Gender Dysphoria and Culture of Life

Good Morning and Welcome to this week’s Gospel and Culture update, by Alan Vink
Gender Dysphoria and Culture of Life
Tuesday 7th March 2023

God’s View of Gender Dysphoria

POV. I have yet to meet a Christian who supports the Transgender movement. Christians agree that God made us in His image , male and female. Christians agree that sex and gender are binary. However, this position is less and less acceptable in popular culture. If you Google the question, “Is sex and gender binary?” You will get this answer.

“Most people think that a person is either biologically female or biologically male despite their gender identity. This notion is outdated and incorrect. While there is a high prevalence of a biological binary, biological sex is not, in fact, binary”.

Please Note the irony……MOST PEOPLE THINK……… That’s right most people think entirely consistently with the created order of things without necessarily believing in the creation story of the Bible.

As for Gender Dysphoria which I accept is a real experience for a small percentage of youngsters, I would say this. When a child or teenager experiences gender dysphoria an increasingly popular response is “listen to your mind and change your body”. The Christian response is “offer your body to God and allow Him to change your mind”. Romans 12:1-2. God does ALL things lovingly and well.

A Culture of Life

On Tuesday (Feb. 8), Massachusetts Senator Ed Markey tweeted a photo of himself wearing a pin from Planned Parenthood that read “ABORTION” as a part of his attire for the State of the Union address. The pin featured the shape of a heart inside the first “o” of the word. As Ed Stetzer tweeted ‘“This is heart-breaking at so many levels. A tiny heart? Do they not even see the irony?

Focus On The Family published a helpful article a few weeks ago written by Ed Stetzer titled ‘Biblical cues Pastors can use to build a Pro-Life culture in 2023.

Here they are:-

1. Let’s be filled with both grace and truth (John 1:14, 17)
2. Let’s be filled with love for those who disagree (Matt 5:43-48)
3. Let’s be filled with discernment, choosing not to listen to those who seek to demonize us (1 Thess. 2:2)
4. Let’s continue to advocate at every level for the marginalized (Leviticus 19; Zechariah 7:8-10; Matthew 22:36-40)
5. Let’s get involved personally and locally (Acts 8:8)
6. Let’s continue to show and share the gospel, making disciples (Matt 28:19-20).

POV. The challenge that I think we (and all people who are pro-life) have in front of us is how do we change both hearts and laws? In an ideal world it would be best if let’s say around 60-70% of adults in NZ said ‘enough is enough’. In other words they were resolute that abortion (except in very rare circumstances) is wrong. If that were the case It wouldn’t take long for the law to change. But that is probably unrealistic unless God intervened. So the best we can do is advocate for a pro-life culture and pray that the abortion rate will continue to decline.

Headlines Only

Beautiful Union – TGC apologises for publishing an excerpt from Josh Butler’s new book, ‘Beautiful Union’ that compares Christ’s love to a sexual encounter.

Helpful, brief and easy to read article on Climate Change mitigation by Dr Max Rashbrooke.