On May 12, CNN aired an episode of The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper called, “The Playing Field: The Battle over Transgender Athletes,” following the emotional journey of two male athletes and the challenges they faced in competitive sports as transgender people. It also covers the argument that male-to-female transgender athletes have unfair advantages.

I watched and listened to the emotions and logic surrounding this cultural war. Young male athletes said playing on the women’s teams finally gave them a place to fit in. They took tremendous joy in finding the place they “belonged.”

God made us to be loved and accepted. So what’s so wrong about men or boys embracing their inclinations to be seen as women (and vice versa) if that’s where they feel they “belong”?

Obviously, this “culture war” is a straight-up spiritual battle. Brothers and sisters, we must believe that God’s truth transcends man-made ideas.

In Slavery to Sin

Many well-meaning Christians have followed the siren’s song into this illusion of love. Have we forgotten that everyone is born with a sinful nature (Romans 3:9, 23; 5:12; 6:17; Galatians 3:22)? Have we forgotten that salvation doesn’t just provide eternal life when we die, but allows us to be miraculously transformed in this life (2 Corinthians 5:17–18)?

Following Jesus Christ is not a “religion” that works for some people and not others. Following Jesus is the only way to the Father. The single cure for the sin-sickness from which every human being suffers is cured only by receiving the sacrifice of Christ’s death and the gift of righteousness through His resurrection (John 14:6). Those who accept Christ can then experience another Kingdom — the Kingdom of Heaven. That should change how we live out our earthly days.

But if someone settles in the camp of the enemy, still in slavery to sin, he’ll never find the fulfillment of the  longing for eternity set in each of our hearts (Ecclesiastes 3:11). Nowhere in the world can humans find their eternal sense of belonging. That’s why John 3:16–17 says,

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (MEV)

A Place to Belong

God calls us out of the world to find our place in the Body of Christ (see 1 Corinthians 12). The true joy and peace that results from doing so can only come from an individual knowing the Father and the Son personally through God’s Holy Spirit.

My heart aches with compassion for the two men featured on Anderson Cooper’s show. God wants to give them joy and help them find where they truly belong. That can only happen, though, by surrendering their lives to Jesus and letting lead them into their God-given destiny: being transformed in to the image of Jesus Christ (Romans 8:29).

Brothers and sisters, our nation stands united only under God. I pray that for each of you reading this, boldness will rise up in you to declare that Jesus is the only way to the Father, healing for every false idea from which we suffer comes only through Him, and every human being finds their true identity only in relationship with our Father.

Pray for those who courageously defend truth. And ask God for the courage to take a stand, with compassion and zeal, in your own daily life. “As you go, preach, saying, ‘The kingdom of heaven is at hand.’ Heal the sick, cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out demons. Freely you have received, freely give” (Matthew 10:7–8 MEV).

Janet Boynes founded Janet Boynes Ministries in Maple Grove, Minnesota, in 2006. She authored the books Called Out: A Former Lesbian’s Discovery of Freedom, God & Sexuality, and her latest: God & The LGBT Community. Janet is an ordained minister under the Assemblies of God and travels the U.S. and overseas sharing a message of redemption and hope through the power of Jesus Christ.