These questions are intended to stimulate thought and discussion. They are particularly designed for Sunday school and small groups.
1) Is it surprising to hear that People Today stated in 1954, “Next to the recurrent hydrogen bomb headlines, reports of sex changes are becoming the most persistently startling world news”?
a) Does this change your thinking about the “phenomena” of sex-reassignment surgery? If so, how?
b) Why do you think people continue to be surprised by reports of sex changes if this dominated the news as far back as the 1950s?
2) How significant is it that television shows like I Am Jazz, Becoming Us, I Am Cait, Sense8, Orange Is the New Black, and Transparent are bringing transgender individuals into people’s living rooms?
a) How do you think this changes people’s perception of transgenderism?
3) How do you think the events of the year 2015 changed the average person’s thinking regarding transgenderism?
a) How do you think the events of the year 2015 changed the Church’s thinking regarding transgenderism?
4) How is it significant that religious organizations have failed to find refuge since the Bergefell v. Hodges Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage?
5) Is it appropriate for Hollywood, large corporations, and sports leagues to use their influence to encourage controversial social change?
6) Is it discriminatory to require that individuals use the bathroom and changing facilities which correspond with their biological sex?
a) What if the individual has undergone sex-reassignment surgery?
b) What if the individual clearly presents as the opposite gender, so it would appear to others that a man walked into the women’s bathroom, or vice versa?
7) What are some examples of how defining transgender individuals as a protected class may result in a conflict of interest between providing services and opportunities to transgender individuals and adhering to religious and moral convictions?
a) How should Christians respond if forced to choose between following the law and following the Bible?
b) Imagine a scenario where a Christian school is unable to prevent, or even to speak against, a student’s decision to present themselves as the opposite gender. How would this affect the school’s ability to conform all of its instruction and practice to the teaching of the Bible?
8) Can today’s Christian ignore or avoid the issue of transgenderism? Why?
9) Should local churches assume that transgender individuals will not seek to join their church? Why?
10) Why is the issue of transgenderism no longer a private matter?
11) Why is it unreasonable to expect that the public will not discuss, critique, debate, and at times oppose an issue and a movement which is seeking to alter such fundamental issues of society and government as the nature of sexual identity?
12) Do you think the increased number of children with transgender feelings is a consequence of greater exposure to transgenderism, or a result of children feeling safer about admitting their feelings?
a) Should the increase in the number of children who are confused about their sexual identity change the way we communicate sexual roles with children? If so, how?
13) Do you agree with the American College of Pediatricians that gender ideology harms children?
a) Do you agree with the American College of Pediatricians that conditioning children into believing that a lifetime of chemical and surgical impersonation of the opposite sex is normal and healthy is tantamount to child abuse?
14) How does sexual confusion make one vulnerable to sexual immorality?
a) What is the consequence of sexual immorality?
15) How is the Christian told to respond to sexual immorality?
a) How does a Christian flee sexual immorality when sexual immorality pervades the culture and society?
b) How can a Christian expect to be culturally relevant if they continually flee sexual immorality in a sexually immoral culture?
c) How does a Christian put to death the carnal impulse?
d) What is the difference between being exposed to sexual immorality and indulging in sexual immorality?
16) In what way does 1 Corinthians 6:9 identify behavior associated with gender dysphoria?
a) The word translated “effeminate” in 1 Corinthians 6:9 is the Greek word malakoi, which means “soft to the touch,” and “Figuratively it means effeminate or a person who allows himself to be sexually abused contrary to nature.” In today’s society, could we substitute malakoi with gender dysphoria that is acted upon?
17) What does 1 Corinthians 6:9–10 say is the consequence of those who are identified by their gender dysphoria?
a) How should this influence the way we as Christians think about transgender individuals?
b) How should this influence the way we as Christians speak about transgender individuals?
c) How should this influence the way we as Christians speak with transgender individuals?
18) According to 1 Corinthians 6:9–10, why is the issue of transgenderism of paramount importance?
19) How does 1 Corinthians 6:9–11 offer hope for those suffering from gender dysphoria?
20) Is anybody beyond the transforming and sanctifying power of Jesus Christ? Why?