It will be labeled as "hate speech". We'll be seen as bigots. To affirm that transgender ideology is true is to be unloving and to agree with lies. Yet it is still possible to share the truth in an unloving and self-righteous way. We need to guard against that. Proverbs 15:1 reminds us that a soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger. Speaking truth in love requires relationships, prayer, love and compassion.
LOVE PRODUCES COMPASSION
It's easy to scoff at those who experience gender-dysphoria or who accept this ideology.
Colossians 3:12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience.
As Christians we often get defensive when the world's notions encroach upon us. We attack back sometimes, but must learn compassion. How did Jesus respond to prostitutes or those who were fornicating? Was he shocked? Was he grossed out? Did he laugh or mock at them? Absolutely not. He brought grace to them. He was compassionate. Jesus' "woes" were for the self-righteous. Compassion doesn't mean approval, nor does it mean silence. Compassion sounds like this: "I want you to know that I may not agree with you, but I will never look down on you. You are loved."
LOVE HAS PATIENCE
Compassion means you're confident that the kindness of God in you will help lead a person to repentance.
1 Corinthians 13:4 Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast, it is not arrogant.
There are believers, not just unbelievers, that struggle with gender-dysphoria. This may go away, and it may not. There are sins and things we still struggle with even though we are saved. It's arrogant and self-righteous to act like we don't have our own struggles while condemning people with their struggles. That's why sympathy, empathy, compassion and patience are necessary.
God has been compassionate to us. Isn't that what drew us to Him? The gospel is grace and compassion. Why do we think our smugness will win others to Christ? God has been patient with us. He is still patient with us. No rebellion, ours or others, is enough to put us out of reach of God.
We are not here to win arguments. We are here to love people. So we must be patient with those who hate the gospel and disagree with God's design for gender. We are to display the likeness of God to those who need Christ. We will not gain a hearing by being self-righteous, arrogant, compassionless, impatient or crude to sinners.
FACE TO FACE
In an age of social media, it's easy to attack others when we don't see them face-to-face. Loving relationships requires face-to-face interaction. Those with gender-dysphoria or those who agree with this ideology are real people who believe God's blueprints are wrong. Our struggle is not with them...it's not flesh and blood. They are not the enemy. The church at large really needs to rise up to the occasion and carry a mature mindset, a mature love, a mature commitment to be like God when building relationships with sinners of all sorts.
