Satan and our flesh work in concert tempting us to find satisfaction to our needs in places outside of God. The greedy man seeks contentment outside of God by striving to gain and hoard money. The insecure wife may seek security from her husband and others by serving them endlessly in order to feel a sense of value and worth. The transgender seeks peace of mind by capitulating to his or her desire to be the opposite sex.

Imagine, instantaneously, feeling alienated from those closest to you—your family, your closest friends, and your other immediate social circles. All of a sudden, all that is familiar to you is completely distant. The chemistry you shared with your family and friends has evaporated. Your residence and your community are now places totally foreign. You perceive, at best, you are considered a nuisance by those around you; at worst, an outcast.

Now, imagine the aforementioned feelings of alienation, discomfort, and maybe even disdain thrust upon you because you do not feel at home in your own skin—your own body. You have all the physical marks of one sex, but your heart is pulled towards being the other sex and you cannot escape these yearnings. They have been with you for a very long time, maybe even as early as your days in elementary school.

For most in the Church, transgenderism is an aspect of life that is hard to understand and relate to. Most cannot fathom the dichotomy existing in one person  being one sex and desiring to be another. Around 700,000 people in the United States, however, feel this “tug of war” every day according to UCLA’s The Williams Center. Compared to the rest of the population, transgender persons are a very small percentage. But from California to Maryland, states have already begun implementing policies affecting this group of the national community. For this reason and others, Time magazinehas called transgenderism the next civil rights battle in a recent article.

Based upon interviews chronicled in the article, transgendered persons describe life before they embraced the sex opposite their natal sex in this manner: Susan Stryker, “There was a sense of who I was to myself that did not match who I was to other people, and for me that felt profoundly lonely.” She continued, “It felt like being locked in a dark room with my eyes and ears cut off and my tongue cut out and not being able to connect my own inner experience with my outer world.”  Seventeen year-old Ashton Lee felt the inner battle most when, as an elementary student, she and her classmates were asked to line up by sex. She said, “I would always struggle on which line to choose, because I didn’t feel like a girl, but I didn’t look like the other boys.” The same sense of feeling adrift in one’s own body is corroborated by other transgender persons who have shared their stories in other places.

It is quite easy for Christians and others to dismiss these feelings as illusionary or freakish. While some might express a postmodern sentiment and call for acceptance in one degree or another. Others might pronounce an outright, loveless condemnation to hell. All of these responses are wrong. To respond correctly, we must think biblically; and to think biblically, we must know how certain biblical truths relate to transgenderism and the helpful implications of these truths. The issue is not dealt with directly in Scripture, but creation of the sexes and matters of the heart are discussed exhaustively. These two topics are extremely helpful in understanding theologically the heart-breaking plight of transgendered persons.

Theology can be viewed from two perspectives. One is from the perspective of being tribal; the other from the perspective of being helpful. Theology can be used as a pedestal by a certain group to elevate itself and therefore consider itself superior to all others for it has the “true” interpretation on all biblical matters.  Those with this tribal perspective on theology can also use it as a weapon condemning those who do not adhere to their theological structure. In contrast, is the perspective of seeing theology as helpful. It educates mankind about who he really is and who God truly is. We are all born with a significant, soul-destroying deficiency about the true state of the human heart and the gloriousness God possesses. Theology is merely categorized truth about God and man. And Jesus declares the massive impact of truth in John 8:32, “ … the truth will set you free.” Jesus did not speak these words to transgendered persons only. Transgender individuals do need to be set free, but he spoke them to all of mankind. So the truths detailed below relate to all. They are intended to provide insight as to how to understand the confusion and struggles experienced by transgendered persons, and to share with them who we really are and who we desperately need.

[Editor’s note: This article is incomplete. The link (URL) to the original article is unavailable and has been removed.]