26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” (Genesis 1:26–27 ESV)
God called me into full-time pastoral ministry approximately 45 years ago. As a young, idealistic pastor, I never imagined the cultural, social, educational and ecclesiastical changes that would occur in understanding what it means to be human. I was unprepared for the quickness of the sexual revolution and the secular culture’s relentless demand to submit to an unbiblical anthropology.
Admittedly, my essays on Gender Identity are an all too brief treatment of an increasingly controversial subject; not only in the secular culture but also within the evangelical church.
Recently, the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) at its annual meeting in June, 2023, approved by a vote of 1,089-793 an overture urging the United States Federal Government to ‘renounce the sin’ of promoting irreversible sex change procedures for children. A commission within the denomination is tasked with drafting the petition. I am curious as to why 793 pastors and voting members present at the annual meeting voted against this overture?
The proposal cited multiple scientific studies that suggest such medical and surgical interventions are a rejection of science and that the epidemic 900% increase in gender dysphoria among girls during the past eight years is primarily driven by social contamination from contemporary social, educational, and cultural influences
Concurrently, the PCA congregations in Canada are facing an even greater crisis. In 2022, the Canadian Parliament passed Bill C-4 which makes counseling that does not affirm homosexuality or transgender identity, a crime punishable by up to five years in prison.
In contrast, the liberal Presbyterian Church USA (PCUSA) has supported transgender procedures for minors. In Kentucky, the denomination recently petitioned the governor to veto a bill banning such procedures in the state.
“We can no longer take it for granted that non-Christians around us agree on the basic definition of male and female,” writes Pastor Christopher J. Gordon, of Escondido United Reformed Church, Escondido, CA. “Our institutions have embraced concepts such as gender fluidity and call believers to declared their preferred pronouns and accept whatever view of gender is espoused by those around them.”
How is the evangelical church, and individual believers, to respond to such a sexual quagmire? Here are a few biblical suggestions.
First, we must never compromise biblical truth. We must preach and teach the Word of God, in season and out of season. We must reprove, rebuke, and exhort with complete patience and teaching in the church (2 Tim. 4:1-2). Pastors, and church leaders, must never cater to people’s rejection of sound teaching and their desire to accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions (2 Tim. 4:3). We must never turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths (2 Tim. 4:4). We must remain sober-minded and if called upon, to endure suffering (2 Tim. 4:5).
Second, believers in Christ must demonstrate the fearlessness of Daniel and his three companions (Dan.1-6). We must continually heed God’s call to be strong and courageous like Joshua (Joshua 1:1-9). We must continue to renew our minds with the Word of God and not be conformed to the fallen world’s systematic rejection of God and His truth.
Thirdly, leaders in the church and the home must faithfully demonstrate and pursue a holy sexuality. God has not called us for impurity but to holiness (I Thess. 4:1-8). We must live out what we say we believe. Sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must never be a part of our lives as believers in Christ (Eph. 5:3).
Fourthly, parents and grandparents must resolve to teach, and demonstrate, a pure, holy and biblical sexual ethic to our children and grandchildren. We must answer their questions with a commitment to Scripture. We must alert them that secular and social institutions will communicate a different message. We must prepare them to know biblically what to believe and why they are to biblically believe it. In other words, we must raise our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Eph. 6:4).
Jesus instructed His disciples that in this world they (we) would have tribulation (John 16:33). He also taught to take heart for He has overcome the world. Be encouraged as you live for the Lord today.
Soli deo Gloria!
His Word Today 