Written by Carl R. Trueman |
Friday, February 25, 2022
Out of love for human beings made in the image of God, we Christians must oppose the well-funded political lobbyists determined to prevent trans people from having the care and help they need. And we need to take back the rhetoric of love, and in our attitudes and our actions toward those struggling with his pernicious form of politicized body dysmorphia, show that it is we who truly desire their safety and well-being.

Various LGBTQ+ groups have expressed outrage (is there any other idiom for expressing disagreement today?) over the British Equality and Human Rights Commission’s calls for Scotland to delay its move to “simplify” its criteria for gender recognition (i.e., make it easier for men and women to identify as the opposite sex and to enjoy legal protection thereof) and for England and Wales to slow down legislation outlawing “conversion therapy.”
Stonewall, the U.K.’s most prominent LGBTQ+ outfit could not contain its anger at this “attack on trans equality” and human rights. The LGBT Foundation went further, immediately cutting all ties with the EHRC. That Stonewall did not go quite that far might have something to do with the money that flows into its coffers from the British Conservative Party’s government.
In amidst the usual huffing and puffing about human rights, the LGBT Foundation statement contained the following paragraph:
“EHRC has ignored the experiences of trans and non-binary individuals who have undergone unnecessary trauma. They suggest that LGBTQ+ lives are up for debate and medical scrutiny. They disregard expert opinion and lived experience—a humiliating and dehumanizing action against our community with real-world consequences.”
Now, anyone who has ever reflected on the LGBTQ+ alliance knows that it is at best a case of “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” a confected political mirage designed for one thing and one thing only: the displacement of the normative status of traditional sexual mores and notions of human identity. Other than that, the L, the G, and the B have next to nothing in common with the T and the Q (which does not even have a stable definition). The former all assume that biological sex is critical to identity. The latter repudiate that. And as the near-total cultural triumph of the movement approaches, it is not surprising that cracks in the edifice are starting to appear. We now find that even the EHRC is having doubts about the validity of lumping together matters of sexual orientation and gender identity in the campaign against the catch-all category of conversion therapy. Indeed, it should be patently obvious to anyone—gay or straight—that outlawing any attempt to change the mind of someone who thinks they are born in the wrong body is not following the science. Rather it is to force queer and gender theory on the medical profession under penalty of law.
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Endurance is tested when ministering to a person with dementia. The family may listen to repetitive questions and stories. Patience is needed while the sufferer struggles to express a thought. The loved one may react with stubbornness or anger when attempts are made to protect them from danger or when a familiar routine must change. She might falsely accuse her caregiver of hiding or even stealing her belongings. Long-term patience is needed while waiting for the sad outcome. Emphasize to your counselee that the Lord is building endurance.

Editor’s Note: Our June 2024 mini-series on the BCC Grace and Truth blog addresses supporting caregiving families of dementia sufferers. In this first article, Caroline Newheiser offers three suggestions for counselees interacting with a loved one with dementia. In other contributions to the series, Beverly Moore provides encouragement and wisdom for families as they take on the role of caretaker for a loved one with dementia, and Dave Deuel considers how we can reframe soul care ministry from a church building to a home or care facility in order to faithfully minister to individuals with dementia and their caregivers.
As our population lives longer than in past generations, biblical counselors will see more cases involving dementia sufferers. Some will ask for help figuring out how to love a person with this condition. These counselees need gospel hope and help as they interact with a loved one who has dementia. Here are three suggestions.
1. Acquire Knowledge
You, the counselor, might need to educate yourself about this condition. Dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are often put in the same category, but according to a Mayo Clinic article, dementia is not a disease, it is a description of symptoms. These symptoms affect a person’s “ability to perform everyday activities on their own.”[1] Alzheimer’s disease, which is a specific disease of the brain, is a subset of dementia.
Your counselees also may need to learn more. Suggest that your counselee push past their overwhelming emotions in order to seek more information. The internet has answers, classes are offered for caregivers, and support groups connect people with shared experiences. Be sure to emphasize the knowledge of God’s character. He comforts those walking through the valley of the shadow of death (Ps. 23:4).
2. Address the Counselee’s Emotions
The person who comes to you after hearing that their loved one has dementia is likely dealing with a flood of emotions. My family experienced these when my father was diagnosed with dementia.

Grief – Lament began as soon as we heard this grim diagnosis. We had hope when my dad began taking medication to slow the disease. But the reality was that there would be no recovery of lost function. We began putting greater value on each day. My flights halfway across the United States increased as I took turns with my sister to give my mother physical, moral, and spiritual support. We began our slow farewell. The grieving process had begun. Those loved by my father realized that his daily prayers for us were diminishing and would eventually cease. We grieved this loss of connection. Some families even travel to visit their loved one, only to realize that he or she no longer recognizes them. This grief is poignant and piercing. Jesus understands this pain.

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I like to say that I made a friend, and my friend was the apostle Paul. I started reading Paul’s letters and started to see how Paul integrates things of eternity into every aspect of the Christian life. Not just, “This is what happens when you die,” but, “This is why you repent from sin, this is why you share the gospel, this is why we have hope, and this is why we’re content.” It was all heavenly realities. I don’t think that the heavenly mindedness that I experienced after my son’s death would’ve been sustained if I hadn’t started to study Paul’s theology of heaven and started to realize that any person should be heavenly minded and have a heavenward life just based on the basic fundamentals of our own salvation.

Citizens of Heaven
The beginning of this book really starts with the death of my son. Back on November 10th, 2013, my oldest child, Cam, talked about wanting to go see Jesus, and he asked all kinds of questions like, “Can we get in the car and go visit with Jesus?” And we told him that we wouldn’t see Jesus until we were in heaven. And so then he started to ask a bunch of questions about heaven. The conversation ultimately ended with him professing faith in Christ and acknowledging that Christ had died for his sins and that Christ was his Savior.
And so he then mysteriously and without explanation died that night. My child now was living in heaven. He was a three-year-old who had a profession of faith, and he was with the Lord above. And so my heart and my mind were with my child. And he lived in the full glory of God in heaven.
When I went to college at Wake Forest, my mom had previously never had any interest in Wake Forest. But now that her precious baby boy was at Wake Forest, she had the sweatshirt, she had the bumper sticker on the car, she checked the website, and she’d watch all the Wake Forest sports, because that’s where her child was. And so she now was interested in it, and it was on her mind.
Well, that was true for me with heaven, but even more so. And so I just had this new extremely magnified sense of heavenly mindedness that really was transforming my life in a positive way.
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