What Christians Can Learn From Bruce Jenner?

        Over the past few months, our country has been obsessed with the decision Bruce Jenner made to have a sex change. People have taken sides and gave strong opinions. What can the church learn from this?

            First, we must remember that regardless of how we think or feel about Jenner's decision, we must remember that this individual still has a soul. Jenner is still a human being made in the image of God. The church should be concerned with where Jenner's eternal home will be. We are not Jenner's judges, but we are the agents in this world sent to evangelize all people wherever they are in life.  This is no exception.

            Second, I think the church needs to look at this moment to understand the world that we now live in. Too many Christians still view our nation as a country that is guided by Christian principles. While there is a healthy debate as to whether we (USA) were founded on Christian principles, we must agree that our society is becoming more post-Christian every day.  Jenner's decision reflects where our country now stands. This is also one of the reasons this decision has been held up high as a great moment. Let us take a moment to examine the attitudes behind this decision and how it is impacting our decision-making.

1. Our society has, either knowingly or unknowingly, accepted the ideas and principles of humanism, relativism, postmodernism, etc. At the heart of these philosophies is the idea that man determines truth (if truth can be determined at all). When you combine these ideas with evolution, you begin to think that whatever society is now accepting is not only good but is morally superior to what was old. This means that we no longer look to the past for timeless truths for they no longer exist. It also means that we no longer look to a God to guide us, for man does not need Him. Romans 1 discusses what happens to man when they neglect God, and it describes where our society. In Romans 1, Paul describes how people become more wicked when they neglect, ignore, or deny God. Many ignore the Bible today because they view the Bible as out of date since it was written 2,000 years ago. Our ignorance and arrogance has blinded us to the fact that the Bible deals with everything we deal with today. Solomon was right when he wrote there is nothing new under the sun. We are repeating the same mistakes that others made before us. Our problem is that we are not willing to see what the results of past mistakes were. The calendar may change but God's Word does not. He has not changed His mind in the last 2,000 years.

2. Many claim that our bodies belong to us and therefore we have the right to do what we want as long as it does not hurt others. First, our actions do hurt others. I see this every day as a minister. For example, people who abuse alcohol and drugs affect the lives of their spouse, parents, and children. Second, we do not have the right to do what we want with our bodies because they do not "belong" to us. 1 Corinthians 6 makes it clear that Jesus purchased the body of the Christian and that body is now the temple of the Holy Spirit. If you are a Christian, your body belongs to the one who paid for it, Jesus Christ. Treat it like it is Christ's possession when making moral, ethical, and spiritual decisions. What about the non-Christian? Your body is a gift from God. You live because of Him. You need oxygen, gravity, food, and water to live. He provides that for you everyday. You live in His world and everything in it is His possession. You may not want to admit it but you are still under His rules. It may be your body, but it is His rules that you must live under.

3. Our desires do not give us permission. This world is full of temptation and sin. We are commanded to over come it. James 1:¹³ Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and he himself tempts no one. ¹⁴ But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. ¹⁵ Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death. Increasingly, our society believes that if you desire something strong enough you should give into it. This includes (but is not limited to) sexual desires. What does that make human beings? God tells us that we will be tempted but that we have the free will ability to resist. He provides us a way out of temptation. Just because you desire something, does not mean you have the right to do it. Your desires do not equal permission.

4. Rebellion is not good. We live in an age that loves rebellion. In fact we make rebels our heroes. Even the church has bought into this line of thinking. Christians are not called to be rebels but to be submissive. We are submissive to God. Then we are submissive to parents, the elders of the church, governments, etc. The attitude of rebellion, if it is encouraged, will lead people to be rebellious to God. We are only called to be rebellious when authority figures are trying to lead us to disobey God. That is it. This rebellious attitude in the world makes us question God's commandment. In the Garden of Eden, Satan asked Eve the question "Did God really say...". This is the same question he asks us today. The church is actually helping to promote this rebellion by asking the same question: Did God really say? How can we expect the world to follow the commandments of God when the church is debating if He really meant it? God gave us His Word and it is clear, we just don't want to obey it.

            I believe that the church should spend some time examining Bruce Jenner's decision. How Bruce Jenner came to this decision is the same attitude and thinking that our generation is using to make decisions today. We cannot minister to a society that we do not understand. The church has failed because we have not been honest about where our society has been and is going for a long time. Will we see what is plain to see or continue to be blind?