Hot button subjects are not waters I like to wade into, but they are crossing over into mainstream life which will begin to alter the way we think if we do not hit it head on. Deception has a way of subtly sneaking into our thoughts, through music, movies, books, newspapers, and television shows. Whenever you add a message to music or a movie it solidifies that message in our thoughts in a way that just reading does not do. So, with this issue going public, I decided it was time to address the truth about the transgender issue.
Jeremiah 17:9-10 says, “The heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out. But I, God, search the heart and examine the mind. I get to the heart of the human. I get to the root of things. I treat them as they really are, not as they pretend to be” (MSG).
I like the way the Message Bible translates this verse, because most Christians are really good at recognizing whether they believe fruit is good or bad and if it is bad they want to pluck it, throw it away and think by doing so it is gone. But the reality of a tree is that bad fruit is the product of a rotten root, the issue is not the fruit, it is the root. That is why in this translation it says, God goes to the root of things, for it you go to the root, you can change the fruit. So, as this pertains to the transgender issue what we are seeing is the fruit of a deeper unseen root.
The root of the transgender issue is one of identity. Transgender people are manifesting because people have an identity crisis. They don’t know who they are. But the root goes even deeper, the reason they are having an identity crisis is because people have grown up fatherless. Fathers instill identity, so when fatherlessness is rampant, identity issues will take root and the fruits they produce are countless, but the root is an identity issue that came from fatherlessness. Now this is not a slam on men, for most men are products of fatherlessness themselves and they too have their own identity issue, that is why they don’t themselves know how to be fathers.
I believe the reason God is releasing the revelation of the Father, that songs are rising about Him being a good good Father is because, we are so in need of a Father, who will instill identity into us as sons and daughters. In the Parable of the Prodigal Son in Luke 15 we see the five-fold restoration of God, the first thing a Father restores is relationship—no shame, no condemnation, no questions, no scolding—just an embrace, a restoration of the relationship. Next we see the restoration of identity, by the placing of the robe on the son. First Peter 2:9 says, we are a royal priesthood. The robe is a symbol of identity. Once the relationship is restored, the Father restores our identity. The only way this happens is by spending time with the Father. When we are fatherless, we fear getting close to the Father, so we talk about Him, sing about Him, but do not let our hearts get close to Him.
Jesus said, You honor me with your lips, but your hearts are far from Me (Matthew 15:18). The invitation from heaven is to come near, let’s come to our senses. We are sons, we are daughters of God. Every human being was created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26). If we would turn toward Him, He will run to us. Prodigals are not in the streets only, but also in the church. If we would return, we could show those in the streets who our Father is and then He would restore their identity as a son or daughter designed in His image. The transgender truth is not about malicious sexual, deviant or heinous sin. It is a cry for identity. It is a call for someone to show them the Father!
Lisa Great is an author, speaker and blogger with Mouthpiece Ministries International. She has been in ministry for over 25 years, she has a B.A. in Youth and Family Studies, a M.A. in Education. She can be reached at mouthpieceministries.
