God loves Bruce Jenner

It has been a couple of weeks now since former US Olympic hero, Bruce Jenner, announced he was transitioning to become a woman. This whole rollout has been one of the most successful PR campaigns in recent time. Jenner has been interviewed on national television, featured on magazine covers and has allegedly contracted to do a reality TV show.

The response to Jenner’s actions are mixed. Some cynics have speculated Jenner is only doing this because he will earn millions as his new female alter ego. The politically correct crowd has lauded Jenner as a hero for following his dream to be a woman. Others have reacted with revulsion. Some see him as a tragic character, a broken man with profound spiritual and psychological issues. So what is a biblical response to Jenner’s announcement?

As Christians we aren’t shocked people struggle with sexual and emotional problems of all kinds. While mankind was originally created male and female, sin has entered the equation. This has affected mankind on every level: spiritually, emotionally and even physically.

Now some people are born with chromosomes that are confused. Some have profound sexual issues as a result of being the victim of other people’s sin, including child molestation. This has a profound impact on their view of sex and themselves. Others are simply, willfully in open rebellion against God. Often it is a combination of all the factors.

The Good News is the real solution for Bruce Jenner, and any other person struggling with sexual confusion or sin of any kind, is found in the Gospel. In the Gospel Jesus rescues us from our bondage to sin, both its guilt and its power. He sets us on a path to freedom from this fallen world. By His grace we can face the truth, forgive those who have sinned against us, even as we receive God’s forgiveness for our own sinful thoughts, words and deeds.

Jesus delivers his people from the power and condemnation of the devil, even Hell itself. In Christ we’re given the power of the Holy Spirit to live an overcoming life.

There is a war within between the ways of the flesh and the life in the Spirit. For a man to live as a woman and vice versa is clearly and strongly condemned in God’s Word.

Deuteronomy 22:5 “The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman’s garment: for all that do so are abomination unto the LORD thy God.”

Yet, after listing behaviors that disqualify anyone from God’s Kingdom, including sexual sins, the Apostle Paul clearly affirms in

I Corinthians 6:11 “…such were some of you: but ye are washed, but ye are sanctified, but ye are justified in the name of the Lord Jesus, and by the Spirit of our God.”

God has been saving and transforming sinners by His grace for millennia. Once having been regenerated and made alive by the Spirit, our desire is transformed and we long to please the one who so graciously saved us. That means submitting all our life to his will, including, and especially, our sexuality.

Bruce Jenner is another of a long list of examples of the changing morality in America. Sadly, Jenner identifies as a Christian. We must be very careful with sex. Healthy sexuality belongs only within the marriage between a man and a woman.

Christ redeemed human sexuality and reclaimed it, elevating and protecting it within marriage. This requires we minister the truth in love to those who are struggling. Christ forgives and restores our broken hearts and heals sexual brokenness.

1 Thessalonians 4:3 “For this is the will of God: your sanctification, that you abstain from sexual immorality…”

We know all sin has consequences, because all sin leads to death of some kind. Death can be spiritual, emotional, relational and even physical.

The Wall Street Journal just published a very sobering article by Dr. Paul McHugh, former chief psychiatrist at Johns Hopkins Hospital. They started doing sex reassignment surgery at John Hopkins the 1960s. Since then, they have found that “sex change” is biologically impossible. People who undergo sex-reassignment surgery do not change from men to women or vice versa. He warned people who do what Bruce Jenner is doing have suicide rates 20 times higher the general population.

People struggling with sexual identity deserve our compassion, our prayers and the truth. Christ can and does set them free. If they have been born with a chromosomal defect that impacts their sexuality we must remind them exceptions are NOT the rule.

Matthew 19:12 “For there are some eunuchs, which were so born from their mother’s womb: and there are some eunuchs, which were made eunuchs of men: and there be eunuchs, which have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven’s sake.”

There are things more important than sexuality, namely your immortal soul. What do we do about bullying those who are sexually confused? They don’t need to be bullied, but neither should they be encouraged in pursuing transgenderism. It’s never loving to encourage people in their sin.

Jesus adamantly warns us NOT to expose children to sinful things. So Christ has the answer for transgenderism: By the grace of God, the power of the Holy Spirit and by the prayerful encouragement of our brother’s and sisters, we can live a life worthy of Christ.