Pride Month is celebrated globally to promote equality and awareness. As Christians, how should we respond and think about it? Should we hold our own protests to counter theirs? Or should we respond in love and kindness?
While scrolling through my Instagram feed a while ago, this image of a crocheted male genital popped up. An American company has created these items to sell to the parents of toddlers who think their toddler, born as a female, should have been a male. It’s the beginning of a gender transition.
Immediately I felt like that if the creators of that product were in the same room as I was, I would have destroyed every product in a rage.
After a moment or two, I took a deep breathe. I think God understood my anger and no words were needed, I was just sitting with Him helplessly. I’ve grown up believing that any positive change, no matter how small, can change the world. Not the whole world, but the world of one person, a group or a community. When I read articles like this and see the world changing so quickly around me… I wonder how accurate that belief is.
The World Has Lost It
I do not make this statement lightly. When I look at the world around me… I’m astonished. How is what has been happening becoming normal? How do so many people think it’s okay? How is it being encouraged? One thing I always appreciated about atheists/liberals growing up was their commitment to science and logic. While I believe science explains how God created and shaped the world, they believe it explains the world completely – with no creator. At least it was logical.
Now… Beliefs and worldviews seem to be no longer founded in science. They’re mostly rather based on individual ‘rights’ and feelings.
There is a void in all of us – it causes us to search for who we are, to discover our true selves, to find love in any form. The world, from my limited point of view, has lost it. I don’t mean lost it mentally. People seem to have lost their identity. They’ve lost their sense of belonging. They’ve lost their awareness of their Creator.
Righteous Anger Calls Out Action
As I continued pondering and praying about that crocheted thing… I had a realisation.
For context, I got married at the end of 2020 and the subject of children has come up a lot due to some personal health issues that could make having children tricky. At first, I thought this health barrier may be a blessing in disguise because… do I really want to raise children in this world? Where if you do not conform to the popular narrative, you’re cancelled or shunned?
After my ponderings with God, I came to the realisation that I have a responsibility to raise children. Whether God decides to bless me with having my own, or I adopt, or I work with children – whatever it looks like, we are called to raise children with God as the foundation and to influence each child we interact with in a way that glorifies God.
We need to raise and influence children to be so secure in their identity in Christ that the world can scream at them, throw temptation in the path and subtly condition them… and it will all land on infertile soil. Because they know that they were created in the image of God.
We need to create safe, loving homes where we, as adults, model how to be a good human. We need to give them the safety to raise their concerns with us, to chat about what is happening in their world and what is influencing them. We need to assure them that they can’t lose our love, no matter what. We need to ask them a lot of questions, encourage curiosity and boldness, and trust that as we raise them with God – they will become world changers. Kids can change the world when equipped with the power of a solid identity and the love of Christ.
So… What about Pride Month?
I do not like cancel culture… I don’t think someone should be silenced for disagreeing with the narrative that the world wants us to believe. I do not like that many of those celebrating Pride Month are no longer fighting for equality but are fighting with individuals in an attempt to get them to agree with their world views. I do not like how people who themselves have been angered and hurt by oppression, are now doing the same to others who have a different view.
I don’t agree with this move to force people to mold into the narrative that those with the loudest voices deem to be best. Primarily because it isn’t very loving. It isn’t representative of the diverse world so many women fought for during the birth of feminism. A world homosexual and trans people fought for when they fought for acceptance and equal rights. A world people of colour fought for when they were being oppressed and mistreated purely because of their skin colour.
If a non-Christian chooses to be transgender, homosexual, pansexual, asexual, queer or any other identification… that’s okay. Our job as Christians is to love them like Jesus would – like He did with the woman at the well (John 4). To speak truth in love. And if a Christian identifies with the LGBTQ+ community, then you can hold them accountable to scripture. But again, only in love.
To me, Pride Month signifies a desperation for love, acceptance and identity. It shows me how lost, broken and hurt our world is – and has been for generations. It shows me how desperately we all need Jesus. It teaches me to have empathy. It stirs up the belief that we need to raise good, brave children to love with truth and to be secure in their identity.
Action is Needed
At some point the cycle of blame, victimisation and oppression of those we disagree with needs to stop. We need to stop blaming our past (which is important to be aware of, but simply blaming and not acting is futile) and start taking responsibility in the present for our future. We need to have open and honest discussions with people from all walks of life. We need to listen to understand. We need to be respectful of those who have different worlds views, lifestyles and orientations to what we do. We need to seek Jesus and His Spirit so fervently that the way He loves becomes a natural fruit of who we are.
Pride Month is not a chance to tell people how sinful they are and that they’re damned to hell. It’s a time to acknowledge the deep hurts, to listen to learn, and to love because that’s what we’re instructed to do.
When we love practically and authentically, God in His grace allows us to be part of His redemptive work. We can change worlds, one genuine act of love at a time.
“By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.”
John 13:35
