2016 | Week of June 20 | #1156

Feeling powerless is not a good place to be. It saps our energies, is frustrating, and can be downright depressing and debilitating. Unfortunately, I believe this is precisely where many Christians are right now on this transgender, gender identity issue, especially as it impacts children and our public schools. The truth is there are a number of things you and I can do to make a real and a really positive difference in the lives of children, in our schools and our communities, and in the culture at large on this issue.

First, we all need to get informed with reliable information. We recommend our website, www.wifamilycouncil.org as a starting point. A search on the word “transgender” or clicking on “Resources” will give you links to other helpful websites and more. Not knowing the truth about where we are in Wisconsin on this issue makes it difficult for you to do something that is truly helpful in any sense. Sign up on our website for our weekly email to stay up to date on this issue and other issues that impact you and your family.

Next, especially if you are a parent, make definite plans to talk to your children about this matter in age-appropriate ways—which means you’ll need to plan different times and different talks depending on the ages of your children. Your most important authority for any age for this talk is, of course, the Bible.  What does God’s Word say about how He created us—male and female—and about why that is good and right?

And don’t forget those teachable moments that just happen in everyday life. A grandfather was recently telling me how he was a reading a book on the alphabet to his 3 year-old grandson. When they came to the letter “b,” the word used was boy. “B” is for boy. Grandfather to grandson, “Did you know God made you a boy? And that’s a really good thing.”  This was a tender moment with a young grandson perched on his lap that this astute grandfather used to reinforce a very important truth.  Parents need to start young and continue throughout their children’s growing up years building into their children a deeply rooted respect for and trust in God’s established Truth and His divine order.

On a slightly wider scale, citizens need to let their school boards know they are aware of this issue and aware of the president’s unconstitutional mandate foisted on all public schools, regardless of that community’s values. Start by calling the school board president or a school board member you know and ask for a copy of the district’s policy related to transgendered students or to policies referencing gender identity or gender expression. Ask the school board member what the district’s response will be to the federal government’s encroaching on their territory.  Based on those responses, consider starting a petition drive specifically for your school district officials letting them know what action tax-paying residents and district parents want them to take. For sample language for this type of petition, contact us at 888-378-7395.  Once a significant number of signatures are gathered, then several people need to present the petitions to the school board at a school board meeting. This will require someone to take some leadership and coordinate the efforts, but the results can be extremely powerful.

Also at the community level, concerned Christian citizens need to make sure their pastor is also informed about this critical issue. Provide him with reliable materials that make it easy for him to decide how he wants to handle this issue in his church. One suggestion we think is a good one to make is to have a special workshop or seminar for parents and others who are interested to help them think and respond to this issue in their homes and in the community in a godly way—and in a way that will help parents help their children.  We know very few people are equipped to talk about this issue constructively, especially parents, many of whom may be sending their children to the local public school.

I’m hopeful taking a couple of these ideas and actually doing something positive and constructive will replace the feeling of powerlessness that seems all too pervasive today.  While we never ask anyone to do everything, we do ask everyone to do something. Ask God to direct you today to the one or two somethings you can do to make a difference.

For Wisconsin Family Council, this is Julaine Appling reminding you the prophet Hosea said, “My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.”