Trans* & Gender Dysphoria

GENDER – Part 2
Steve Gallimore | pastorsteve@tvcc.us
July 4, 2021
Cite J.E. White & “Embodied” by Dr. Preston Sprinkle

Understanding the terms:

Transgender is “an umbrella term for the many ways in which people might experience and/or present and express (or live out) their gender identities differently from people whose sense of gender identity is congruent with their biological sex.”

Transgender typically refers to a biological female who identifies as a male (or vice versa), while nonbinary refers to a person who identifies as neither male nor female.

Gender dysphoria is a psychological term for the distress some people feel when their internal sense of self doesn’t match their biological sex.

Recap: What determines if a person is male or female?

“For you are all children of God through faith in Christ Jesus. And all who have been united with Christ in baptism have put on Christ, like putting on new clothes. There is no longer Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male and female. For you are all one in Christ Jesus.”
Galatians 3:26-28 (NLT)

Gender roles: Largely stereotypes that have changed throughout history.

Gender identity: Their internal sense of self doesn’t match with their biological sex.

Science would say it’s their biological sex.
Scripture would say it’s their biological sex.
Culture says, “No, an individual’s sense of gender rules.”

If a person identifies as trans* or gay (or any other sin condition),
Will how I live in light of that orientation, honor or dishonor Christ?

Our Cultural Issues

Current transgender ideology will hurt women who have fought hard for sex-based legal protections.

The “Must” of the gospel of Christ

The call of Christ is oriented toward living out the divine image that God created you to be.

19 “Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.” 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (NLT)

We are not condemned because of our brokenness, but how we respond to our brokenness.

Abandoned or Adopted?
“God gave them up…” Romans 1:24, 26, 28 (ESV)

“Because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.” Romans 1:25 (ESV)

The Church Must Remain True to its Calling

These issues will put Christians at odds with some within the trans* community. When love moves beyond relational acceptance, and enters the world of affirmation or enablement, we must be true to our Christian and biblical convictions.

1 Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children. 2 Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ. He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God. Ephesians 5:1–2 (NLT)

So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15 (NLT)