What if the greatest lie of our time wasn’t just a lie, but a test—a trial balloon sent up to see how many would bow to the absurd and how many would resist? The transgender movement, despite its claims of promoting “equality” and “understanding,” is the de facto example of this strategy. In reality, it has absolutely nothing to do with gender or “equal rights.” It’s about compelling society to affirm something everyone knows to be false.

It’s clear the vast influence wielded by politicians, corporate leaders, and media moguls who push this agenda that this movement is orchestrated by government elites and disseminated through our institutions—it serves as a litmus test for compliance.

Government policies and laws increasingly favor the global transgender religion, with anyone who dissents being, often severely, penalized. Corporate giants implement mandatory diversity training, forcing employees to jump on the trans-train and accomodate that which they know is false, from “preferred pronouns” to outright celebration of the movement.

From a biblical Christian perspective, the transgender movement is rebellion against the created order. Genesis 1:27 is clear: “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.” This seemingly simple truth, foundational to our understanding of human identity, is under relentless attack.

The push to normalize transgenderism began in earnest in the late 20th century, gaining momentum through media, academia, and political advocacy. Today, it has permeated every facet of society—from local governments to corporations, schools, and even churches.

Just contemplate for a moment the absurdity we’re being asked to endorse. We are told that gender is a social construct, that a person can be born in the “wrong” body, and that surgery and hormone therapy can align one’s physical self with their “true” identity.

How did we arrive at a place where such a notion, detached from biological reality, is not only accepted but mandated?

It’s as if society has collectively decided to engage in a game of make-believe, where stating the obvious truth—that sex is determined objectively, clearly observable at birth, and an immutable characteristic of our person—is an act of heresy.

Like the entire “woke” movement, this is not some grassroots effort. It is driven by the elites—those in power who seek to reshape society according to their utopian ideals.

Governments, multinational corporations, and influential NGOs have all thrown their weight behind the transgender agenda. Policies and laws are enacted to enforce compliance, and dissent is punished harshly.

Schools teach children that they can choose their gender—and they go to great lengths to hide it from the children’s parents. Corporations push “diversity” training that mandates conformity to this Mr. Rogers’ world of make believe. And local governments have even passed ordinances that penalize “misgendering.”

Even the church has not been immune to this ideological colonization. Prominent church leaders, like former SBC president J.D. Greear, have embraced ideologies that accomodate the trans-rage religion—ideologies like “pronoun hospitality”—urging Christians to use preferred pronouns out of a misguided sense of “kindness.”

This is all nothing short of capitulation. By adopting the language of the transgender movement, these institutions have caved to the demonic influence of the world and betrayed any remaining commitment to reality.

So what is the endgame here?

It’s about control. By forcing people to affirm a lie, those in power can gauge the extent of their influence and the public’s willingness to comply. It’s a chilling test of societal obedience. If they can make you say that a man is a woman, they can make you say anything—they can make you deny Christ.

The transgender movement, therefore, has nothing to do with helping those confused about who they are and leading them to the truth. It’s about enforcing a new orthodoxy. It demands that we set aside objective truth in favor of a fluid, ever-changing narrative dictated by cultural elites. This is a dangerous path. When truth becomes subjective, and reality is up for grabs, those who hold power become the arbiters of what is real and what is not. This elevates the collective—or more precisely, those who control the collective—to the place of God.

History provides grim lessons on what happens when people abandon truth for ideology. The totalitarian regimes of the 20th century, where conformity to the party line was enforced with brutal efficiency. The Soviet Union, Nazi Germany, Maoist China. They all demanded that their citizens affirm lies. Those who refused were silenced, imprisoned, or killed.

The transgender movement, with its insistence on conformity and its punitive measures for dissent, bears a disturbing resemblance to these regimes.

The church has a duty to resist this encroachment on truth and to stand firm in our commitment to biblical teaching, even when it is unpopular or costly. The early Christians faced persecution for their refusal to bow to the Roman gods—we are facing similar trials for our refusal to bow to the gods of political correctness and social engineering.

The Roman emperor Nero scapegoated Christians, subjecting them to horrific tortures for their perceived disloyalty. We must be prepared for the possibility of similar persecution in our time.

While it seems like it’s bad already, we are just seeing the beginnings of this. Christians are losing jobs, facing lawsuits, and being ostracized for standing by their beliefs. The beast of secularism, hostile to the unchanging standards set by God, is rearing its head. Those aligned with this beast will target anyone who holds to the objective moral truths revealed in Scripture.

Christians must prepare for what is coming, placing our hope not in the transient comforts of this world but in Christ alone. Persecution is inevitable, but so is the victory of Christ.

We are called to be faithful witnesses, to stand firm in the truth, and to trust in God’s ultimate justice. The transgender movement, like all false ideologies, will ultimately fail. But in the meantime, we must remain vigilant and unwavering in our commitment to the truth.

What’s hard for even Christians to understand is that the God-hating world is already under judgment. Christ’s coming into the world is the judgment, and we bear the light of that judgment in God’s word—the gospel—shining it on the darkness, and exposing it (John 3:16-21). It’s why the world hates us so much:

19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. 21 But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.”

This is the test of our time. Will we conform to the lies of the age, or will we stand firm in the truth of God’s Word? The choice is ours, and the consequences are eternal.