What Ought To Be
We live in a time where it is now controversial and, some would say, downright wrong and offensive to stand on the side of biological gender. A few weeks ago, J.K. Rowling stood up for biological sex, and she was labeled a transphobic overnight. Her crime? She took issue with the phrase “people who menstruate” being used instead of the word “women” as an attempt to include transwomen, that is, men who choose to be or believe themselves to be women. We are living in a time in which we have lost our common sense understanding of what gender is, what sexuality is, what a man is, and what a woman is. We are living in the time Paul warned Timothy about.
“For a time is coming when people will no longer listen to sound and wholesome teaching. They will follow their own desires and will look for teachers who will tell them whatever their itching ears want to hear.” (2 Timothy 4:3)
How people react to statements they don’t like or disagree with today is a lot like how the crowd reacted to Stephen when he gave testimony about Jesus.
“At this they covered their ears, cried out in a loud voice, and rushed together at him.” (Acts 7:57)
The mob attacks. The culture seeks to cancel. We’re seeing more and more of this happen and it may very well increase. These times have all been predicted in the Scriptures so we shouldn’t be surprised when they happen. We live in a fallen world and nothing is truly as it ought to be. We get a glimpse of what this world ought to be in the first and second chapters of Genesis: God walking through the garden, man and woman living in peace and harmony with God, nature, and animals, and no death. But after our rebellion, after sin, we read about the consequences of our fallen world.
“To the woman he said, ‘I will make your pains in childbearing very severe; with painful labor you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.’ To Adam he said, ‘Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, You must not eat from it, Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.’” (Genesis 3:16-19)
Ravi Zacharias once made a profound point about these times of confusion when he said, “People don’t know what basic things are. People don’t know what gender is, what sexuality is, and if you don’t know what something is, how can you know what something ought to be?” The Christian knows that nothing in this world is as it ought to be, but as we enter into a time when people don’t even know what basic things are, like gender and sexuality, it becomes all the more difficult for them to understand how things ought to be. When people don’t understand the sacredness of a sexual relationship, it allows for all kinds of sexual perversions and sexual sin. As Jesus told Nicodemus when explaining the Holy Spirit:
“But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?” (John 3:12)
C.S. Lewis once wrote, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.” It seems our culture is slipping further and further away from common sense and it will make it all the more difficult for them to understand how things ought to be. But just as Jesus did not end His conversation with Nicodemus, so we should not shy away from difficult conversations. Stay and talk, show love, and stand firm on the Truth of Scripture. Don’t be afraid of the crowd, even if they cover their ears, shout, and rush at you.
“God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers. Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.” (Matthew 5:11-12)
“When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth. He will not speak on his own but will tell you what he has heard. He will tell you about the future.” (John 16:13)
May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.
—Redeemed
