On February 23, the Michigan State Board of Education and the State Superintendent published a guidance to local school districts on the question of what to do with transgender students. This guidance came with no press release, no fanfare, and, to my knowledge, no communication with the local school districts, at least initially. The document was a mixture of both admirable suggestions and seriously concerning ones. On the positive side, the document called for schools to be vigilant in protecting students from abuse, harassment, and bullying, as well as encouraging students, teachers, and staff to be respectful of everyone’s civil rights. Yet there were also areas of this guidance that are cause for us to have significant reservation, including the call for students to use whichever restroom or locker/changing room they identify with regardless of their birth sex and the ability of students to play on whichever gendered interscholastic sports team with which they identify. Just as disturbing (and perhaps even more so), the guidance advised schools to maintain secrecy about a student’s gender choices at school in regards to communication with the student’s parents or guardians. Under the heading “Privacy and Confidentiality Regarding Disclosures,” the document states, “Transgender and GNC [gender non-conforming] students have the right to decide when, with whom, and to what extent to share private information. When contacting the parent/guardian of a transgender or GNC student, school staff should use the student’s legal name and the pronoun corresponding to the student’s assigned sex at birth, unless the student or parent/guardian has specified otherwise.” In other words, don’t tell Mom or Dad that Johnnie is Jane at school.
What are we to make of this? First, we must realize that the moral revolution that has been occurring within our culture continues. Some have suggested that there is room to compromise, that if those of us who hold to a Scriptural worldview would just give a little, it would satisfy those who desire wholesale change. History does not provide examples of such successful cultural compromise; indeed, as members of a cultural revolution gain ground, they are emboldened to continue advancing their positions until such a point that nothing of the former order remains. We are witnessing just such an advance in this area. Second, we must remember that being a Christian is countercultural, regardless of how nominally our culture may have been Christianized in the past. True disciples of Christ, who seek to live out their faith, will always be regarded as strange to the world – even when (perhaps especially when) that world professes to be Christian itself. Third, we must engage the culture with the truth, but that engagement must be from a place of love for the lost. We can stand firm for God’s truth without being unkind, unloving, and, frankly, unChrist-like. There already exists plenty of “Jerks for Jesus;” we need not add to their numbers. If we desire to proclaim the Gospel, there is a need to first point out the need for that Gospel – our sin. The gender confusion that permeates our society today demonstrates that well. But then we must also demonstrate – through both words AND actions – the great love of Rom. 5:8. We can do this through many means, including making a public comment on the proposed guidance (you can do so at www.everyvoicecountsmi.org) and with conversations with those who favor this kind of action. Just something to think about…
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