Genesis 1:27-28 should settle all debate among believers about God’s creative purpose for humanity. God made them “male and female,” and He commanded them to be fruitful and multiply and to exercise stewardship and dominion over His creation.
Transgender ideology is rendered completely baseless by God’s creative act of making them “male and female.” Same-sex relationships cannot fulfill in any way the divine mandate to “be fruitful and multiply and to fill the earth.” We serve a sovereign, creator God, whose plan for the propagation of humanity can only be carried out within the context of God’s design for male and female.
Our cultural moment’s view of sexuality is being driven by what Carl Truman refers to as “expressive individualism.” Truman writes, “The modern self assumes the authority of inner feelings and sees authenticity as defined by the ability to give social expression to the same.”
So, the LGBTQ+ community responds to their inner feelings, believing they reveal their true place in the world. They expect — and most of the time demand — that society must recognize, respect, and respond to the outward expression of their inner feelings. Those who do not must be called out and publicly shamed into the shadows of our culture. Those who agree are celebrated as being sufficiently woke and their voices are welcomed, while those who hold to biblical truth are accused of spreading hate.
How does all this play into the 2024 election? Progressives believe a portion of their path to victory lies along an axis of alliances that includes pro-abortion supporters, pro-Palestinian advocates, and the pro-LGBTQ+ community forming a voting bloc fueled by critical theory. But if the response to the just-recently-concluded Pride Month are any indication of where Americans are on these issues, progressives may have picked the wrong issue to improve their chances of victory. The backlash experienced over the past year by major corporations like Target and Bud Light because of their full embrace of the “T” (transgender) of LGBTQ+ caused other corporations to offer a more muted response to Pride Month.
The Washington Post lamented polling that revealed an overall drop in support for gay marriage for the last two years, blaming most of the erosion in support on evangelicals and political conservatives. About halfway through the article, they grudgingly admitted support has dropped among members of both major political parties.
This shouldn’t be surprising. Transgender ideology that promotes drag queen shows to minors (and insists that minors be given puberty blockers and cross-hormone treatments, and be subjected to irreversible transgender surgery) is a moral nightmare, even among those who don’t agree with a biblical understanding of sexuality. But rather than backing down, progressives are doubling down on pushing the LGBTQ+ ideology from the tributaries of political discourse into the mainstream.
Unfortunately, there are plenty of Republicans and populists who are willing to soften their stand on issues pertaining to sexuality to avoid offending those who have accepted an unbiblical stance on sexuality. In addition to greatly softening its statements on the sanctity of life, the platform removes opposition to same-sex marriage, promising only to “promote a culture that values the sanctity of marriage, the blessings of childhood, the foundational role of families, and (the) support of working parents.”
Nowhere does the document define the terms “family” or “marriage.” That leaves the door wide open for any interpretation of those terms, up to and including polyamory (groups of people with varying expressions of sexuality living together in one house). Several LGBTQ+ advocates have praised the platform for refusing to condemn same-sex marriage. It is something they have been working on getting out of the platform for years.
So, here we are with another issue the Bible clearly addresses, masquerading as a political issue to be presented in a way that will garner the most votes. Christians who care about living their lives and expressing their beliefs in the public arena according to God’s Word will not be pulled away from what God has to say about sex and gender. We must remain anchored to His Word, surrounded by His love, upheld by His grace, and faithful to our calling to be salt and light to our culture.