It began when some men who were convinced they should be women and some women who were convinced they should be men–or believed they actually were, went public. In an emotional interview with Diane Sawyer in 2015, Bruce Jenner popularized the idea that some people were meant to be someone else when he came out as Caitlyn. Vanity Fair did a cover story complete with provocative photos of “Cait” in makeup, jewelry and a woman’s breasts, and suddenly it was chic. Like a dam breaking, seemingly overnight a society in which everyone was either male or female was flooded by an almost limitless collection of new genders. As Samantha McLaren writes on LinkedIn, “Gender is a spectrum, not a binary”.
“Transgender” was quickly joined by labels such as agender, pangender, two-spirit, third gender–and in the early days of transmania, Facebook users could chose their gender identity from over fifty options. Christians reading God’s Word usually have a problem with this because of “…from the beginning, God made them male and female” (Jesus, Matthew 19:4). While admittedly there are those in the body of Christ who do feel like they would be more comfortable in the skin of the opposite gender, it’s suggestive that those who embrace that trajectory, often despise religious views.
And it’s increasingly uncertain you or anyone else will be permitted personal views which fail to correctly align with what the viewshapers often call “the right side of history”.
Keith Rohrer
So maybe, we should be quiet, don’t disagree in public, be tolerant. And by tolerance, I’m not talking about being agreeable–something the word once meant. It now usually means approval–even celebration. Even if you keep a low profile, it’s increasingly uncertain you or anyone else will be permitted personal views which fail to correctly align with what the viewshapers often call “the right side of history”. The “right” side is usually where society’s trendsetters are dragging us, not necessarily the side that is correct or moral.
If you shrug, “Hey, how some people think about gender doesn’t affect me”, look at what’s happening in the US House of Representatives and think again. In the House, the current leadership now prohibits the use of any gender-specific terms such as father or mother. In the following article, the Council on Biblical Manhood and Womanhood’s (CBMW) Colin Smothers unpacks this and its implications. CBMW mans a lonely post in today’s church due to its unflinching worship of God’s wisdom and beauty in so uniquely shaping and distinguishing femininity and masculinity.
Occasionally I use my phone’s YouVersion Bible app but mostly just if my paper Bible isn’t within reach. In private worship time, study, or preaching, I’m all paper except for comparing translations. Admittedly, I’m old school but I think there are some good reasons for being slow to abandon paper. Several months ago the elders started a conversation about whether digital Bibles are a plus or a minus. We also discussed the concern others have that putting Scripture on the screens Sunday mornings may be reducing a person’s interest in his/her own Bible, in bringing it to worship, even in reading it. That discussion is ongoing.
Gospel-Centered Life 