This is a topic that was never a part of our family growing up. Today it is in the media, our movies, books, and among our friends and families. It is being legislated. And, it is in the Bible although I have never heard a sermon even remotely come close to addressing this issue. A really thoughtful Biblical perspective can be found at: https://www.hrc.org/resources/what-does-the-bible-say-about-transgender-people
“There is neither Jew or Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” Galatians 3: 28
We could go on. There is neither black nor white, neither Hutu nor Tutsi, neither American Indian nor Caucasian, neither lower or upper caste, neither cisgender nor gay. Here we are looking once again at our differences. This topic is way out of my comfort zone and life experience. Yet, as I hear younger people talk about, read and hear about the personal stories of people whose sexual identity is different than the bodies biology, I cannot think of a greater living personal agony for that person and their families.
Some observations:
1. God is gender neutral. God loves each of us, completely, without regard to gender.
2. It should be exceedingly difficult for us to not love someone for whom God loves unconditionally.
3. In Genesis we find “God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.” The existence of transgender people might seem to fly in the face of God’s created order. Looking at creation we find a much more complex world. There are opposites in every corner of creation: day and night, land and sea, fish and birds, and everything in between. God’s creation exists in spectrums. In between day and night, we have dawn and dusk. Between land and sea, we have coral reefs, estuaries and beaches. God gives every human being a self that is unique and may not fit into our traditional view of sexual relationships. Christians recognize that the stories set down in this chapter were never meant to catalogue all of creation but rather to point us towards God’s power and love. Not every microbe, constellation, and sexual orientation need be named to have a purpose and a blessing.
4. Studies show that when transgender people are affirmed and loved, everyone benefits. It is more likely that sin is at play in the oppressive and damaging ways we treat each other and not in the very fact of someone’s existence.
5. We live in an imperfect world, and I find myself uniquely imperfect striving to live a holistic healthy, and authentic life. As is often the case, my role is not to explain, excuse, or judge others but rather to love others, regardless. I find that simple task, daunting.
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