Transgender flag on a soccer ball. By alexlmx/stock.adobe.com.
The US Supreme Court handed down a ruling Tuesday rejecting President Trump’s bid to end birthright citizenship and another upholding state restrictions on transgender athletes. The latter was good news to me since I am the grandfather of a school-age granddaughter.
However, the Court’s ruling on transgender athletes does not end the controversy. The justices determined that states can constitutionally ban biological boys from girls’ sports teams, not that they must. Now, as with the Dobbs decision on abortion, the conflict returns to the states. At present, twenty-seven states limit school sports for women and girls to athletes whose biological sex is female. In the remaining states, biological girls have no such protections.
As our nation nears its 250th birthday, this issue points to a factor that was foundational to our founding and remains vital to our future.
“Our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor”
I was privileged recently to visit the National Archives in Washington, DC, where I stood before the original Declaration of Independence. Its writing was difficult to read in some places and impossible in others due to the parchment’s circuitous and sometimes perilous journey to its present location. As a result, I could make out John Hancock’s iconic, oversized signature, but many of the other names have faded over time.
However, the courage required for these fifty-six men to sign the document has not.
By affixing their names to the Declaration, they became enemies of the British government. If captured, they could have been hanged for treason.
The Founders knew the risks, which is why they concluded the document that birthed our nation: “with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.” The courage of George Washington and the many thousands who served in his Continental Army then made our freedom a reality.
The choice that changes everything
In reflecting on their sacrifice, I realize that courage is a choice.
Colonial Americans could have chosen not to risk declaring independence from the mightiest superpower in the world, hoping that negotiations with the king would improve their circumstances. Those in the army, beginning with their commander, could have chosen not to risk their lives in the cause of national freedom.
Those who have served in our military over the generations following have faced a similar decision. Even those who were drafted could have declared themselves to be conscientious objectors, chosen prison over battle, or even fled the country.
It is the same with those who serve in public office, beginning with our first president. They chose to run, then chose to serve when elected. Even those appointed to office chose to accept their appointment and chose every day to fulfill it.
It’s hard to think of a courageous act that does not require a choice. You could choose not to have the surgery, stand up to the boss, or share your faith. Even when an intruder enters your home, you could hide rather than face them.
How pop lyrics have changed
Those of us who benefit from those who bravely founded America now have an obligation to emulate their choice. If the nation they birthed is to flourish in the generations to come, you and I will need to serve its people in courageous ways.
This brings me to the news with which we began today.
A recent Gallup poll reports that two-thirds of Americans consider sex between an unmarried man and woman to be moral. The same number say same-sex marriages should be valid. Normalization of LGBTQ behavior begins with children and their books.
Pop song lyrics since the 1960s have shifted from themes associated with care and loyalty toward language linked with harm, cheating, and rebellion. This should not surprise us: music reflects and amplifies culture, and our culture since the “sexual revolution” began has become increasingly lonely, anxious, and depressed.
Our society needs nothing more desperately than it needs biblical truth on the moral issues of our day. But our society increasingly rejects such truth and those who share it as homophobic and dangerous. Thus, courage is required to serve our nation by living biblically and redemptively. “Speaking the truth in love” is the urgent call of the day (Ephesians 4:15).
When “evil is powerless”
My purpose, however, is not to exhort us to be more courageous. Rather, it is to invite us to walk with Jesus so fully that his courage becomes ours.
Peter denied knowing his Lord three times, then was “filled with the Spirit” and preached the gospel boldly to the authorities before whom he had previously cowered (John 18:15–27; Acts 2:4; 4:8–12). Paul met the Lord on the road to Damascus and “immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues” (Acts 9:20). John met Christ on the prison island of Patmos and then wrote the book of Revelation. When two disciples worshiped with the risen Lord, they rushed back to Jerusalem to tell others (Luke 24:33–35).
Ronald Reagan observed,
“Evil is powerless if the good are unafraid.”
For the sake of this country we love, will you ask Jesus to make you “good” today?
Quote for the day:
“Lord, help me to do great things as though they were little, since I do them in your power; and little things as though they were great, since I do them in your name.” —Blaise Pascal
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