NOT WHAT GOD INTENDED?
How often have you heard of or known a child born with some tragic abnormality? Your heart is stirred with empathy and emotion. “Poor child”, “hurting family”. “Can something be done to correct this horror”? Sometimes these abnormalities are obvious at birth. Sometimes they develop much later.
A child with debilitating problems. What caused it? Environmental? Genetics? Created in the image of God but flawed! Can that be? Certainly! It happens far too often. Our town has a lot of group homes for people with disabilities. We seldom go to the grocery store without seeing a group of shoppers led by a caregiver. Companies have been developed to provide them with jobs. It gives them self-pride as well as income. It contributes to our economy. In Minnesota, there are enough companies that it has created an industry. Most people are very thoughtful and supportive.
When children are born with a genetic defect, we are sympathetic. We do whatever we can to help them. Thousands of dollars are spent to help them adjust to life. They are not blamed. They are not condemned. They are not ridiculed. We urge people to accept them and help them. We feel sorry for them that they have to face life in that situation. We would never tell someone born with a malformed leg to stop limping. Nor would we say that limping is wrong or that limping is a sin.
But what about Gender Dysphoria, better known as Transgenderism. If you have ever known any Transgenders, you realize that their life can be very difficult. Many cut themselves and many attempt suicides. They never fit in. They are not comfortable with themselves. They can never be themselves. They are not sure of their own identity. I do not understand Transgenderism. I do not know the cause. In most situations, it is not a choice. Created in the image of God? Yes. Different from the norm? Yes. What caused it? Environmental? Genetics? Created in the image of God but different.
Transgender people are going through enough misery already without dumping more on them. Jesus seemed to think that the way to help people was to love them not ridicule them or treat them as modern-day lepers. Let’s treat people born with crippling gender identity lives with the same grace we react to those with physical and mental deformities.
Many point to the situation as sin. They link Transgenderism with sexually inappropriate activity. I suppose the assumption is that everyone is sexually active. I am a heterosexual as many of you are. That is not a sin. It is only a sin if we act inappropriately outside of what God wants. Being Transgender is not a sin. It is only a sin if they sexually act inappropriately. Don’t condemn them for what they are. Don’t judge them for what you think they do.
Is Transgender what God intended? NO! But don’t try to convince me that all the children that develop cancer and other debilitating childhood diseases are what God intended. If so, does that mean my contribution to St. Jude’s is fighting God? Don’t condemn what you don’t understand.
There is a lot in my life that is not what God intended. How about yours? Can’t we accept one another for what we are, created In the image of God but marred. As our pastor says: “We are a messed-up people in a messed-up world”. Amen