The church as a whole has not had a history of treating homosexual people kindly, or been known how to hear them out. Some Christians have been harsh and treated them as lepers. But God loves all people, and even though we all have desires in this world, they do not define who we are. As believers, Jesus is the foundation of our identity.
With that said, I have a deep concern that our country is sitting on the fence of our own destruction. With a small population but a large voice, our everyday lives are being impacted. Why should we care about laws removing personal pronouns and gender titles?
A Small Minority Has Overtaken Society
As my dad shared with me that our nation is trying to remove the titles “father” and “mother” and replace them with “birthing parent” and “non-birthing parent,” I was in shock. In order for someone else to have an identity, they should not have to fight so hard to remove another. The Bible has a lot to say about God’s design and our gender. However, before we jump into those facts, let us look at the logic.
According to Simona Varrella from Statistica,“In a recent [2021] survey conducted among Americans, 6.4 percent of females and 4.9 percent of males identified themselves as part of the LGBT community." The majority of these individuals are Gen Z, the most social media influenced generation there has ever been. The government and the media care about popularity, votes, and views. They may act like they care about this population, but is encouraging sin really helpful to the person in the end?
As I scrolled through a children’s streaming service, I was surprised to see a whole category titled, “Pride Month.” There was no way to remove it from the screen. It is one thing to give adults a decision to live their lives and make free choices, but it is a completely different level to impose visuals of homosexuality and transgenderism on innocent children. The concern here is that this is the future generation of our country. These are the ones to become the pillars of this society, and if they are taught to continually experiment and never be certain of who they actually are, America is not headed in a good direction.
The University of Rochester medical center shares, “The rational part of a teen’s brain isn’t fully developed and won’t be until age 25 or so. In fact, recent research has found that adult and teen brains work differently. Adults think with the prefrontal cortex, the brain’s rational part. This is the part of the brain that responds to situations with good judgment and an awareness of long-term consequences. Teens process information with the amygdala. This is the emotional part. In teens' brains, the connections between the emotional part of the brain and the decision-making center are still developing—and not always at the same rate. That’s why when teens have overwhelming emotional input, they can’t explain later what they were thinking. They weren’t thinking as much as they were feeling.”
If this is the case, and Generation Z is the majority of those claiming to have struggles with sexual orientation and thus, gender identity, how can we as older generations support their decisions as logical when they are operating out of their amygdalae? They are not processing long-term consequences, they are living by their emotions, and we all know that emotions have led us astray in our younger years as well. Gen Z was born from 1997-2012. This means that they are all under the age of 24. None of them have hit the age in which the prefrontal cortex is fully developed.
Why does this matter with our society and media’s decision of what they are putting in front of their faces? Because they will process with emotions. They will believe what popular culture tells them. They will be confused if they do not form their identity in Christ.
I am not saying that this generation is not brilliant or capable of making wise decisions. But especially if they do not know the Lord and if they are easily influenced, forcing images on apps, rainbow signs on businesses, and airing daytime commercials with same sex couples is normalizing a rare group of people and making their choice of lifestyle popular. If a teen for instance chooses to put himself into an experimental situation, he might very well have a physical reaction as anyone would, but then he might emotionally believe that he not only made a decision, but that he is that decision. His sexual choices become his identity.
We Cannot Erase History, English, and Science
Ancient languages, incredible literature, and our biological makeup have male and female foundations. For example, the entire Spanish language is based on the masculine and feminine forms of words. Award winning literature follows correct grammar usage and personal pronouns that are taught in the beginnings of our English classes to build education. A baby being formed in the womb is announced as a boy or a girl at a gender reveal party and celebrated.
I fear that changing our history, English, and science is going to remove education in our society. Everything that we were taught in school growing up is now up for change in the American government. There will be a lot of editing in many, if not all of the grammar books, language books, and anatomy and biology books. At the end of the day, DNA does not change in an operation. A male will always have XY chromosomes and a female will always have XX chromosomes. This is not a matter of personal preference, but of science. A new life cannot come into the world without a sperm and an egg.
This causes the question, “Is homosexuality natural and helpful to furthering mankind?” Sure someone might scientifically create a baby, but not without sperm and egg. This is why we see in Genesis 2 and 4 that God created male and female to be fruitful and multiply.
We Need to Please God Rather than Man
We need to remember that we are all sinners. We all have fallen short of God’s glory (Roman 3:23). Choosing to allow people to dictate what is truth is never a good idea, especially because it goes against Scripture. I think of Aaron allowing the impatience of the Israelites to drive him to make the golden calf idol (Exodus 32).
Below are Biblical reasons that we are called to stand on God’s truth, not man’s, in regard to this issue.
Galatians 1:10 says, “For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ.”
Acts 5:29 says, “But Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men.’”
Leviticus 18:21 says, “Do not have sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman; that is detestable.”
Romans 1:27 says, “In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed shameful acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their error.”
How Do We Help?
1. Love Well: Love and welcome individuals who claim to be in the LGBTA+ community. The worst thing that a Christian can do is pull away or show hate. Invite others into your home for a meal, get to know people, encourage them, and love them like Jesus would, even if it makes you feel uncomfortable. Jesus never compromised truth, but He was loving, wise, and tactful in His approach to people. Additionally, do not use social media as a platform for hate and debate.
2. Write and Reach Out to the Government: If we sit aside and do not share our concerns for the future generations of our nation, we too are at fault. Find out who to contact and how to voice your concerns.
3. Voice your Opinion to Media: Inform media stations about your concern for pushing an agenda so strongly and in front of innocent children.
4. Be Sensitive: Many people who choose lifestyles of LGBTA+ have a history of abuse, neglect, or bullying. We are never called to be evil to others. Be empathetic and understanding. Ask questions and listen well to their life story to gain understanding.
5. Speak the Truth in Love: At appropriate times and in the context of sensitive, caring relationship, share Biblical truth with others. Ephesians 4:15 says, “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
The views expressed in this commentary do not necessarily reflect those of Christian Headlines.
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/fizkes
