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Lifeway Research---a Christian organization---has found "Most Americans see nothing morally wrong with gender change."
About 6 in 10 Americans don't think it's morally wrong for people to identify with a gender different from their birth sex, and more than 50% don't think it's wrong to switch genders by taking hormones or having surgery.
In fact, they found "a majority of Americans reject the view of a creator giving them a gender that shouldn't be changed."
Response from evangelicals is stunning.
Scott McConnell, executive director of Lifeway Research says, "The findings indicate most Americans don't see moral significance in being born male or female."
He says, "We freely change many things about ourselves---we have cosmetic surgery, we use teeth whitener, we dye our hair, we get tattoos. Many Americans view gender as one more thing on that list."
The Bible says in Genesis 1:27, "So God created man in His own image, in His image God created him; male and female created he them."
Obviously, biblical Christians would not agree.
Right?
The survey found that 35% of Americans, in general, say it's wrong for people to identify with a gender different from their birth sex, while 45% disagree. As for changing gender, 42% say it's morally wrong and 43% disagree.
But 14% say identifying with a different gender isn't a moral issue at all---it's simply a personal choice.
McConnell says he found that 54% of evangelicals say it's wrong to identify with a different gender.
That means 46% of evangelicals agree with the secularists.
46%.
Almost half.
How does an evangelical, who claims to believe the Bible and affirm it is the infallible Word of God, square with the notion that gender doesn't matter to God, and changing ones birth sex isn't a moral issue?
Only 26% of Catholics believe it's morally wrong to change birth sex; 35% in both Judaism and Islam and 20% who claim to be non-religious.
How can 46% of evangelicals say they believe God has no real authority over our birth sex while singing, "He's got the whole world in His hands...?"
McConnell says of his survey, "This reflects a changing worldview. A growing percentage of Americans don't believe in right and wrong. They don't believe there's absolute truth---and if there's no absolute truth, then they are reluctant to talk about morality."
He expresses disappointment, suggesting it should be 80 or 90% of evangelicals who believe that God is the God of Creation.
There's more. You can read it from the link above.
How did evangelicals get to this point---denying that God "knows us before we are formed in the womb," "God has a plan for our life---a specific plan," etc.
This nonsense even suggests that 46% of evangelicals say they believe God makes mistakes.
It is written, "My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge."
The church too often is so obsessed with "relating" or becoming "relative" to a lost confused world that the only message that can change the world is lost in the "nice noise" of "relating" to the point that the message of the church and that of the world becomes indistinguishable.
A separate, unrelated poll by Barna Research has found that evangelical pastors have removed themselves from addressing any cultural issues to the point that many are not even planning to preach about the issues of the upcoming election.
I wrote an article about it recently.
In 2014, more than 75% of evangelical pastors encouraged their congregation to vote.
In 2016, only 62% plan to encourage their congregations to vote.
And only "21% of evangelical pastors plan to teach the biblical foundations for positions on issues relevant to the 2016 election cycle."
There is an axiom that "silence gives consent."
There is a word picture of that truth in Acts 7. Stephen is being stoned to death for his faith in Jesus Christ. The account says those who were killing Stephen "laid down their clothes at a young man's feet, whose name was Saul [later to become Paul]."
According to the Record, Paul was silent---didn't say a word during Stephen's execution.
His silence gave consent.
Only after he was knocked from his donkey and blinded did he find the passion, conviction, and understanding to speak the Truth into the darkness of his world---whatever the cost.
I've quoted him before, but it bears repeating:
"Silence in the face of evil is itself evil: God will not hold him guiltless. Not to speak is to speak. Not to act is to act." Dietrich Bonhoeffer.
God help us.