Note: This was written in response to a claim sometimes made in regards to choices about sexuality. If people see orthodontists to straighten crooked teeth and eye doctors to correct impaired vision, why should someone not also seek to have surgery to alter one's sexual identity on a physical level to match one's internal sense of sexual identity for those struggling with gender dysphoria?
To be clear, as 1 Corinthians 5:12-13 says, "what have I to do with judging outsiders?" Everyone is free to do as they wish. Those outside of Christ will not consider themselves bound to The Bible and thus wouldn't be following it anyway. While of course I think they should, first I think they should get saved by Jesus as they won't be able to fully understand or adhere to His Word otherwise anyway. There is of course much more that could be said on this but this is my concise summary of some of what The Bible says on this. This is an attempt at a Biblical view of the subject and why I believe it's best to accept the sexual identity God has given us rather than fight it.
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A trans person 18 and over is free to do as he or she wishes with his or her body, in regards to body modification via reassignment surgery.
I don't think a child should be allowed to make such a life-altering decision as a child is still mentally developing and may have a change of feelings down the road.
In regards to the common rejoinder mentioned earlier here, I would say this. God did not make anyone with bad vision or crooked teeth. When God saw His creation on the 6th. day, He said it was very good. (Genesis 1:26-31)
Ecclesiastes 7:29 says that God made man to be perfect but man has gone off in search of many schemes.
When man sinned and rebelled against God, the whole was cursed with sin and subjected to futility, as Romans 8 explains. (See also Genesis 3.) This is when bad vision and crooked teeth and other ailments started cropping up. I believe this is also where proclivities toward forbidden sexual relations came up as well. (It's important to note here that being born with a particularity proclivity for a particular sin is of course beyond any person's control. Temptation itself is not sin; acting upon it is though.)
For the other example, if God made someone a brunette, then that person is a brunette. Dying hair to make it blonde does not make that person a blonde. Eventually the dye wears off and the natural roots will grow back out.
The same is true with transgenderism. A person can change outer and inner genitalia and hormone levels but this doesn't change who that person is ultimately. The chromosomes are still the same. Their identity doesn't change in God's eyes.
That said, I don't think it's wrong to dye hair (though I have no desire to do so, particularly because I believe I should be happy with what God has given me in hair color. That is something God gives me. The moral weight of changing sex is quite different from changing hair color, as I don't think there is any for that.) Fixing bad vision and bad teeth is an attempt to temporarily address products of the fall that will one day permanently be fixed with a new body in Heaven for all those in Christ.
The distinction with transgenderism is that God has forbidden sexual relations with the same sex. (Romans 1 is a particularly good passage for this but note also Jesus' words in Matthew 19.) A transgender person engaging in sexual relations with his or her birth sex after transition would thus be violating the command against homosexual relations.
And in Deuteronomy 22:5, The Bible also forbids cross-dressing. Thus, it would follow that a transgender person wearing clothing of the opposite sex, even after having had transitional surgery, would still be violating this command.
This is simply not God's design and trying to rebel against it simply continues to subject transgender people to futility. Note what God says in Romans 9:20-24. Does He not have the right as Creator to make His creation as He sees fit? The clay can't tell the potter that it doesn't like the design- the clay has no say in the matter.
2 Corinthians 4:7 says we have this treasure- that each person made in God's image is- in jars of clay. The surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. Jesus says we can find rest for our souls in Him. (Matthew 11:28) Ultimately, He is the One we can and should take our dsyphorias in life to so we can have that rest in trusting our lives to the hands of our loving Creator.
In the end, when we are saved through faith in Jesus' death and Resurrection, we'll find the restoration and satisfaction we desire through Him in Heaven. Until we get to Heaven, He helps us along the way here in the far country in dealing with these groanings. There is a day coming when all shall be well eternally and that's what I look forward to in the midst of this present suffering, knowing that the weight of glory coming far outweighs anything I go through here.
(For further reading, I found this article from "Christianity Today" extremely helpful and gracious in talking about and understanding a Christian response to this topic.
https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/july-august/understanding-transgender-gender-dysphoria.html )
Showing posts with label transgender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label transgender. Show all posts
Sunday, November 24, 2019
Sunday, September 24, 2017
Transcending Transgendering
Note: I have previously addressed this topic and I wanted to talk on some other points with this issue here. As before, I always want to be very careful in discussing topics in general and particularly controversial ones. Thus, I'll reiterate what I said previously as a precursor. This piece is largely based in response to reading an excellent article from Christianity Today addressing this topic.
Yarhouse, Mark. “Understanding the Transgender Phenomenon.” ChristianityToday.com, Christianity Today, 8 June 2015, www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2015/july-august/understanding-transgender-gender-dysphoria.html. Accessed 24 Sept. 2017
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I wanted to offer my thoughts here on a topic that has become of great public scrutiny and debate in America in recent years. It is one that (pun intended) engenders strong emotions on either side of things. As always, I hope to be gracious in talking about sensitive matters and always remember that there are always sinners behind the sin and I am just as sinful and in need of grace as anyone else. I also want to be very clear about what I am discussing here and what I am not saying here. I want to talk about the subject of transgenderism and a Christian response to it. One of the clearest verses in The Bible about this issue is found in Deuteronomy 22:5, wherein The Lord forbids men from wearing women's clothing and women from wearing men's clothing. I think any Christian struggling with these sexual identity questions must consider this verse, along with Jesus' words in Matthew 19, wherein He reiterates Genesis 1:26-27, wherein God made people male and female. God has put His design in place and I don't think it is our place to tamper with it.
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I think society assigns certain qualities and tasks suited to particular sexes and that may be part of the problem. If a boy is interested in learning how to sew or pursue dance as a career (for example), he may get told those are somehow "feminine" pursuits. If a girl is interested in playing football for her school or working as a barber or car mechanic, she might get told those are somehow "masculine" pursuits. (And girls generally get the label "tomboy". Interesting how there doesn't seem to be a "tomgirl" equivalent- boys just usually get the label of "gay" instead.)
I personally think boys and girls
and men and women should be free to engage in whatever pursuits they are
interested in doing. As for the cross-dressing angle, that may come from a
natural curiosity about the opposite sex. I have heard some transgender
people refer to their feelings as being like in clothes that don't fit- some
sort of discomfort with who they are. Of course, I am not sure how those
feelings manifest themselves for individual transgender people- I suppose
everyone has different experiences though, as the article indicates.
How does this mesh with Colossians 3:1-4 and Galatians 2:20 and 2 Corinthians 5:17 for a Christian though? If my identity is in Christ and no one else and nothing else- then does anything else matter? If there's no Jew or Greek or slave or free or male or female in Christ- but rather we are all one in Him (Galatians 3:28)- then maybe that is the answer. We focus on our identity in Christ and not in anything else, despite what our feelings may tell us. I know there are numerous times my feelings would have me identifying more with a hellbound sinner than a Heavenbound redeemed child of God, but I don't trust my feelings because I know they're fickle and often lie. I put my faith and trust in the facts of God's Word and His love for me instead and I trust that when I obeyed Romans 10:9 and confessed Christ as Lord and Saviour and decided to follow Him, He is faithful to do what He said He would do.
And I believe we are all called to endure as followers of Christ. (Philippians 3:14 speaks to this- Yes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That word "do" there is better translated as "endure"- especially when read in the context of the rest of the chapter- and the context of the letter itself, written from a Philippian prison.)
Hebrews 12:1-3- Let's fix our eyes on Jesus and set aside every sin that so easily entangles us and run the race with endurance. (See also 2 Timothy 2:10-12, 2 Corinthians 1:6, Hebrews 13:12-14, Revelation 14:12)
We do this even if it means it feels that we have to deny our feelings and yes, even our selves in order to do it. That's exactly what Jesus called us to do- deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him. (Luke 9:23) And don't forget that in addressing transgender people, we must always greet them with both lenses of integrity and compassion, as the article talked about. Because, as 1 Corinthians 13 tells us, Love endures all things. And Jesus said we must love one another. (John 13:34-35)
How does this mesh with Colossians 3:1-4 and Galatians 2:20 and 2 Corinthians 5:17 for a Christian though? If my identity is in Christ and no one else and nothing else- then does anything else matter? If there's no Jew or Greek or slave or free or male or female in Christ- but rather we are all one in Him (Galatians 3:28)- then maybe that is the answer. We focus on our identity in Christ and not in anything else, despite what our feelings may tell us. I know there are numerous times my feelings would have me identifying more with a hellbound sinner than a Heavenbound redeemed child of God, but I don't trust my feelings because I know they're fickle and often lie. I put my faith and trust in the facts of God's Word and His love for me instead and I trust that when I obeyed Romans 10:9 and confessed Christ as Lord and Saviour and decided to follow Him, He is faithful to do what He said He would do.
And I believe we are all called to endure as followers of Christ. (Philippians 3:14 speaks to this- Yes, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. That word "do" there is better translated as "endure"- especially when read in the context of the rest of the chapter- and the context of the letter itself, written from a Philippian prison.)
Hebrews 12:1-3- Let's fix our eyes on Jesus and set aside every sin that so easily entangles us and run the race with endurance. (See also 2 Timothy 2:10-12, 2 Corinthians 1:6, Hebrews 13:12-14, Revelation 14:12)
We do this even if it means it feels that we have to deny our feelings and yes, even our selves in order to do it. That's exactly what Jesus called us to do- deny ourselves, take up our crosses and follow Him. (Luke 9:23) And don't forget that in addressing transgender people, we must always greet them with both lenses of integrity and compassion, as the article talked about. Because, as 1 Corinthians 13 tells us, Love endures all things. And Jesus said we must love one another. (John 13:34-35)
To clarify my stance on
sexual ethics regarding homosexuality, which I mention because it often gets brought up alongside transgenderism even though the two are not necessarily related- yes, I do believe The Bible condemns all homosexual relationships,
loving and committed or otherwise. (Genesis 1-3, [particularly Genesis 1:26-27
and Genesis 2:24], Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1, 1 Corinthians
6:9-11, 1 Timothy 1:8-10, Matthew 5:17-20 and Matthew 5:27-32, Matthew 19,
among others.)
One interesting thing to point out with this- "loving and committed" is a phrase often used to describe marriage and well it should be. People argue that same sex unions can be of the same descriptors. However, I don't know that whether a relationship is of a monogamous nature is the only determinant of whether it's right. People can also be loving and committed to worshiping and serving money, but that is the sin of idolatry and Jesus says you can't serve both money and God. (Matthew 6:24) The reason for this relationship being a sin is not about the level of love and commitment; rather, it's about the object of desire. We should have that kind of love for God alone. Indeed, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, as 1 Timothy 6:10 tells us.
Another point to consider is the meaning of the word "love" itself. The Bible defines God as love in 1 John 4:8. He is the One who sets the standard for what love really is- in fact, we only love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) God's nature is complementarian within the Triune Godhead. God The Father, God The Son Jesus Christ and God The Holy Spirit- Three in One. (John 17 and Genesis 1 and others still speak to this.) God made human beings in His image- male and female He created them. Males and females model that image of complementarianism and are made to follow in the pattern He set in place. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24, which Jesus quoted in Matthew 19)
Of course, 1 Corinthians 13, a passage often quoted at weddings, gives us insight into the nature of love as well. One key verse here tells us that love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with The Truth. (see 1 Corinthians 13:6) Jesus said He is The Way, The Truth and The Life- No man comes to The Father but by Him. (John 14:6) God is Love. (1 John 4:8) There is complete harmony within the Godhead, thus Love rejoices with The Truth. Jesus said if we love Him, we will obey Him. (John 14:15) Jesus upheld the model of human sexuality as one man and one woman united in holy matrimony for life. Any other sexual union outside of that model is sin. Any form of homosexual relationship is sin, as The Bible plainly declares in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. (Note too that this whole chapter and the previous one deals with sexual immorality, so it's keeping in that context.)
And if nature itself teaches us that it's a shame for men to have long hair (1 Corinthians 11:14), then I think nature can also teach us the order God has designed for sexuality, as procreation only works one way- between a man and a woman united in marriage.
(Which is in keeping with Romans 1, which also tells us that nature reveals the existence of God to us; the heavens declare His glory, as Psalms 19 says.)
What do we say to those struggling with such things? If they are in Christ, they are a new creature- the old has gone and the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Our identity is found solely in Christ- He lives in us now. (Colossians 3:1-4, Galatians 2:20) Though God made us to be perfect and we sinned and went in search of many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29), Jesus came to pay for all sins through His death on the cross and Resurrection. When we put faith in Him, we have salvation from sin and hell and instead an eternity with Christ in Heaven! And Jesus came to give us life- and life abundant. (John 10:10) I believe He helps us live that life abundant in the here and now, though this life is surely beset with trials and troubles. That suffering comes with being human because of the curse of sin in the world, but it also comes with being a Christ follower, as it's something Jesus promised we would have when we follow Him. (Just see Matthew 5 for one such reference and John 15:18 and Matthew 10:22)
Jesus speaks to the plight of eunuchs in Matthew 19 as well, and I think intersex people and all who struggle with gender dysphoria and homosexuality could fall in that category. There is a word there for them too and God loves them as He loves all people and has a good plan in mind for their lives as well. (Psalms 138:8, John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:8-9, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 and 12:1-10, Philippians 4:1-14)
But we also know that we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world! (John 16:33) We have the victory in Him! And one day, we will have complete deliverance from these bodies that still stray into sin at times- one day we will be completely healed forever in our new bodies in Heaven! (see 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 21-22)
Until that time comes, we must continue to love as Jesus loves- love God first with all we've got and love our neighbours as ourselves and speak The Truth in Love as we preach The Gospel to all people! (Matthew 22:34-40, Ephesians 4:15, Matthew 28:18-20)
One interesting thing to point out with this- "loving and committed" is a phrase often used to describe marriage and well it should be. People argue that same sex unions can be of the same descriptors. However, I don't know that whether a relationship is of a monogamous nature is the only determinant of whether it's right. People can also be loving and committed to worshiping and serving money, but that is the sin of idolatry and Jesus says you can't serve both money and God. (Matthew 6:24) The reason for this relationship being a sin is not about the level of love and commitment; rather, it's about the object of desire. We should have that kind of love for God alone. Indeed, the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil, as 1 Timothy 6:10 tells us.
Another point to consider is the meaning of the word "love" itself. The Bible defines God as love in 1 John 4:8. He is the One who sets the standard for what love really is- in fact, we only love because He first loved us. (1 John 4:19) God's nature is complementarian within the Triune Godhead. God The Father, God The Son Jesus Christ and God The Holy Spirit- Three in One. (John 17 and Genesis 1 and others still speak to this.) God made human beings in His image- male and female He created them. Males and females model that image of complementarianism and are made to follow in the pattern He set in place. "For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife and the two shall become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24, which Jesus quoted in Matthew 19)
Of course, 1 Corinthians 13, a passage often quoted at weddings, gives us insight into the nature of love as well. One key verse here tells us that love does not delight in evil, but rejoices with The Truth. (see 1 Corinthians 13:6) Jesus said He is The Way, The Truth and The Life- No man comes to The Father but by Him. (John 14:6) God is Love. (1 John 4:8) There is complete harmony within the Godhead, thus Love rejoices with The Truth. Jesus said if we love Him, we will obey Him. (John 14:15) Jesus upheld the model of human sexuality as one man and one woman united in holy matrimony for life. Any other sexual union outside of that model is sin. Any form of homosexual relationship is sin, as The Bible plainly declares in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11. (Note too that this whole chapter and the previous one deals with sexual immorality, so it's keeping in that context.)
And if nature itself teaches us that it's a shame for men to have long hair (1 Corinthians 11:14), then I think nature can also teach us the order God has designed for sexuality, as procreation only works one way- between a man and a woman united in marriage.
(Which is in keeping with Romans 1, which also tells us that nature reveals the existence of God to us; the heavens declare His glory, as Psalms 19 says.)
What do we say to those struggling with such things? If they are in Christ, they are a new creature- the old has gone and the new has come! (2 Corinthians 5:17) Our identity is found solely in Christ- He lives in us now. (Colossians 3:1-4, Galatians 2:20) Though God made us to be perfect and we sinned and went in search of many schemes (Ecclesiastes 7:29), Jesus came to pay for all sins through His death on the cross and Resurrection. When we put faith in Him, we have salvation from sin and hell and instead an eternity with Christ in Heaven! And Jesus came to give us life- and life abundant. (John 10:10) I believe He helps us live that life abundant in the here and now, though this life is surely beset with trials and troubles. That suffering comes with being human because of the curse of sin in the world, but it also comes with being a Christ follower, as it's something Jesus promised we would have when we follow Him. (Just see Matthew 5 for one such reference and John 15:18 and Matthew 10:22)
Jesus speaks to the plight of eunuchs in Matthew 19 as well, and I think intersex people and all who struggle with gender dysphoria and homosexuality could fall in that category. There is a word there for them too and God loves them as He loves all people and has a good plan in mind for their lives as well. (Psalms 138:8, John 3:16, 2 Peter 3:8-9, 2 Corinthians 1:3-7 and 12:1-10, Philippians 4:1-14)
But we also know that we can take heart because Jesus has overcome the world! (John 16:33) We have the victory in Him! And one day, we will have complete deliverance from these bodies that still stray into sin at times- one day we will be completely healed forever in our new bodies in Heaven! (see 1 Corinthians 15 and Revelation 21-22)
Until that time comes, we must continue to love as Jesus loves- love God first with all we've got and love our neighbours as ourselves and speak The Truth in Love as we preach The Gospel to all people! (Matthew 22:34-40, Ephesians 4:15, Matthew 28:18-20)
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