The Night Pronouns Mattered
Teens in the Word has become a real highlight for Central’s Youth Group. Each year, the group studies something different and the atmosphere is like nothing else this group does.
For awhile, I was the “main” teacher (thankfully, Noah has taken that over and is doing a great job!) and came up with the theme for each year. So, for one year, we decided to handle some very tough subjects, but ones that these young people are facing from day-to-day.
Among those subjects was transgenderism. We looked at it from a Biblical perspective as well as a practical, how-do-we-deal-with-it, perspective. At the end of the study, we built a list of some practical steps to take to help show the truth and shine as a light. Among those I said that you did not need to have “preferred pronouns” in your social media bios. After all, if you are saying that you should be called one set of pronouns, that infers that you could change it another time. By doing so, you have given up the game to the so-called “logic” of transgenderism.
After the study wrapped up, one of the other adults came up to me and asked if I had noticed what happened. I have to admit, I thought he was going to tell me something bad. But what he told me was amazing. He said that, while the study was finishing and then was concluded, several of the young people had gone to Instagram and other social media platforms and removed their pronouns. They grasped what was being said and realized that they needed to change.
I share that little incident really to highlight this: young people today are living in an ocean of this type of gender and sexual ideology. It is basically in the air they breathe. I really don’t think those young people that night had even thought about the implication of putting pronouns on their social media; it’s just what you’re “supposed” to do.
But that night, they started to see it. For all of us who seek to influence young people toward heaven, that is what we are up against. We are against the entire flow of culture that is moving in the complete opposite direction. We are against all of this being “normal” and just part of the way things are done.
But young people will listen. I believe they want to do right. They just need real adults who will teach them and walk with them. If we are not the adults in their lives, who will be?
Likely, someone with very different pronouns.
AUTHOR: Adam Faughn