Should Christians Use Other People’s Preferred Pronouns?

In today’s culture, it is becoming increasingly common for people to introduce themselves alongside their preferred pronouns, as well as to specify those pronouns on their social media profiles, resumes, and other spaces, and to ask for the preferred pronouns of others.

How should Christians respond in the midst of this societal paradigm shift? Should we practice what has been referred to as pronoun hospitality, wherein we use the preferred pronouns of others regardless of what we believe about gender identity? Or do we refuse to do so out of our commitment to our convictions?

The answer isn’t always that simple, and this question presents itself in myriad contexts that are all unique.

In this episode, we present Christian arguments for and against pronoun hospitality. We also explore different scenarios in which this question may arise and offer some thoughts on how to navigate them with grace and truth.

While we understand that not every Christian operating in good faith will land in the same places we do, our hope is to model a conversation that honestly wrestles through the biblical, theological, missional, and relational considerations wrapped up in this question.

RELATED RESOURCES

READ (on the Nashville Shooting): War Is Hell — Including the Culture War
READ: Should Christians Practice Pronoun Hospitality?
READ: When Workplace Policies Contradict Your Christian Convictions
READ: Navigating LGBTQ+ Pride Month With Grace and Truth
LISTEN: Was Jesus Trans?

REFERENCED IN THIS ARTICLE

Bruce or Caitlyn? He or She? Should Christians Accommodate Transgender Naming?” by Denny Burk
Why Pronouns Should Christians Use for Transgender People?” by Gregory Coles

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