Why has the transgender delusion become so prevalent so quickly?
Introduction: Teaching sexuality and gender roles in the church is not what it was 30 years ago, or even five. Some teachers, especially of the young, are tempted to think they have entered into a different universe where their students do not know if there are two sexes or 47. Is this a whole new world of sexuality? Is this a different gender war than the one that has been fought for 50 years?
“Why has the transgender delusion become so prevalent so quickly?” This truly is a frequently asked question and one we at Five Aspects Ministries think is of foundational importance for ministers in the early 21st century. The following answer is not complete, but it does provide coordinates for our pilgrimage location in a world that we often don’t recognize and can’t seem to find on the map.
I. Transgenderism is prevalent because it is logical.
Sexual sins progress logically as in every other area of life. The sins listed below have existed and advanced simultaneously. Nevertheless, they also build on one another logically and chronologically.
The Apostasy of men: Male headship is real, and so the destiny of any family or nation begins with the decisions of its men. For the most part, American males have fought the nation’s wars and provided financially, but they have not been spiritual leaders in the home and church for a very long time. Instead, they have led the country away from Christ and into idolatry. They have championed materialism, careerism, evolution, humanism, and theological liberalism (and a host of other false gods).
A remnant of American men has been dedicated and faithful Christians, but the current national character reveals that it is the apostates who have prevailed. Refusing to husband their wives and shepherd their families, Western men indulged themselves sexually in a double standard of fornication and adultery. Their spiritual headship has been truncated or absent.
Fornication and adultery represent “freedom” for sinful men, but these acts break the bond of trust in marriage and produce unwanted children.
Contraception and abortion: Contraception prevents unwanted children. Abortion kills them.
Divorce and remarriage: When divorce and remarriage are established as legal and commonplace, the institutions of marriage and family are undermined and essentially destroyed. Easy divorce and serial marriage “frees” men and women from the claims of morality, covenant vows, and parental responsibility.
Feminism: Feminism is a reaction to the apostasy of men (#1 above). Women rebel against men as men have rebelled against God. Thus, feminism mirrors humanism. Feminism rejects the central roles of womanhood (wife, mother, and homemaker). Men who accept feminism further abandon their primary roles as leaders, providers, and protectors. Claiming to be freedom for women, feminism actually destroys both womanhood and manhood.
The wars for the interchangeability of men and woman have been waged in business, academia, and the military, but none has been more crucial than the battle for female ordination in the church. According to Scripture, only men are eligible for the office of elder. When the major denominations forsook this sexual absolute and began to ordain women, a critical bulwark of sexual sanity was lost. The church as “the pillar of truth in the world” failed.
Thus, by long effort, men and women have been hammered into interchangeability. At this point, not only are marriage and family logically over, binary sexuality is logically over.
Homosexuality and gay “pride:” Ultimately, homosexuality is a result of God “turning over” sinners to their own ways as Romans 1 makes clear. When God ceases to impose His restraining grace, men and women forsake and defile the image of God within them. Often this turning over occurs in families where marriage and parenting have been abandoned. Children are left without identity or sexual mooring. Therefore sexual deviancy proliferates. However, many “normal” and functioning families produce children with unnatural appetites and behaviors. Therefore, this occurrence is not merely a sociological cause-effect, but proof that God is letting sinners go to their own ways in judgment on individual and corporate sin. If typhus is released in a population, it is not only the unkempt lower classes that get it. Every type of person gets it because it is in the air (Eph. 2:1-2).
Homosexuality and other sexual sins produce great shame. To obliterate shame, the conscience must be hardened in order for the sinner to commit unnatural acts. Society’s corporate conscience must be seared so that unnatural acts are not judged but are actually approved (Rom. 1:32; 1 Tim. 4:2),
A war of attrition against the latent Christin conscience of the West has been waged unceasingly and increasingly in recent decades. A barrage of what is sinful, coarse, and blasphemous has flooded speech, dress, images, and manners. In this way, sin which should produce shame becomes a reason for “pride.”
To counter this onslaught effectively, the church must repent of her apostasies and compromises. Thus far, she has not.
Idolatrous uses of the body: In Romans 12:1, Paul equates the offering of the body with the spiritual service of worship. The proliferation of bulimia, anorexia, tattooing, piercing, self-mutilation, and drug abuse are examples of unnatural and idolatrous practices which have become commonplace. The transgender agenda to mutilate the body’s genitalia and hormonal system follows in this stream, but advances this false worship to a whole new level.
Unlimited autonomy: In order to usher in advanced forms of unreality, unlimited autonomy must be established. Every man must be allowed to do what is right in his own eyes. Whatever a man can think to do must not only be allowed, it must be condoned. Abominations and sacrileges must be graciously tolerated as acceptable variations of diverse human behavior. To this end, the “toleration and diversity” culture has been established.
Paternalistic state: Western society has come to define “freedom” as doing whatever one wants without experiencing consequences. Therefore the state is granted ever more ubiquitous laws, bureaucracies, and confiscatory powers to deal with unwanted consequences such as hunger, sickness, homelessness, unwanted children, workplace accidents, and sexual dysphoria. (The irony of feminism is that it does not free women, but destroys both men and women. So also is the irony of autonomy which does not lead to freedom, but to chaos and then tyranny. This is the testimony of the book of Judges and of history.)
Transgenderism: Transgenderism is the direct result of feminism and homosexuality built on the foundational sins of idolatry and autonomy. Women who choose masculinity in their souls and spirits will eventually want male bodies as well. Men who choose femininity in their souls will eventually want female bodies to house their passive spirits. The use of the body follows the worship of the spirit.
Transgenderism, as it exists today, consists of three parts.
Individuals are deluded and insist that they are the opposite sex from their created bodies.
Technology in the form of hormones and surgeries is autonomously deployed in an attempt to change bodies from one sex to the other.
Business and government fund this worship in service to the spirit of the age.
II. Transgenderism Is Prevalent Because It Is Inevitable.
Just because something is logical does not mean in it is inevitable. Here are the biblical reasons why transgenderism-- barring repentance—is not only logical, it is inevitable.
A. In the absence of repentance, God continues to turn sinners over to delusion and the unnatural.
Derangement: Scripture multiplies words to describe the derangement of sinners. They are blind, unnatural, mad, insane, stupid, drunk, and strongly deluded. Because idolatry is the root of all delusion, God turns idolaters over to every type of delusion as judgment. Idolaters are released to these fates so that they may be judged and so that their idols will be discredited. Numerous passages describe this dynamic such as Deuteronomy 28:28; Ecclesiastes 9:3; 10:13; Isaiah 43:8; 44:18; 56:10; 59:10; Jeremiah 4:22; 10:14, 21; 51:17; Lamentations 4:14; Zephaniah 1:17; Matthew 15:14.
Unnatural lusts: Before death or hellfire, God’s fiercest judgment on sin is to give sinners over to their own ways. Romans 1 speaks of three such “giving overs.” God gave [unthankful idolaters] over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored …. God gave them over to degrading [same-sex] passions)…. God gave them over to a depraved mind (Romans 1: 24, 26, 28).
Strong delusion: Paul describes the strong delusion that will characterize the last days in 2 Thessalonians. He prefaces his remarks by saying this mystery of lawlessness is already at work. What he explains in Romans 1, he repeats here in Thessalonians.
2 Thessalonians 2:7-12: Because sinners do not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved, God sends upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.
Once again, the proverb is truly fulfilled. There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death (Prov. 14:12; 16:25).
B. In the absence of repentance, the enemy is free to consolidate his gains.
Lie joined to lie: Just as God is building His church over history with “every contributing joint and ligament,” so Satan combines various versions of his old lies to support ever more grandiose and outlandish delusions. Isaiah describes the joint effort of idol construction in his own day wherein craftsmen united to build gods of wood and metal (Isaiah 41:6-7; 44:9-20). So the theologians and intellectuals of the modern era have cooperated to build a great edifice of unbelief. Transgenderism rests on this foundation. Its stones, laid in previous generations of autonomous rebellion, include, but are not limited to, French enlightenment rationalism, Russian communist statism, Darwinian evolution, and American-style autonomy. As the spirit of this age unfolds, transgender exponents challenge us to “build higher,” to go beyond binary sexuality, to evolve “beyond human” to the next stage of evolutionary history.
Old lies repackaged: Satan’s lies have been discredited from the beginning of time; they lead to death (Genesis 3). Undeterred, he repackages the old deceptions for each generation and culture, and waits for a harvest of fools. For example, Critical Race Theory is a re-do of communism. Marxism was thoroughly discredited in the 20th century. However, repackaged by exchanging race for class, it becomes an enticing delusion for many 21st century Americans.
C. As history moves to culmination, the war between good and evil quickens and intensifies.
Not since Babel has there been organized global rebellion as it appears in the world today. Like Babel, today’s globalism is supported by one language. Although not the only language, English is the functioning language of international travel, commerce, and science. By it, the world is producing new and advanced technologies at an astounding rate.
The modern world, like ancient Babel, is clever but lawless. Genesis 11:6 records God’s assessment of Babel. "Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them.” Technology is neutral. But all of life, including technological advancements, should be ruled by God’s Word. Some things men do not need to know, and some things they do not need to do (Genesis 2:15).
Christians are not to set dates for the end, but they are to understand the times and the seasons. The Bible describes characteristics of the times of culmination.
Daniel 12:4 reveals that there will be a great increase in travel and knowledge at the end of time. Both of these areas exploded in the 20th century by means of air travel and computer technology. They continue to do so.
Romans 8:22 likens the end times to the birth pangs of a woman in childbirth. Judgments will come faster and harder until the kingdom of God is born.
Peter and Jude teach that a great apostasy and false teachers full of pride, deceit, and sexual lust will characterize the end days.
Revelation speaks of a “wine of immorality” concocted by the world that makes all who drink it mad (Revelation 17:2; 18:3). Jeremiah described this cup long ago: Babylon has been a golden cup in the hand of the LORD, intoxicating all the earth. The nations have drunk of her wine; Therefore the nations are going mad (Jeremiah 51:7). No doubt, transgenderism is one of the elements that float in this bizarre and sensuous cocktail.
Summary: Because there is no repentance, God allows the unnatural to progress from bad to worse. Because autonomy reigns, the state, commerce, and technology have no moral limits. Corporately, man can and will do whatever he imagines. In general, the unfolding of transgenderism can be described as follows:
Jane thinks she is James because she believes a complex of powerful lies “in the air” around her. Jane has the right to think she is James without contradiction because she is granted “unlimited autonomy” to think and do what is right in her own eyes. Her thoughts cannot be judged, refuted, or criticized because she has the autonomous right to think them. It is unpleasant for Jane to think she is a man and live in a woman’s body. The state and society are responsible for making unpleasant consequences (dysphoria) go away because they are hindrances to “freedom.” Medical technology, specifically endocrinology and adaptive surgery, is available and with few limitations because it is in the hands of autonomous people who “do whatever is right in their own eyes.” Therefore the state can use its confiscatory and fiat powers to produce legislation and funding to mandate sex-change procedures for whoever wants them as part of their “rights” in the pursuit of happiness.
III. Transgenderism has appeared quickly because defenses are down and bridges are open.
A. Defenses are down. Few if any barricades exist to block the advance of the transgender delusion. Marriage and family are in disarray as noted. The church is essentially clueless, having already caved for decades on feminism and homosexuality. Instead of strengthening her framework for understanding sexuality, the church has been busy compromising with the world. Now in the day of intensifying battle, she is not practiced in the wisdom and truth required. The state, abandoning its mission of judging wickedness and vice, has become an enabler and sponsor of the transgender delusion. The school, having been forsaken by the home and church long ago, is the tool of the state to indoctrinate the next generation with sexual lies.
B. Bridges are open.
The bridge of compassion repurposed: As a whole, the church has failed to show biblical compassion for those struggling with sexual lies and bondages. Preferring to marginalize such people and to refer their problems to psychiatrists, the church has failed to use the “bridge of compassion” to call such sinners to repentance and forgiveness in Christ. As a result, “compassion” has been taken by the enemy and repurposed to serve as a bridge, not from God to man, but from the world into the church and society. “Compassion” becomes toleration and respect for “diversity.” This “compassion” justifies, sponsors, and champions sin. Thus, it becomes a direct bridge to the acceptance of delusion.
The bridge of digital-age media: Computers and cell phones deliver the world’s propaganda and manipulated images with breathtaking speed and efficiency straight to hearts and minds, especially those of children.
The bridge of peer pressure: Transgenderism has been described as “a fad” among teenagers. Like all fads, it is thought to give identity and “specialness.” Conformity to what others think is the ancient mainstay of worldliness. God calls such individuals menpleasers and they are condemned “for they loved the approval of men rather than the approval of God (Eph. 6:6 KJV; John 12:42-43).
The bridge of medical technology: Hormone replacement and adaptive sexual surgeries offer alterations of the human body once only imagined. Thus the delusion of sex change is enhanced. However, sex change is still an illusion. Every cell in the human body is either xx or xy. Technology has not altered this fact.
The bridge of entertainment and advertising: Corporate wealth sponsors a tsunami of messages designed to stimulate licentiousness and consumerism. Industrial skill makes these messages enticing.
The bridge of statism: State power supplies the muscle of enforcement for the world’s delusions. With carrot-and-stick funding, expanding bureaucracy, and mandated propaganda in state-controlled education, its tentacles reach into every area. Claiming to champion the oppressed, the powers that be harness the machinery of government to suppress truth and advance the spirit of the age.
Summary: While marriage, family, and church have declined in the previous decades, the power and centralization of the state, corporations, and technology have greatly increased and consolidated. All these bridges are used for the combined attack, to deliver powerful lies in concert. Delusions, made alluring by commerce, are delivered with speed by technology. Deceptions, propagated by education, are enforced by the state. Foolish sinners, eager to please the world, lap up such delusions with abandonment. When all defenses are down and all bridges are open, the enemy can enter with lightning speed.
IV. What should we think about transgenderism?
A. The church must believe and proclaim the whole counsel of God.
A unified and developed worldview of unbelief can only be met by a unified and mature mind of Christ. If the believing remnant is to stand and be as the 7000 who did not bow the knee to Baal, then it must confess, teach, and defend the whole counsel of God.
Only by holding to the whole counsel of God on the topic of sexuality and on every topic can the church stand in the wicked day, teaching, reproving, correcting, and training as Paul commands (2 Tim. 3:16). Foundation stones which have been neglected and even denied must be re-affirmed, including basics such as the Trinity, creationism, male headship, patriarchy, moral purity, binary sexuality, and God’s institutions as He delegated their spheres.
The bad news is that Satan continually re-packages the same old lies for each generation in ever-more enticing garb. The good news is that the same old truth refutes and dismantles these lies. For example, transgender proponents challenge mankind to evolve beyond human. Biblicists know that mankind will not evolve beyond human because Christ is the God/man. He is the head of creation and His humanity is eternal. Nor will mankind evolve beyond binary sexuality. Christ is the masculine Bridegroom of His feminine Church and their marriage is forever.
The same scriptural arguments that refute women’s ordination and homosexuality also refute transgenderism. The teaching of male headship and the dignity of woman answer, as they have through the centuries, for the ordering of the home, church, and society. Study and prayer for discernment are needed, but a new Bible or creed is not needed.
Another example of the enemy joining lie to lie in new combinations is Critical Race theory. CRT is Marxism modified by substituting race for class. To refute CRT, the Christian apologist must deploy the Bible’s answers to the false economic system of communism and to a warped view of race. This theory is a combination of lies, but it is the same old lies and can be refuted by the same old truth.
V. What should we do about transgenderism?
A. The church must repent of her sins.
Christians must stop fainting, hand-wringing, and venting. This trial is not new, strange, or uncommon (Ecclesiastes 1:10; 1 Peter 4:12; 1 Corinthians 10:13). One might object, “It has not been common for girls to think they are boys and for boys to think they are girls.” Some shock is understandable because this is a relatively “new” garb for old sins. The garb may be new, but the foundational lies are ancient: “God is not God. He did not make me. He does not rule me; His laws do not apply to me. I rule myself. I will do what seems right in my own eyes.”
Christians must stop indulging in self-righteous indignation. Some sins are worse than others, and some seem more delusional than others, but it remains that self-righteousness is the sin most condemned by our Lord. Self-righteousness is the sin that prevents salvation. God can heal the blind who know they are blind. He cannot heal those who claim to see and do not. Heterosexual sinners who congratulate themselves because they are not homosexual sinners or homosexual sinners who congratulate themselves because they are not pedophiles--are all justly condemned (Jas. 2:10-11).
Christians must stop misapplying compassion. A little bit of Christianity is a dangerous thing. Autonomous humanism arose by commandeering the grace of Christianity without its justice. Christian compassion is full of mercy and kindness, but it does not condone or sponsor sin. Christians are to have mercy with fear, not forgetting the seriousness of sin. Jude 1:23: Save others, snatching them out of the fire; and on some have mercy with fear, hating even the garment polluted by the flesh.
B. Christians must put on the whole armor of God.
Christians must put on the new man, taking up the whole amour of light. God is God. His truth is true and His weapons work. Just as Christian doctrine and apologetics cannot be piecemeal, neither can the believer be haphazard in preparation or languid in prayer (Eph. 6:10-20).
The remnant must be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. Like Nehemiah, Christians must rebuild with the trowel in one hand and the sword in the other. Like the Maccabees of old, they must know their God and be willing to take action (Daniel 11:32).
Transgenderism is a blindness that is both a sin and a judgment on sin. Christians must remember that God not only blinds, He also heals. In fact, Jesus cited His power to give sight to the blind as the first evidence of His Messiahship (Luke 7:22). The church must be faithful to call blindness “blindness” and delusion “delusion.” She must also be faithful to proclaim and to represent a Savior who heals them both.
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One method for obtaining the “whole counsel of God” is thematic Bible study from Genesis to Revelation. Five Aspects Ministries focuses on this method, seeking to join truth to truth progressively as God has revealed it. Building the mind of Christ is not quick or easy, so there is no time to lose for beginners and no time to waste for leaders. Seven Principles of Sexuality and The Story of Sex in Scripture are both introductory thematic Bible studies on sexuality (available in the catalog at fiveaspects.com). The “Five Aspects” series for men, women, young men, and young women are longer and gender-specific treatments of the biblical theme of sexuality and gender.