A Pastor's Response to Transgenderism | Kingsmen

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Welcome to the

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Kingsmen Podcast, where we are reclaiming biblical manhood by training and equipping men for the work of the kingdom.

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I'm Jon Moffitt. I'm your host. I'm also the pastor of Grace Reform Church and a host of Theocast, a weekly reform podcast.

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Today is one that I hope you hear my tone, and I hope that you understand my heart behind what

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I want to say. The title probably already is intriguing, but I think it's important, especially because we are ambassadors for the king.

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We are representing the embodiment of love. I mean, no greater love than this, than what

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Christ has shown for us. In Christ, the love that he has given to us, 1

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John says that in us it produces love, right? We love because he first loved us.

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What's interesting about who God chose to love, he chose to love sinners.

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If you just stop there for a moment and ask yourself, when did God put his love upon me? Was it when

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I was lovable, when I responded, when I repented? While we were yet sinners, Christ demonstrated his love by dying for us, by sacrificing himself for us.

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Now, I say this to set us up, because I want you to understand where we're going. What's interesting about social media and the internet is that it exposes you to thousands of people, and you get to watch and hear, and in many ways, see where the culture is going.

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I'm very involved in the reformed, conservative, even dispensational culture. When I engage and I look, a lot of things are sent to me because of Theocast.

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Things are sent to me to look at and read, to get my opinion, either on the SR app or my email box.

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We're going to do a Theocast on this soon, but I wanted to start with it here. One of the things

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I am struggling with, as we are to be salt and light in the earth, and I know sometimes we lose the sight of the metaphor, but salt is something that is a preservative.

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It also is something that creates flavor, that is desirable to the person to whom that's consuming it.

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Light, we've been in a place where there's darkness and it feels dangerous, or there is danger lurking, and light comes in and exposes the danger.

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It brings comfort to our heart. That's exactly the description of what Christians bring, because it's not that they in and of themselves produce this, it's who they are, their union with Christ, the representative of who they are.

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Because they are experiencing the gospel, grace and mercy and love from God, that then comes out of them.

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Some of the ways it's described in the Bible is fruit, right? Fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, meekness, patience, long -suffering.

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Now this is a verse that's often used, and I know that people cringe when using it, but I think it's an interesting description, because how we have been loved is the way in which we are called to love.

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When you read about sinners that are around Jesus, Jesus was loving these people, and it intrigued them so much that they were drawn to him.

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And the people around him then gave Jesus this title, right, Jesus, friend of sinners, meaning that he did not feel uncomfortable in their presence.

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Now in our culture, there's two things that happen. The culture right now is demanding that if you say you love me, you have to accept who

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I am. Now that's wrong, and thankfully the Bible is very clear, the culture does not determine what love should look like.

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Love is unconditional, which means I'm going to give you affection, and I'm going to give you affection sacrificially, and I'm going to do that even though I don't accept who you are.

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And that's how the Bible described this. What's interesting is that Jesus says, I have not come to judge, which is, he has every right to judge.

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He is the judge of the earth, and one day he will judge. But when he first came, he came, what, to bring light and hope and salvation.

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I have come to seek and to save that which is lost. And so who were the lost? It was the tax collectors, the prostitutes, right?

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It was the sinners who are lost, lost meaning they were led astray and enslaved by Satan, right?

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So he has come to pull them back. He uses in John 6, he's called to draw them, right, with his love and his grace.

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And I think it's interesting that even when Jesus calls his disciples and he says, you need to speak the truth, he says, you do it with this demeanor, love.

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And love is sacrificial. Sometimes we don't describe love this way, but I think

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I'm going to just so it helps to understand. Love is always for the benefit of the other individual, right?

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This is why he says the greatest description, the greatest example of love is me sacrificing myself for you. I laid my life down for you.

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That wasn't a benefit to him. It was a benefit to us, right? I'm going to get a little pointed and personal now.

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I really struggle when I see people who claim to know the gospel, and I think they do, who are conservative in nature, which

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I'm thankful for, right? We don't want to, we become liberal and then we lose the gospel. We don't want that.

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And then liberalism also can also lead into people being enslaved in sin. We don't want that. So I appreciate there to be a concern for holiness, a concern for there to be a distinction between right and wrong.

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But for whatever reason, lately in our culture, amongst the Christian nationalism and reconstructionism and theonomy, it just feels like there's this side of conservative

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Christianity that is, I think, in a very ungodly, unloving tone, going after sinners, not with the gospel, but with the law.

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And that's fine, but not the way that God used the law. Not the way that Christ used the law.

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God used the law to bring sinners to himself. I'll just use an example in our modern day culture that's happening right now.

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We are really taking a lot of shots at the transgender movement. Those who either are cross -dressing or those who are changing their gender.

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Listen, I agree with you. This is an abomination before the Lord. It's heartbreaking because it's slavery.

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I don't want to see anybody physically or spiritually enslaved. There's no joy. It only kills and destroys.

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And those who finally meet the end, it often do kill themselves. And I don't want that for anyone. But I do find it interesting that in multiple occasions, you have women who are being disdained by the culture, known as prostitutes, are running to the feet of Jesus.

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Why? Because they felt safe there, not because he condoned them. They felt safe there because they knew he loved them and could help them.

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What's sad, for anybody that's listening to this, if you are going to point out how someone is in prison, do you realize that the way in which the

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Bible describes them is that they are in prison because Satan has imprisoned them there? They are trying to find their identity.

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They're trying to find their hope. They're trying to make sense of sin. And Satan's so great is that he convinces them to go farther into sin to find the answer to the point to that it leads them to utter death.

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And we stand over here pointing our fingers as if we saved ourselves, as if somehow we opened our own eyes, as somehow it made sense to us.

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And we're like, oh, being transgender is bad. You did not do that. God did that. This is why

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Paul says, such were some of you. Some of you were a slave to sin. This is why he says, don't go back into slavery.

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If you've been set free from it, don't go back to it. But it's the love of God and his grace and mercy in light of the law.

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The law was put before us and, oh man, it was terrifying to think that I would be forever condemned and judged.

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And listen, God has dealt very harshly with those who violate his image. We've seen things like Sodom and Gomorrah.

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We've heard the stories. I am not here to downplay and just say, hey, we need to accept everyone.

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No, we don't. Need to accept what is offensive to God, but we do need to love them. I think it's interesting that even in church discipline,

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Paul says, put them out of the church and treat them as an unbeliever. And what is the two greatest commandments we have?

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Love God and love your neighbor. I think it's interesting. He didn't say love your neighbor who is also a believer. He said, love your neighbor.

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This is why I think the story of the Good Samaritan is so offensive. We don't understand who Samaritans are.

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I'm not going to get into it today. But if you do some research, there's a reason why the Jews did not like Samaritans. And God chooses to use that which is disdainable as the illustration, because the man says, well, who's my neighbor then?

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He's saying there is a certain group of people I don't even have to acknowledge as good people, or I don't have to give them my time and be kind to them because they're unacceptable.

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There is nobody in the world that's ever been created in the image of God that doesn't need the gospel, that is beyond grace, that is beyond mercy.

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Do you know that when God saves sinners, he saves them equally? There is no one that gets less or more grace.

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You didn't get 30 % grace, and then a transgender is going to get 90 % grace. You are dead in your trespasses and sins.

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He, they do alive. That's how we look at that. And therefore, what does God use?

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And Jesus literally says, let the world see your good works and glorify your God in response to that.

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And what's the two greatest works that have been given to us that are summarizing the whole law?

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The summarizing the whole law, love God and love neighbor. So yeah, there is a difference between telling somebody, hey,

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I just want you to know you're trapped in sin, but I love you. What you do is an offense to God, but I love you.

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And I want you to know you can be liberated by an amazing power, a power that's beyond this earth, a power that's beyond this universe, a power that's

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God's power. But you can't give that message. If what you're doing is using the law to try and change their hearts.

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Listen, I'm with you. This is an offense before God, and it's not healthy or helpful for anyone in our culture.

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No one is helped by someone who is confused by their gender or is sexually deviant.

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There's nothing beneficial for anyone. But you have to remember that also judging them, and you're not the judge, judging them does not.

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Listen, I hope you've heard me up to this point. I am not saying it's acceptable.

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We accept them for who they are. We do not accept them, but we love them sacrificially. I think it's interesting.

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Jesus warns us that if we're going to love the world the way he loves the world, and if we're going to preach the good news of it, we might get killed for it.

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Just think about that for a moment. He says that the world hated me. It will also hate you. But did

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Jesus get angry at the world for hating him? He said, no, I've come to seek and to save those who are lost, those who have been enslaved.

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I just want to just challenge us as Christians. The world is your mission field.

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Every transgender, every homosexual, every sinner is your mission field.

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They are the ones who are in darkness, and you have the light. And when you sit there and all you do is belittle and demean and mock, that is just not what we're called to do.

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We are called to be light and salt. Well, then, John, are you saying that we can't call out the problem? You absolutely can.

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But I need to ask you this one question. Are you really doing it because you truly want to see them repent and come to Christ?

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Is the tone of such of one where they hear you and someone who may really be struggling and thinking, maybe

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I chose the wrong way, and God's working on their heart, is your conversation going to be the one that leads them to repentance?

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Are they going to come running to your feet saying, will you please tell me you've been so kind and loving and patient with me?

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Will you please tell me what it is that you, well, John, not everybody's like that. I'm like, I agree. You might preach that gospel and you might die for it.

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And that's the very warning. This is why Romans 12 says you can be a living sacrifice. You can lay your life down and preach the gospel knowing that you might die for it.

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But in the midst of that, you might also liberate someone who is enslaved and find the lost sheep and set them free.

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And then they get to read when Paul says, such were some of you. And they can point to it and say, this person loved me and was patient with me and was willing to love me and not accept me.

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And because of that, it opened my eyes and I am now standing here free. And we get to celebrate such were some of you.

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I just, something for us to think about as we continue to this conversation on the internet, we should be people of meekness and humility and openness and gentle and kind.

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And we have to be careful that that doesn't mean we buckle.

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Listen, I'll say this openly on the air, and I know lots of people will hear this. Homosexuality is an offense to God.

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Transgenderism is offense to God. I think it needs to be repented of. I think people need the gospel to liberate them from that.

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I'm not saying we love and accept them. I say we love them and we love them sacrificially so that they can be receiving the righteousness of Christ.

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And they cannot do that unless they hear the gospel. And we can't give the gospel if they're not willing to hear us.

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Just some thoughts. I'd love to hear your comments below, interact with us on social media or on YouTube.

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Until next time, look unto Christ, the author and finisher of your faith. Understand living in this world, you will be persecuted, but it's for the joy of what?