Short Take #2: Overcoming through Christ

Okay, so I'd like to play a soundbite from early in the film that characterizes what the contentious conversation that goes back and forth over this issue of transgenderism that we hear in the media today. You want to be a drag queen and your parents don't let you? You need new parents. I'm a man. My ID says female and he can't rule. Know your pronouns. Know your pronouns. It is man. L-G-G-B-D-T-T-T-I-Q-Q.

Mine to mom. The hips on the drag queen go swish, swish, swish. The issues are unavoidable. They're on the news.

I want to have a chance to comment on how good the White House looked in rainbow colors. They're in our legislation. The Texas bathroom bill. In our schools.

Drag queen story hour. Our entertainment, our social media. They're even reaching into our churches. Let us be the church together. They're causing families to question everything they thought they knew. I was being asked to choose my child and my church.

I chose my child. And they're pushing everyone who calls themselves a follower of Christ to wrestle with the question, what does God think about all this? Can you be gay and Christian? What if you genuinely feel like you're trapped in the wrong body? Did God make you this way?

Is change even possible? In that soundbite toward the beginning of the film, M.D., it deals with some of the common discourse that you hear in the midst of this issue of homosexuality and transgenderism, the culture war, so to speak, on this topic. But the film doesn't deal so much with that, actually, pretty minorly with the culture war political battle over these issues, but deals with the issue of transgenderism in a very personal, compassionate and biblical standpoint. Even the title, In His Image, that's the foundation for understanding why this can be overcome, and the Gospels made clear, and the scriptural foundation for who God made you. Why did you put so much emphasis on that, and not so much emphasis just on the culture war things we see on the news every night?

That's a great question. Well, obviously, if you are familiar at all with American Family Association, the ministry that I work for that put this documentary together, you'd know that we're certainly not silent when it comes to the questions of issues in the culture, Christians being involved in politics, and all of the things that are emerging within the civic arena. But when it came to AFA leadership wanting to make a film that would speak to this issue, they realized we have made such a consistent and clear stand when it comes to the culture war questions, and we continue to do that through our radio programs, our broadcasts, and our articles, and things like that.

And of course, those things are constantly changing, and you kind of need to have your finger constantly on the pulse to pick out the nuances. But there needed to be some kind of presentation that would clearly define for us as an organization, for our viewers, for our donors, for the Christian church, what does it mean to be made in the image of God? Why do we talk about these things?

It's the question underneath the question. It's the question that Christians start to get upset about something in the culture with gay marriage or something, and you're hearing two sides of the debate. But what often is lacked, and what many Christians honestly, David, are lacking, is the biblical foundation for why they even believe what they believe.

Sometimes they're just following along because they feel like, well, this is what trusted people I know are saying, and so we should be opposed to this. But Christians should be rooted and grounded in truth, so we should understand the reasons why we believe what we believe. And so that's what AFA wanted to do with this documentary. We wanted to get in and to see what did the scripture say. We wanted to be able to present some scientific evidence that backs up the scriptural truth. We wanted to be able to point to stories of hope and change, of people who really have come through these things, because that's the other narrative that we're hearing, is that, well, people can't change.

They're just born that way. And the transgender question is such a new one that, honestly, when we were getting into the process, we didn't even know if we could find stories of people who had gone in and come out of it. I mean, we knew that God was at work in people, but would the stories be there? Would someone be able to come forward with a clear, credible testimony and be able to talk about the amazing work of God's restoring and redeeming grace in their own life? And in God's mercy, he brought those people to us, and so we were able to highlight that in the film. But that was the reason for the focus, really, is the church needs to be called back, and we need to sometimes be called back to first things. We need to remember why we do the things we do, instead of just getting into the pattern of, well, I'm just a conservative politically, and I just need to follow along with this. Bearing witness in the culture is important, and it's a very essential part of the Christian life. But we need to understand why God called us to bear witness, and if we're not clear on that, then we're really opening ourselves up to deception and to error and to easily be led astray into other things, and you're seeing that a lot, especially in the younger generation of so-called believers. This has been a short take from The Christian Worldview with David Wheaton. To find out more about The Christian Worldview, order resources, make a donation, become a monthly partner, or contact us, visit thechristianworldview.org. You can also call us at toll-free 1-888-646-2233, or write to us at Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331. That's Box 401, Excelsior, Minnesota 55331.