Transgenderism and the Church

The following is from the conclusion of Affirming God's Image: Addressing the Transgender Question with Science and Scripture by J. Alan Branch.

"Transgenderism is not consistent with a life of Christian discipleship. A robust understanding of Scripture insists we embrace our natal sex and live in accordance with that sex: In other words, to use the secular distinction, we strive to embrace the gender consistent with our sex. Imitating the opposite sex is strictly forbidden. Likewise, participation in homosexual behavior is sin.

"When transgenderism is seen for the confusion it represents, we see clearly that churches should uphold the scriptural gender binary as normative and affirm the truth of Genesis 1:27: The gift of gender is part of the goodness of God's creation. In so doing, we acknowledge that the experience of gender dysphoria is real for many and a burden for which most did not ask. We are reminded of Jesus' words, 'Blessed are the merciful, for they shall receive mercy' (Matt 5:7). But from a scriptural perspective, mercy never means we affirm a distortion of God's plan and pretend transgender behavior is morally permissible. Instead, we walk with our brothers and sisters experiencing gender confusion and marshal every resource available to help them overcome this besetting temptation. We pray together, we read Scripture together, we meet for accountability groups, and we grieve together. We seek wise pastoral counsel and engage Christ-honoring mental health professionals to walk through the process of living in congruence with the highest goal in life–the lordship of Christ for the glory of God. Temptation grows in the dark, but shrivels in the light. When individual churches create an atmosphere that says, 'This is a safe place to admit you are tempted to transgender behavior,' we can then build the relationships needed to help struggling brothers and sisters walk the long, difficult path to victory. We can accomplish infinitely greater good by affirming the goodness of God's design than by conforming to the spirit of the age."

Caffeine a Drug?

In lectures on Advanced Biblical Counseling at the Master's Seminary, speaking about drug and alcohol addiction, Dr. John D. Street was asked about caffeine addiction. He responded with the following, which I think is insightful and properly challenging:

When I have to have it in order to function normally, then it becomes an issue. 'I HAVE TO have it.' We may not steal, cheat, or murder in order to get our caffeine, but if I have to have it (otherwise I'm going to be irritable, I'm going to bite your head off, I'm going to have headaches all day long, and I'm not going to interact well with people), now I'm resorting to sinful responses to people without that chemical. Then that particular chemical has a control in my body and in my thinking–a mastery in my body and in my thinking–that it shouldn't have.