There are plenty of changes taking place in our culture nowadays, and many of them are against the Word of God. For instance, transgenderism has taken such a strong hold on our nation that anyone who disagrees with it is seen as a hateful bigot. Is this a part of the “great falling away” of the last days? Respected Bible teacher and author Dr. R.T. Kendall thinks so.
If you don’t believe him, just look at the news. Just this week, a Texas father lost his rights to stop his ex-wife from turning their 7-year-old son into a girl. Jeff Younger says his wife, Dr. Anne Georgulas, has accused him of child abuse because he won’t treat their son James like a girl.
But Younger says James only expresses interest in being a girl when he’s around his mother. He’s so desperate to save his son from transgenderism’s deceptive grip that he started an online campaign called #SaveJames.
This situation would have been unthinkable several years ago. When I was a child, I had never heard of transgenderism, same-sex marriage or other unbiblical things our culture has made popular. But what does the Bible have to say about all this?
Kendall has some great wisdom to offer on this very subject. I interviewed him on my “Strang Report” podcast to discuss what he would teach about transgenderism on the trip to Israel he was planning for the Feast of Tabernacles. (You can also listen to Kendall speak on what happened to our culture’s view of the gospel.)
He started by telling me that Jesus was unashamed to call us His brothers because He sanctified us (Heb. 2:11). In response, we must be unashamed of God and how He created us male and female. After all, He had a specific purpose in creating mankind male and female. He, not we, created the biological distinctions. Who are we to be ashamed of His creation?
“I’m going to urge people to be unashamed of God, that He will be unashamed of us, because we’re ready to take a stand for creation—male and female,” Kendall says.
But how are Christians supposed to be unashamed of biblical beliefs regarding gender when transgender ideology is being taught in school as fact and anyone who disagrees is seen as bigoted? The answer, Kendall explains, lies in understanding God’s authority:
“[Transgenderism] is anti-God. It’s anti-Scripture. Paul said that in the last days there will be this falling away, and it’s happening rapidly—rapidly. Ten or 15 years ago, this was unthinkable. And now they’re in our faces with it, and they’re angry if we don’t agree with them. I have never known in my lifetime such hostility toward creation, in particular with reference to transgenderism.”
With such hostility against biblical beliefs, Christians can’t afford to try to play it safe and not hurt anyone’s feelings by lovingly expressing their views. On the contrary, now is the time for true believers to speak the truth with boldness. (Listen to my interview with Kendall about the value of being popular in heaven and famous in hell.)
“We’ve got to take a stand,” Kendall says. “The battle is fierce. And we must be unashamed. Jonathan Edwards taught us that the task of every generation is to discover in which direction the sovereign Redeemer is moving, then move in that direction.
“I would add that the task of every generation is to discover in which direction the current stigma that emerges is—in other words, we need to discover exactly the stigma by which the believer’s faith is tested—and be in the battle there.”
When the battle is fiercest, Kendall says, that is when it’s most important that we stand unashamed. (Listen to Kendall share the keys to the next great move of God.) For instance, 50 years ago, the battle was against creation itself and whether God truly did create the universe or if it was the product of mindless evolution. Now, though, the battle has narrowed down to a distinct aspect of creation—male and female genders.
But what could be clearer than the fact that human beings are divided into two distinct types: male and female? Aside from the chromosomal distinctions, men and women have very obvious physical differences that are impossible to deny.
“But now we’re told that gender is simply a social construct, the product of a biased society, and gender has no biological basis at all, that gender roles are being forced upon people, that gender is fluid—and it’s all against creation,” Kendall says. “Even in the last few weeks, scientific studies have come out that there are only two genders. They were hoping for three more, but there are only two. And science, like it or not, has vindicated the God of creation.”
Even people who have undergone gender reassignment surgery eventually come to understand this. Recently, Charisma News reported on a woman who had surgery to become a man and lived as a man for 11 years. KathyGrace Duncan turned to Jesus in her 20s and eventually renounced her trans lifestyle. Now, she embraces the woman God created her to be and looks to equip others to embrace the gender God gave them.
But Duncan is not the only one to regret her surgical transition.
“The untold story is how people who are now having a sex change—I mean by the hundreds and hundreds and hundreds—and they get angry with a psychologist or with a surgeon, with those who talked them into it. And they were not [warned about] the trauma and the psychological trauma—and they can’t reverse it. Once they do this, they can’t go back, and they are more depressed than ever.”
Thankfully, there is hope, just as Duncan’s testimony describes. Jesus can reach into anyone’s heart and transform their life. We released an entire series on the “Charisma News” podcast of people sharing their testimonies of how God delivered them from homosexuality or transgenderism. Jesus is still in the business of saving lives—and that will never change.
Listen to my full interview with Kendall to learn how you can stand strong in your faith and fight for biblical values in our anti-God generation. And if you’re ready to take a bold stand, share this article on your social media as a way of declaring that you’re not ashamed of God—and you’re not ashamed of His creation! {eoa}