Compassionate Community

If a popular local politician and also a self-identified transgender individual walked into your church, who would be greeted first?

Who would the church’s welcome team be more pleased to see, and go the extra mile to make sure they felt at home?

Who would be invited back the following Sunday?

If your honest answer is that the politician would be the highest priority and receive the warmest welcome, the hard truth is that the Bible says that your church would be showing partiality—which is a sin:

“My brothers, show no partiality as you hold the faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Lord of glory. For if a man wearing a gold ring and fine clothing comes into your assembly, and a poor man in shabby clothing also comes in, and if you pay attention to the one who wears the fine clothing and say, “You sit here in a good place,” while you say to the poor man, “You stand over there,” or, “Sit down at my feet,” have you not then made distinctions among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts? Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him? (James 2 v 1-5)

The church’s response to those who identify as transgender, and to those who struggle with gender dysphoria but who are not actively identifying as transgender, must be—immediately and with integrity, “You are welcome here. You are loved here.”

Christians, this requires us to be open about our own struggles and failings and worries. Too often our churches give the impression that the church is welcoming to people who are different from them when they truly are not.

The Son of Man came to seek and save people, ALL people.

Unfortunately too many churches create a list of sins that are more tolerated and excusable (these tend to be the ones we struggle with) than others (which, conveniently, tend to be those that others struggle with).

The antidote to this is to understand that the compassion we need for others begins with appreciating the compassion that the Lord extends to each of us.

He is the Lord of glory (James 2 v 1)—yet he came with words of welcome to those who had run from him.

He is the Lord of glory—yet he loves and cares for you and me.

That is the compassion we must be willing to extend to others—all others.