Romans 14:15 (KJV)
But if thy brother be grieved with thy meat, now walkest thou not
charitably. Destroy not him with thy meat, for whom Christ died.
Darn right. Every action, every attitude, every activity in our lives
should be examined according to this principle - not just cold theology.
Forget the theology for
a moment, wrote Paul. Look at the effects of argument.
God isn't about an abstract argument over who's
right or wrong. The people of God need to care more about each other
than about their theological theories; love and gentleness must be at
the heart of all our interactions.
What does this mean to transgendered Christians? If a particular
expression of
transgenderism is likely to destroy someone's faith, then if you can
avoid it, do so. Even when there's nothing wrong with what you do.
I think that sometimes
we assume that "they won't like it" or "it will surprise them" means
"it will endanger their faith", which is not always true. The church is
not trapped in one set of assumptions forever. There are times when the
church can learn and grow and be strengthened, not weakened, by new things.
But always keep in mind that our goal should not be to prove ourselves
right, but to care for the souls around us. Each of us has to judge the
situations we are in carefully, with wisdom and prayer. That applies to
not just to crossdressing, but to every activity on earth.
Before closing, I would like to reccommend all of Romans 14 to
everyone. Most of us have indulged in crusading against Christians
we have a theological quibble with. I know I have. It's fun to sock it
to 'em, let them know how wrong they are. Sure, it may upset people, but
we're talking about zeal for God's truth here, so how can it be wrong?
Paul thought otherwise. Read Romans 14.
The love, the peace, the joy, the life of Christ be with you!