Both an angel and the Holy Spirit sent Philip to evangelize a eunuch—the kind of person who had the “potential to destabilize ancient discourses of gender, sexuality, class, and race, and thereby to denaturalize the constructions of masculinity they produced” (Sean D. Burke, Queering the Ethiopian Eunuch, 150).

Today is Transgender Day of Visibility. For the church, this shouldn’t be a day to fight with people over their understanding of gender, but a time to stretch ourselves to love trans people better than we did the previous year. God is with them, for they are human and bear his image. Jesus is with them, for they are the marginalized. When we judge, name-call, and ostracize, we miss our chance to love God’s image. When we turn people into debates to be had, we dehumanize the person standing in front of us.

There was no time for Philip to discuss any topics of gender, sexuality, class, or race. As soon as he baptized the eunuch, it seems he was supernaturally transported somewhere else. He was simply called to lead him to Christ.

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