Understanding Transgenderism Biblically
Things are getting worse than confusing. Currently, Facebook lists 58 options for gender. Where we once simply checked male or female on applications, today we have options like Cis, Pangender, Gender fluid, etc. Add to this the push for everything to be gender neutral and you begin to comprehend the tidal wave of confusion. Transgenderism is on the rise—which speaks volumes about our culture and our desire to please self rather than God. What was once considered strange or abomination is now becoming normalized.
When multiple messages are being sent, look to the source of truth.
We are living in a culture in which everything is permissible, and it is considered hateful (or sinful) to tell someone “no” or to point out that a particular behavior is wrong in the eyes of God. And thus, men rely on their own hearts to discern what is right and what is wrong.
Here’s what I intend to teach my children about transgenderism
Today people are making the choice to change their gender through surgical means and hormone therapy. People suffering from gender dysphoria believe having sexual reassignment surgery will “fix” their feelings of distress and sadness. But we should ask: How do you know what your heart is telling you will ultimately bring you joy and peace?
Remind them that their own decisions in the past have led to heartache and problems. Not coincidentally, research has shown that trying to change biological sex does not bring more happiness. Paul McHugh reported research in the Wall Street Journal that revealed people who undergo sex reassignment surgery do not, statistically, report higher levels of happiness (see Paul McHugh, 2016, “Transgender Surgery Isn’t the Solution,” WSJ online). We cannot rely on our own hearts to bring us joy and peace.
God created man in His image (Genesis 1:26-27). No amount of surgery or hormone therapy can change the sex chromosomes (XX or XY) that someone is born with. He created us male and female (Genesis 1:27) and declared that it was very good (v. 31). God, in His infinite wisdom did not make these biological sexes interchangeable.
Additionally, God created males and females to compliment each other so that we can become one flesh and have children (Genesis 1:28; 2:23-24). This was all by God’s design and is good. When someone rejects the biological sex God gave them, and His incredible blueprint for men and women, they are not rejecting us—they are rejecting God and His design.
Remember when Jesus was asked about marriage He took the Pharisees all the way back to the Garden of Eden and pointed out God’s original plan (Matthew 19:4-6): “And He answered and said to them, ‘Have you not read that He who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.’”
Andrew Walker, in his book God and the Transgender Debate, observed: “Don’t miss what Jesus is saying here:
- We are created people.
- We are created male or female.
- A man is someone who is able to become one flesh—have full sexual intercourse—with a woman, and a woman is someone who is able to become one flesh with a man.
- What God does people should not seek to undo. (pg 59). By rejecting their biological sex that God gave them they are trying to assert their own authority over God—just like Adam and Eve in the garden.
Ultimately, transgender individuals are rejecting Jesus. Just like all people, these individuals need Jesus. If we are going to win this battle we must stop looking upon the transgendered in revulsion and start looking at them as lost souls.
Jesus Christ is the only one who can bring true freedom and change to these people who feel trapped inside a biological body that does not feel right. Give grace. Have patience with them. But remember ultimately Who it is that created us male and female.