We can hope as much as we want for their deliverance, we can complain to one another about the incoherence of their worldview, and we can debate political policies as much as we wish, but if the church is not active and intentional in engaging on a personal level with trans-identifying people, they will remain in their sin. “How are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14).
Why the Church Needs a Concentrated Push to Reach Trans-Identifying People With the Gospel
The church is called to make disciples of all the nations (Matthew 28:19-20). We have been tasked with bringing the gospel “to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We are “ambassadors for Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:20) and are called to be those who spread “the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere (2 Corinthians 2:14). The gospel with which we have been entrusted is to be proclaimed “in all creation under heaven” (Colossians 1:23), and that means it is to go forth to all people, indiscriminately. It is not for one particular group, nationality, or class of people, but is the message of truth and the only hope of salvation for all mankind.
However, this reality must be balanced with the fact that no person or group is able to reach all with the gospel. No person is called or equipped to bring the gospel to every person from every background caught up in every false religion. While we must be “prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15), when deciding who we will pursue with the gospel, we must necessarily discriminate. Missionaries choose to go to one country instead of another. Churches are planted in one town instead of another. Families invite some people into their homes instead of others.
This must not be sinfully prejudiced discrimination, but rather it must depend upon providential circumstances and the calling of the Holy Spirit. Even Paul had to make these discriminations, intending to continue his missionary work in Asia when the Holy Spirit instead called him to Macedonia (Acts 16:6-10). It is my belief that the Holy Spirit has set before the church in the West a particular group of people whom He is calling us to actively, forcefully, and intentionally pursue with the gospel: transgender-identifying people.
The Public Conversation Is Unsettled
There are several reasons why this is a prudent and Spirit-led course of action, which I will detail below. However, let it be said that I do not mean that every church or parachurch ministry must redirect all of its outreach to trans people. There are clearly many fronts on which the church must be fighting, and nobody can give full attention to them all at once. That said, I believe churches should be specifically equipping and sending out evangelists to those in the transgender movement with a missionary mindset. The potential blessings of this kind of labor are manifold, and it may be ministry work that begins to turn the tide in a culture sold out to paganism.
There is a somewhat practical—though not at all trivial—reason for this sort of focused work. Transgenderism is the dominant issue in American politics and culture right now, the frontline of the cultural revolution. It is also an issue on which the American conscience has not yet become fully seared. A great many people have a gut reaction to transgenderism that reminds us that they are still in the image of God. They see the movement as strange, unnatural, and at times frankly outrageous, and yet they cannot consistently oppose it from a secular worldview. Put simply, there are many average Americans who are ready to follow consistent and courageous opposition to transgenderism. Of course, we ought never to consider the approval of man when determining how to address any issue biblically. However, this public hunger for clarity regarding transgenderism becomes crucial when we understand that the terms of the public conversation have not yet been settled. It is essential that Christians are vocal and consistent from the beginning if we hope to have long-term success in this battle for truth.
There Is No Room For Compromise
Consider the example of abortion. Pragmatism and compromise in the early days have led to decades of wrong-headed thinking about the issue. Instead of the consistent positions of “all babies can be killed” vs. “no babies can be killed” battling against one another, the mainstream disagreement has been between “all babies can be killed” vs. “fewer babies can be killed.” If we are to avoid decades of debate over what age children can begin transitioning or what hormone levels are acceptable for a man to compete in women’s sports, the church must be unapologetically consistent right now. Either men and women are immutably distinct because God has made them so, or they are not. There can be no “third-way” compromise between transgenderism and truth.
While the church must be vocal in its public proclamation of the truth, we are far from the only group “raising awareness” about transgenderism. Plenty of politicians and public commentators are more or less consistently voicing their opposition to this mass movement. Yet the church cannot simply be about platforms and policy positions; we are people of action. Therefore, the church must see transgenderism as not merely an ideological movement but as one made up of desperately lost and deceived image-bearers of God. And this must provoke us to real action.
The Ground Is Fertile
Trans-identifying people are the most obviously lost and searching group of people among us. While the activist class most certainly includes groomers, predators, perverts, and ideologues whose aim is to speed along the revolutionary overthrow of traditional America, the vast majority of the one in five Zoomers who identify as LGBTQ+ are confused and depressed young people who have been indoctrinated into a cult which promises them salvation. And sadly, an alarming number of people have given their lives and bodies to this transgender religion, hoping that something they do will provide them with a stable and fulfilling identity. This kind of overt lostness ought to be fertile soil for the gospel message.
Many have struggled throughout previous generations to share the gospel with unbelieving neighbors. While Christians must be persistent, and while the Holy Spirit must always open anybody’s eyes if they are to receive the gospel, it is particularly difficult to convince the average, nominally religious nice guy living the American dream that he is a miserable sinner in need of a new heart. Yet when a people are so obviously hungry for meaning and identity, coupled with being so dangerously depressed in their inability to find it, the church ought to be lining up to proclaim the words of eternal life.
It is also true that trans-identifying people are deeply religious, if not in the traditional sense. This, too, is a break from the enemies of the gospel in recent generations who were thorough materialists. In reality, both the staunch atheist and the transgender spiritist are adherents of the same heretical religion, whose foundational doctrine is, “In the beginning, God did not create the heavens and the earth.” Transgender identity is simply this worldview worked out with greater consistency. And as the most devoted adherents to the heresy of our day, Christians ought to meet transgenderists zealously with the truth.
False doctrine can only be defeated by the truth, and the followers of false doctrine can only be set free by the truth. Therefore, people living in obvious lies ought to be primary targets for missionary outreach, particularly when they live in our own neighborhoods.
Dispelling Demonic Darkness
The sad reality confronting the church right now is that a huge percentage of this generation has sold itself to demonic deception. It is noteworthy to consider how literally the word “demonic” describes the trans movement as a whole. It consistently uses demonic and satanic imagery, its adherents are virulent, militant, and at times brutally violent, and one of its key features is intentional self-harm, a hallmark of the New Testament’s description of those under demonic influence. Scripture also warns of wicked deception and strong delusion, which comes “with all power and false signs and wonders” but is, in reality, “the activity of Satan” (2 Thessalonians 1:9-11). Surely the claimed power to transform men into women counts as a false sign and wonder.
Transgenderism certainly appears to be the clearest outworking of demonic power in our day, and this is a primary front of the spiritual warfare Christians are all engaged in. Yet this ought not deter us from pursuing those under this influence with the gospel but ought rather encourage us; for in Christ’s name, “even the demons are subject to us” (Luke 10:17). Demonic power is only conquered by the Spirit of Christ, and this victory comes through the fervent prayer and authoritative proclamation of the gospel by His people. The light of Christ is bright enough to dispel demonic darkness. And what’s more, the New Testament shows us what happens to people who are delivered from demons by the power of Christ.
Consider The Potential Fruit
Every demoniac whom Jesus rescued was insistent on following Him. Those delivered from the darkest places and the most controlling clutches of the enemy will often be the most devoted followers of their Savior, for they have a vivid understanding of what they have been saved from. Take Mary Magdalene as an example. Christ cast out seven demons from her (Luke 8:2); imagine the dark, oppressive, destructive torment she suffered under their sway! Yet once saved, she loved Jesus intensely, following Him and ministering to Him, even through His death and burial. Consider then the potential fruit of large numbers of trans-identifying individuals, many of whom are in the grip of demons, being delivered out of that miserable darkness into the bright light of Christ. Consider the fervor such converts would have for such a mighty Savior who delivered them from such a destructive worldview.
In the New Testament era, God poured out His Spirit mightily on a pagan world full of fertility cults, sexual debauchery, violence, abuse, idolatry, and all other manner of human depravity. And the result of those deeply lost and broken individuals coming to Christ through the bold proclamation of the unvarnished gospel was the world being turned upside down. It led to the eventual transformation of the Roman Empire and the formation of what we now know as Western culture. The book of Acts—and the whole story of the New Testament—is the story of a world under deep darkness being thrust full of light, of individuals caught firmly in the grip of Satan undergoing a glorious exodus, such that they were willing to suffer any hardship for the sake of their Savior. And it was this radical, sacrificial, actionable love for Christ that brought about this greatest worldview revolution in history.
We Must Work For It
Christians today know we have fallen far from the worldview transmitted throughout generations in the West. We desperately need God’s Spirit to bring revival in our increasingly dead and decomposing culture. As Christians, we are not people who merely hope for such a gracious outpouring, but we are those who work for it. Jesus told his apostles, “we must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (John 9:4).
Darkness is spreading rapidly in our day, and we may indeed be heading into a period in which the Western church is very limited in the work it can accomplish. Yet there remains light in our culture; God has not fully removed His hand of common grace, and this is a time in which the church must labor intensively—both in prayer and proclamation—if we desire to see deliverance from God. The workings of the Spirit are a mystery to us (John 3:6), yet it seems entirely plausible that if God desires to show His glory in bringing the West out of its darkness and rebellion, then orchestrating the mass conversion of trans-identifying people would be a marvelous means to that end.
Like the first-century Gentiles, those caught in the trans cult are just the sort of people who, were they to be dramatically rescued by God, would demonstrate courageous, sacrificial, and rabid devotion to Christ. Their craving for meaning and identity, their self-sacrificing affection for the false religion, and their energy in spreading their false gospel all indicate that this group would be a true force if turned for good. Therefore, it seems wise for Christians to focus particular attention on evangelizing those committed to transgenderism. We can hope as much as we want for their deliverance, we can complain to one another about the incoherence of their worldview, and we can debate political policies as much as we wish, but if the church is not active and intentional in engaging on a personal level with trans-identifying people, they will remain in their sin. “How are they to hear without someone preaching?” (Romans 10:14).
The Instructions Have Been Revealed
Lastly, we must remember that whatever transgender identity may be, it is not durable. One cannot live indefinitely in such obvious lies—and certainly, one cannot long live contentedly with such a false identity. This current craze will not last, and something will replace it. If Christians hope for that replacement to be something better, we must be hard at work now. Furthermore, the church must avoid standing by and watching trans-identifying people self-destruct before our eyes, only to seek afterward to swoop in to pick up the pieces. We need to be laboring right now so that when this worldview inevitably collapses, we will be able to speak the gracious words of repentance and faith with a history of demonstrable love toward the deceived behind us.
We do not know the mind of God, nor do we dictate to Him how He ought to execute His glorious plan. It may indeed be the purpose of God to graciously rescue trans-identifying people as a testimony to His boundless grace and unlimited power. It may just as well be His will to allow them to die in their sin as a sober reminder of His perfect justice. Instructions have been revealed to us, and we have been told to bring the gospel to the rebels and make them disciples. And the clearest objects of need for this glorious message are those given over to transgenderism. Thus, they ought to garner the church’s attention, not merely as an ideology to be defeated or an agenda to be halted, but as people made in God’s image who are so sorrowfully far off from their Creator.
These are individuals on the fast track to Hell on earth and Hell hereafter. We have the powerful message of life, and we do not want to stand before Christ trying to explain to Him why we withheld it.
Luke Griffo is an elder and member of leadership at Redeemer Church of South Hills in West Mifflin, PA. Click here for more RCSH Blog posts.
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