Back in 2004, when God first burdened me about the impact homosexual activism was having on our society, I was deeply concerned about the issues. But that concern quickly deepened, as I felt the Lord’s heart of compassion for the people. 

In the months that followed, this mandate filled my heart: “Reach out and resist,” meaning, “Reach out to the people with compassion; resist the agenda with courage.”

As for the people, we are confronted with their stories every day.

A distraught woman emails our ministry, not knowing what to do after her husband, who is the father of their four children, announces he is leaving her and moving in with another man.

A pastor’s wife calls my radio show, facing a difficult, first-time situation. A faithful brother in the congregation just shared with the pastor that he was actually born a woman and had sex-change surgery years ago, supplemented since then by hormones. 

The church only knew this person as Richard, but now “Richard” was feeling convicted, realizing that he was really she. What counsel should the church give? Did the Bible have anything to say?

In the days ahead, we will be facing more and more situations just like this, right in our congregations and homes. And in each situation, we will be meeting real people, all of them created in the image of God and loved by Him, people for whom Jesus died.

It is essential that we have hearts of compassion, listening, seeking to understand, demonstrating genuine love and concern—along with backbones of steel, refusing to water down God’s holy standards, knowing that His ways are the ways of life. 

When it comes to the issues, these confront us every day as well. 

• The BLM movement was founded by radical feminists who identify as queer. One of their goals was to disrupt what they termed the “Western, nuclear family.”
• The Democratic National Platform for 2020 mentioned the words God and Christian once each, while transgender occurred 15 times and LGBTQ 32 times. How will this translate into school policies that will impact our children? How will this translate into court cases that will infringe on our liberties?
• A recent participant in an LGBTQ panel discussion for the Democratic National Convention identifies as a “Black-Vietnamese, transgender nonbinary/gender transcendent mermaid Queen-King currently living out their ever-evolving truths in Winston-Salem, NC.”

This is what happens when we forget that, in the beginning, God made us male and female (Genesis 1:26-27), a truth reiterated by Jesus in the New Testament (see Matthew 19:4-6). This is what happens when we lose sight of the fact that we are uniquely created in the image of God. This is why we have lost our way.

Conversely, only a return to these foundational, Biblical truths can get us back on the path to truth and reality—the path to wholeness, both spiritually and emotionally. And that’s why the church must lead the way in declaring that God’s ways are best, that there can be freedom and new life for everyone, including those all across the LGBTQ spectrum.

In my 2015 book Outlasting the Gay Revolution, I wrote, “As fundamental as marriage is to every society, there is something even more fundamental, namely, male-female distinctions. These distinctions go back to the beginning of our existence as human beings, as stated in the very first chapter of the very first book of the Bible: ‘So God created man in His own image; He created him in the image of God; He created them male and female’ (Genesis 1:27). That is why, regardless of the culture, nationality, ethnicity, or skin color, every society has men and women, husbands and wives, sons and daughters, boys and girls. This is another reason why the gay revolution stands on very tenuous ground: It is rendering gender meaningless.”

That is one major reason why there is so much pushback in our society today against the genital mutilation and chemical sterilization of children. That’s why so many parents are pushing back against radical trans activism in their children’s schools, where their daughters are forced to share locker rooms and bathrooms with boys who identify as girls. That’s why major companies like Target and Anheuser-Busch have lost billions of dollars because of their aggressive, pro-trans positions.

People are saying enough is enough. 

Gender distinctions do matter. Boys are not girls and girls are not boys. God made us male and female for a reason.

That’s why, in the Bible, every single reference to marriage, to family, to parenting; every law, every custom, every teaching, every illustration, every parable, presupposes male-female relationships—every single one.

This ranges from “Honor your father and mother” to specific teachings for husbands and wives. Male-female distinctions lay at the very foundation of human existence and the proper ordering of this world. Tamper with these, and you tamper with everything.

Which way will America go? We stand at the crossroads today. ©2023 Michael Brown

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, ©1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2009 by Holman Bible Publishers. Used by permission. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers. 

Michael Brown, Ph.D., is a national and international speaker, and the author of more than 40 books.