The conflict between Christians and non-Christians on any social justice issue is simplified here by pastor and author John Piper.
“The root issue is that the claim to have an infallible Bible undermines the fundamental assumption...that human identity is self-constructed, not God-given. Any group, therefore, that claims to have access to an infallible word of God that dictates human identity and human right and wrong is a manifest threat to human autonomy.”
All the confusion, all the yelling, every protest, and demonstration are outworkings of these insurmountable presuppositions. Disagreements that manifest in such a vitriolic and public manner are founded on unspoken presuppositions that each side believes for itself and about the opposition. To get to the heart of the matter is difficult, especially in the online or public spheres, and is best achieved in intentional conversations in the context of a personal relationship.
Unfortunately, this rarely occurs. Christians are caught with our pants down debating one another, disputing semantics and parsing out individual scripture, providing the world the opportunity to see a church divided against herself. Many opinions spoken from a soapbox should be made within a church community, not in a town hall. Most things Christians say to one another will necessarily be nonsensical to a non-Christian. Therefore, to seek a compromise is a fool’s errand.
Although from an unstable foundation and in the face of decades of mutually agreed upon definitions, trans-gender logic makes sense within itself. If identity is self-constructed, then given names have no weight, sex-assigned-at-birth is a sensible scientific identifier, cisgender is a necessary component of the gender spectrum, and gender is separate from sex.
We already use they as a singular when referring to an unknown stranger. “Is someone sitting here? Do you know if they are coming back?” Leslie was a common name for men a century ago. To those unfamiliar with Chinese names, is Huang or Li more masculine? It’s futile to protest pronoun and name preferences based on cultural tradition. Straight is an accepted antonym of gay though both these words have precursing definitions. It’s a losing battle to contest what makes sense to those who subscribe to a gender spectrum.
“To give truth to him who does not love the truth is to only give more reasons for misinterpretation.” George Macdonald
Knowing that God, our creator, has given us our identity, we must develop relationships and conversations with trans-people and their allies with great love and compassion. We must enter their world as they understand it. In 1 Corinthians 9, Paul explains his approach to evangelism with those who don’t think like he does, even with those who disagree on issues as large as the law's purpose.
“For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them. To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law. To those outside the law I became as one outside the law (not being outside the law of God but under the law of Christ) that I might win those outside the law. To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.”
Paul assumed for himself the beliefs of the people he served to focus on the gospel's essence. Products of our faith, like how we vote or interact with coworkers, can appear as prerequisites to salvation to unbelievers. Our focus to the unsaved must be the heart of the gospel. We do not want to confuse the already confused by requiring a certain vocabulary or an adherence to political beliefs before they can approach God.
The sexual revolution will always have to explain away the reality of male and female - that these are never blurred. We don’t have to agree with the illogic and preferred terms, but it gives us standing in the relationship to understand the other person’s mindset. Yet, logic alone never won someone to the kingdom of God.
“You’ll never get to a person’s soul until you understand their hurts.” Ravi Zacharias
To entangle ourselves in arguments over semantics is to forget that no one needs to talk, act, or dress a certain way to approach God. He is ready for each of us to come to him with a repentant heart in recognition of what his Son did for us on the cross, knowing he is the author of reality and identity. From that point, an alignment with the natural order - the way God created the world - will follow.
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