The transgender bathroom policy has been trending on my Facebook feed lately. I’ve seen everything from hateful statuses, to statuses about Christians and transgenders, to safety concerns. As I sat back and observed this, I learned that there is a fine difference between speaking your mind and being downright rude. Writing this article was hard. There are so many things to consider and getting my thoughts together about this situation went something like trying to put a tornado in a box. I’ve thought and prayed over it, and I believe that Christians should not be silent on this topic because they don’t want to make people feel unaccepted or unloved. That’s not what the Gospel is about. This article is an attempt to speak about the transgender population and Christians responding to them.

First of all, let’s talk about why changing your gender is wrong. Being transgender is bordering dangerously close to challenging the authority of God. And this is not okay. It is audacious, God did not make a mistake when he chose for you to be man or woman. He doesn’t make mistakes and he never will. Deuteronomy 22:5 says “A woman must not wear men’s clothing, nor a man wear women’s clothing, for the Lord your God detests anyone who does this.” I do not think God could have made this any clearer.

I realize that not a one of us is without sin (Romans 3:9-20). We are all hypocrites and have fallen short of the glory of God. But, sometimes people do not know what is best for them, like changing their gender. Changing gender is something deeper than feeling and emotions, it is a spiritual issue. I mean no harm when I say these things about the transgender population, I want what’s best for them, and changing their gender isn’t going to fix what is going on inside of them. Sometimes Christians can come off as “we know what’s best for everyone.” We don’t. We are human and prone to sin, but we do try to know God the best we can, who is the Creator, and He knows what is best for us. I think that some Christians are trying to communicate that, but we sometimes don’t know how to say it without our pre-disposed vision of judgement butting in on our words. Sometimes the truth hurts and you have to tell people something that will hurt them out of love.

Moreover, I do not think that as Christians, we should passively accept what is going on. I do think that we have the duty of loving and not condemning the transgender population (as we should everyone); however, I also think that we have the duty of respectfully acknowledging identifying as a gender that one was not made as a sin. Could we be lessening the Gospel and sending them the wrong message by accepting their decisions? It’s worth thinking about. There is a difference between loving them and accepting their sin. Remember, your sin does not define you. There is a difference between a transgender and their sin, just as there is a difference between all others who are not transgender and their sin. God makes it clear in the Bible that he hates sin, not the sinner. Jesus says that as a Christian, you are going to be criticized and persecuted because of your beliefs. So fellow Christians, don’t be afraid to stand up for what you believe in at all. However, make sure that you are correct in what you are saying and that your motives for speaking out is right. In 1 Corinthians 9:23 Paul says “I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in its blessings.” Are your words for the sake of the gospel? My prayer is that we are able to treat the transgender population as Jesus would; and that we and they would be able to understand the depth of what they are doing, it has a much deeper meaning than them feeling accepted.

Now, about the safety concerns. Do I feel safe as a young woman with men being freely able to come into the women’s restroom? Absolutely not. I am aware of the man that claimed he was transgender to go into restrooms to molest girls and that is sickening. I will be extra careful when I use the restroom at Target and Planet Fitness. I do not think changing the bathroom policy is right. I am not going to stop going to Target and Planet Fitness because one, I like them, and two, I do not think that we should shut them out, but instead be examples of Christ’s love to them and witness to them.

I am a firm believer that God can make beautiful things out of bad things. He still has a plan. He is still good. He is always working behind the scenes for our good and I am confident that this issue is no different or less important. He knows what is going on, and He is still in control. This world is only going to get crazier, but no matter what happens, God is still sovereign.

At the end of the day, you are in control of three things: your thoughts, your feelings, and your actions. You are going to be held responsible for these when Judgement Day comes. Being rude and mean to the transgender population is not doing anyone any good, and it certainly isn’t going to make them want to change. As a Christian, your job is not to be mean to them because of their lifestyle, but show them the love of Christ and how they can find a new identity in Him. After experiencing the love of Christ and His grace, I never want anyone to not have that. I don’t care who they are. And if this means that I have to agree to disagree with some people and have hard conversations, then that’s what will be. After all, Jesus never said it would be easy.

Lastly, I think the best ways Christians can respond to the transgender situation is to humbly and respectfully acknowledge their sin in a way that is not condemning, show them Christ’s love and how they can find a new identity in Him, and pray for them. Praying for them is important. Pray that they are able to recognize their sin and repent of it. Pray that they will turn to God. Pray that they will learn and grow in their relationship with God through this. Pray that they will not run from the Gospel because they feel condemned and unloved by church people. Pray that their hearts will break for what breaks God’s hearts. Also, pray that Christians will respond in the way that God wants us to respond to this as well.