Humanism is nothing more than a religion which replaces God with humanity.

We like to see ourselves as open, compassionate and kind; we like to express ourselves as giving, nurturing, accepting. We like to be generous, and benevolent, give to charities and promote good causes.

We desire to be loving. Yet is loving the same as always accepting, always uplifting, always being kind?

If someone wants to do something destructive and we affirm and support them in that, are we not being unloving? If someone said to you that they were depressed and didn’t want to live anymore, and they were considering suicide, and you told that person that you understood they were very depressed and that the quickest and fastest way of resolving that is probably to go ahead with their plan and kill themselves, is that loving?

Any time we affirm someone in something destructive we also become partly responsible for that destructive behavior. In the given scenerio, if the person went off and shot themselves and you had affirmed them, you would be partly responsible because you could have discouraged that behavior rather than encouraged it.

Our culture has developed into affirming every kind of destructive behavior in the name of love. Typically, not suicide, which is why I used that as the example above – hopefully, it is hyperbolic of anything we might affirm, but we do affirm all manner of self-destructive behavior in the name of acceptance.

This has gone to such extremes that culturally, we affirm transgenderism, which uses chemicals to inhibit the natural development and proper use of the body, surgery to remove and alter body parts, etc. it is wholly destructive not only to the body but also to the psyche.

Yet it is merely an extension of rigorously applied humanism. It replaces Truth with human desire. There is a Libertarian mantra that goes along with it: “Do whatever you want as long as you’re not hurting anyone else.”

Yet, what this mantra fails to take into consideration (in addition to really being unloving to the individual – for neglect and affirmation into self-destructive behavior is unloving) is the concept of community. Humans are not islands; we are made to be in fellowship with one another. If you do something that is self-destructive, by the natural process of your interaction with others, it becomes destructive to others, also. It may encourage them into the same destructive behavior. In fact, many of those who are transitioning into other genders affirm such things as: “I didn’t know it was a possibility.” I.e. they had to learn from someone that they could ‘transition,’ and now they want to.

Many people I know have struggled with how to respond in the face of transgender affirmation – particularly Christians, who do not want to come across as unloving. And proponents among Progressive Christians will claim that ‘God loves and accepts everyone’ to the direct implication that trangenderism should be affirmed by Christians and transgenders accepted as they are.

So, let’s go ahead and explore that.

In speaking of transgenderism, scripture is quite clear that it should not be done:

Deuteronomy 22:5
A woman shall not wear a man’s clothing, nor shall a man put on a woman’s clothing; for whoever does these things is an abomination to the Lord your God.

‘Abomination’ is pretty clear terminology in scripture, but a number of people will argue that this is Old Testament law, and the Jesus changed everything when He came. That’s a generalized [bad] theological assumption, but we’ll address it, too.

People like to point out that Jesus never turned anyone away, and so if gays and transgenders want to be Christians (as gay and transgender Christians) then who are we to do anything but accept them?

John 6:37
Everything that the Father gives Me will come to Me, and the one who comes to Me I certainly will not cast out. (NASB)

Mark 2:15 & 16
15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

If Jesus won’t cast out those who come to Him; if He is willing to associate with sinners, should we not be accepting of transgender and gay Christians?

Well, no.

You’ll notice that these passages speak of people who COME TO JESUS. That is, those who come to Christ. Let’s add a clarifying verse, and then look at those verses a little closer:

Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Here, Jesus gives us some conditions for those who follow Him, we must DENY OURSELVES, and TAKE UP OUR CROSS, and follow Him.

As I mentioned, humanism places the desires and will of man above God. To follow Jesus, is to reject the desires and will of man. Those who claim to follow Jesus, but who do not deny homosexuality, who do not reject transgenderism (or indeed the whole of gender ideology), are not really following Jesus.

But to clarify let’s look at one of the verses that is used to point out how accepting Jesus is:

Mark 2:15-17
15 And it came to pass, that, as Jesus sat at meat in his house, many publicans and sinners sat also together with Jesus and his disciples: for there were many, and they followed him.

16 And when the scribes and Pharisees saw him eat with publicans and sinners, they said unto his disciples, How is it that he eateth and drinketh with publicans and sinners?

17 When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

Notice a couple of things about this passage that are conveniently overlooked by humanist teachers. The first thing is that all of the sinners that Jesus is accepting are FOLLOWING HIM. That means, that they were willing to walk with Him, learn from Him, listen to His teaching, begin to obey Him.

Those who claim to be Christian, but do not give up their own desires are not really following Christ, they are simply CLAIMING Christ as their Lord (“And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?” (Luke 6:46))

The sinners who are following Christ in the scriptural account are acknowledged as sinners, yes, but Jesus is not chasing them down and following THEM. THEY are following Jesus.

The next point about this passage that is conveniently overlooked is verse 17, where Jesus points out that they are sick because of their sin – that sin is a malady which needs to be healed, and corrected. He then gives the healing medicine: repentance. Jesus called sinners to repentance, not to remain in a lifestyle of sin.

If you are gay or transgender, you can, indeed be a Christian, but in order to do so, you must deny wicked gender ideology, and all of your carnal desires. You need to repent of your sins, and follow Christ.

If you are a Christian, and unsure how to respond to transgenderism and homosexuality as progressives attempt to normalize it, you can witness to these people by telling them of their need to repent.

Matthew 16:24
Then said Jesus unto his disciples, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow me.

Well, I actually intended to write something a little more in direction of the philosophy of humanism than of transgender ideology today, but as I didn’t get to it, here is the Apostle Paul speaking of the progression of humanism on society. If you take a few moments to read and reflect on this passage, perhaps you can see how our society has been engulfed in it.

Rom 1:21-32
21 Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
22 Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23 And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.
24 Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:
25 Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.
26 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:
27 And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.
28 And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;
29 Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,
30 Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,
31 Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:
32 Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.