They answered him, “Abraham is our father.” Jesus said to them, “If you were Abraham’s children, you would be doing the works Abraham did, 40 but now you seek to kill me, a man who has told you the truth that I heard from God. This is not what Abraham did. 41 You are doing the works your father did.” They said to him, “We were not born of sexual immorality. We have one Father—even God.” 42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me. 43 Why do you not understand what I say? It is because you cannot bear to hear my word. 44 You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies. 45 But because I tell the truth, you do not believe me. 46 Which one of you convicts me of sin? If I tell the truth, why do you not believe me? 47 Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”
John 8:39-47
The concepts of gender fluidity, trans-genderism, preferred pronouns, gender dysphoria, and other departures from nature have mushroomed in the last decade or so. I recently read that as much as 10% of the population is caught up in these delusions. I have my doubts about the statistics. The advancement of this agenda has become ubiquitous in the US Government and corporate policy. People lose their jobs if they don’t toe the line and participate in these delusions. This organized agenda is being forced upon the US population and other countries.
How are Christians to respond to these cultural developments?
This is a matter of truth. Truth is the victim. Over the past several decades, a new philosophy known as post-modernism has overtaken our society. In post-modernism, there is no absolute truth. Everyone is allowed their truth, and it is to be accepted as valid even if it is contrary to what has been received as truth for generations. It is the source of the language of my truth and your truth. My truth is not the same as your truth. You can have your truth; let me have my truth.
This has, of course, required the redefinition of words. The word “truth” no longer means “truth,” which is something that is absolute and unchanging. That which is in accordance with fact or reality. Another redefinition has to do with “gender.” Gender used to be understood as identified with a person’s biological sex. Gender has been redefined as what I think I am, male, female, or something else, intersex.
As one who has been an observer of humanity for almost eight decades, I am amazed at how deluded we have become in a rather short time. I realize that it is probably true that there have always been some people who have been confused about their gender/sex identity.
Because of this societal wave that is requiring everyone to affirm everyone else’s perception of their gender with significant penalties for non-compliance, Christians in the marketplace are having to think through what it means to a follower of Jesus.
In our text above, Jesus is at odds with some Pharisees who believe that they have Abraham as their father simply because of their biology. They were living a lie and operating under a delusion. Jesus spoke the truth, and the Pharisees couldn’t see it. Jesus took it a step further and identified who their father was, the devil. Of course, that hurt. Did Jesus back down from speaking the truth just because it hurt the Pharisee’s feelings? No. He spoke the truth and called for the Pharisees to receive it.
How did all this work out for Jesus? From one perspective, it didn’t work out too well. It got him killed. What his murders didn’t realize was that they were a part of God’s plan to bring redemption to all of those who had been Jesus’ enemies. Jesus bore the punishment that was due to these rejecting Pharisees. His was the most dramatic example of redemptive suffering in all history. Jesus became the one who suffered unjustly and provided salvation to the ones least deserving of it. This is the storyline that is played out in many books and movies that grab at our hearts when the protagonist suffers unjustly to provide for the ones he loves and some he doesn’t.
The point is that Jesus stuck with the truth regardless of the consequences, and we should do the same.
I realize this is more difficult for some of us than others. It will be more costly for some of us than others. Dr. Erwin Lutzer, on the Alisa Childers podcast, took an interesting and thought-out position. His hypothetical was that a man, who I will call David, has decided that he is really a woman named Betty. Betty is requesting the be called by the pronouns she/her. How should a Christian refer to this man David who now thinks he is a she named Betty and wants to be referred to by female pronouns? Dr. Lutzer said that he could call him Betty because that is just another name. He could not, however, refer to him with female pronouns because that is a lie. He is not a she. He is a he.
Scripture has a lot to say about truth.
Whoever speaks the truth gives honest evidence,
Proverbs 12:17
but a false witness utters deceit.
To agree to use the wrong pronouns that indicate an alternate gender is a false witness and is cooperating with deceit.
Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord,
Proverbs 12:22
but those who act faithfully are his delight.
God is delighted in us when we speak truly. To lie is an abomination to the Lord.
These are the things that you shall do: Speak the truth to one another; render in your gates judgments that are true and make for peace; 17 do not devise evil in your hearts against one another, and love no false oath, for all these things I hate, declares the Lord.”
Zechariah 8:16-17
“Whoever desires to love life
1 Peter 3:10
and see good days,
let him keep his tongue from evil
and his lips from speaking deceit;
Speaking the truth faithfully is a delight to our King of the Universe, our creator, and our Savior. Our first motive is to please God and stand in agreement with him. A secondary motive for speaking the truth and not going along with these delusions is the health of our country. These delusions cut away at the core of the family, which is the foundation of society. If our society continues on this path without correction, our country will self-destruct.
Our allegiance is first to Jesus (who is the way, the truth, and the life) and then on to our families and our country. We are clearly in a fight for our culture, and it will require of us great courage. Our stand for the truth will become costly. Are we prepared to be strong and courageous?
