So, What do we do With Caitlyn Jenner?

Almost nothing shocks me anymore.  So I must admit that I just wanted to yawn and move on after the news came out about Bruce Jenner's transition to Caitlyn.  Sure, he was an Olympic athlete, who was the picture of  physical fitness and masculinity when he appeared on the front of a Wheaties Box.  I guess his association with the Kardashian clan has caused him to remain in the gossip pages.  With a sex change, we could check another box on the list of scandalous acts.  Still, this one will not go away.

I opened the Dallas Morning News yesterday to find a front page article titled Free to be Themselves. There really were two separate stories, but the one I found most enlightening was on a new children's clinic that treat transgender children.  Children's Medical Center of Dallas has established the program.  "People have this idea that transgender people are just weird and awkward and troubled.  That is because historically people came out as trans-gendered adults when they spent so much of their lives depressed because they were not being themselves," noted Dr. Ximena Lopez.  Dr. Lopez is the director of the center and also a professor of pediatrics at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

I recall a conversation with my good friend, Liz Krause, a few years back.  Liz is a biology teacher, but she is also is a very traditional Lutheran when it comes to her theology.  I was looking for insight into the whole gay/lesbian issue.  OK, I will admit a bias, but I also knew that it came out of ignorance.  Liz set me straight in saying that, "Yes, some people are born that way."  As a result of that conversation I came to the conclusion that God loves gay/lesbian people the same way he loves those who are "straight."  The bottom line is we are all lost souls in need to a Savior.  Now I am called to accept those who are trans-gendered is the same way.

OK, I still will admit a level of discomfort.  I believe that is rooted in the belief that the gay, lesbian, bi-sexual and transgender lifestyles go against God's desires for us.  Discomfort: that is nothing new due to the changes we have gone through when it comes to culture and values.  My pastor continues to remind me that I need to become comfortable with being uncomfortable.

I seriously doubt that any of us are ever going to have contact with Caitlyn Jenner, but it is also highly unlikely that we can avoid contact with someone in the GLBT community.  They might be a neighbor or someone we work with.  It might even be a member of your own family.  So, what do we do with them?  My response has to be to model what I see in The Gospels.  Jesus dined with such people.  He had conversations with such people.  He loved such people.   He viewed them as lost souls, and without a relationship with them there was no way for them to know the hope.  We also need to remember that it was the "religious authorities" who were most critical of Our Savior for associating with such individuals.   We also need to remember that he labeled those who sat on the side and criticized him as "hypocrites."