Gender Identity

Prayer

Issue of Gender Identity

In 1965, twin boys were born in Canada to the Reimers. While they were still infants, their parents noticed that they was something wrong with their genitalia, so the proposed solution was to have them be circumcised.

Unfortunately for Bruce, one of the twin boys, the surgery went terribly awry, and his penis was permanently damaged. The parents were at a loss as what to do.

Enter Dr. John Money, who had been postulating the idea that gender was merely a social construct - in other words, made up by society, roles for men and women to fill. That it was not biological determined. Which meant that you could raise a child either as a boy or a girl and that’s what they would end up acting as, in spite of what they were biologically.

And this was perfect test case to prove his theory on gender roles - you had a control, Bruce’s twin brother, Brian. The parents went along with it, and at 18 months of age, changed Bruce’s name to Brenda and started raising him as a girl (girl’s clothing, toys, and so on.)

Every year, the twins would spend time being observed and evaluated by Money to see how the experiment was going. 8 years into the experiment he declared it an unqualified success. Nurture had overcome nature, and Bruce was now a girl as far as Money was concerned.

This is one of significant threads that has led us to where we are today - belief that gender and sex are two different things. Sex is what you are biologically, male or female, whereas gender is socially constructed, and therefore, malleable. It can be whatever because the culture makes it up - if you do these things, you are a man (prefer trucks and things, more rough and tumble), if you do these things (like color pink, play with dolls), you are a woman.

According to this belief, culture sets rules for what it means to be man or woman. So individuals may decide - that doesn’t fit for me. Maybe I feel more feminine or masculine or neither - or it fluctuates from day-to-day.

This has led to an entire spectrum of gender identity and gender expression. Some would say an infinite number of possibilities - identify as a man, woman (whatever your biological sex may actually be), gender fluid, gender non-conforming, nonbinary, genderqueer and so on.

A common way that this is laid out is through the use of the Genderbread image as seen here - this is used as a teaching tool. It includes your gender identity - gender identity you go by.

As well as your gender expression - which is how you actually express your identity. Do you portray yourself as masculine or feminine or androgynous or however. This is where we see the use of “PGP”, or preferred gender pronouns.

Finally, your biological sex. Notice here, too, it’s on a spectrum - the belief here is that it’s not clear cut whether you are male or female, it’s not binary (either a or b), rather it has to do with the degrees of your male-ness and female-ness.

This understanding of sex and gender has exploded - from a purely cultural standpoint, observing how cultures shift over time, it’s been mind-boggling to watch how quickly how much of our society has embraced this wholesale.

Perfect example is our President - just a few days ago, sat down for an interview with a man by the name of Dylan Mulvaney, who has declared himself transgender - he claims to be a woman now, or specifically a girl. He’s chronicled his journey into this new gender identity on social media with a series he calls “Days of Girlhood.” Think about what that says about the level of acceptance by our culture that this is who our nation’s leader chose to sit down to be interviewed by to talk about the issue of gender identity and transgender rights.

Statistically, we’ve seen an explosion - you can see it generation by generation. According to a poll conducted last year, .8% of Traditionalists (born before 1946) identify as LGBTQ+, 2.6% of Baby Boomers (those born 1946-1964), for my generation, Gen X (1965-1980), it’s 4.2%…then we start seeing a huge increase. For Millennials (born 1981-1996), it jumps to 10.5%, so it more than doubles from Gen X, more than 1 in 10 of Millennials. And finally, for Gen Z (those born before 2003), it’s 20.8%, almost doubled again. 1 in 5 of young adults. So in a matter of 70 years, rate has jumped from less than 1% to over 20% who identify as LGBTQ+.

We’re seeing battle over this year being waged right now in our culture, particularly in two areas - the first being schools, and if and how this is being taught. Remember, last week we talked about Woke-ism, DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) - for many, this is a power / oppression issue, in order to combat the evils in our society, power oppression that’s happening, this has to be taught to children - they need to learn to be taught that this is true and should be embraced. School districts are incorporating DEI throughout their educational curriculum - which is why school board elections are becoming highly contentious across the nation.

The other big area is in medical care. There are those who are proponents of what they call gender-affirming care. In other words, because this is reality, these young people are who they feel they are, the proper way to care for them is to affirm that. Medically, that involves puberty blockers, top surgery - double mastectomies (breast removal) or breast augmentation - which has increased 400% over the last three years. Bottom surgery. And this is on minors, children. Serious surgery to reconstruct perfectly healthy bodies. Huge.

Before we get to Biblical view on question of gender identity, it’s helpful to understand underlying worldview - how did we get here? Because, as I said before, this is as huge and sudden a cultural shift as I can think of. We are now at a point where we deny the reality of what has been basic understanding throughout history and across cultures: that there is no difference between biological sex and gender, they are one in the same, and that there are only two of them, man and woman, male and female, boy and girl.

In spite of what I showed earlier (Genderbread man), argument of biological sex and gender identity as being two separate things - there’s been a sneaky shift here - they are now being conflated. What we’re seeing is that those who argued for those two things being different are now talking about them as one and the same.

Which is what we’re seeing when people declare: “Transwomen are women” or “Men can get pregnant” or that doctors “assign a child’s sex at birth.”

We’re seeing an increase in official documentation that allows for a third option - birth certificates, drivers’ license, Social Security cards. You can mark X instead of male or female. In terms of identification, if gender is a social construct, just made up - why do you want it on an official document? Wouldn’t the pertinent information when it comes to identity be your biological sex?

A man by the name of Matt Walsh made a documentary called, “What is a Woman?” He asked that question repeatedly to all sorts of folks, including scholars and medical doctors. It was remarkable how many folks were unwilling to answer that question. To say that there is such a thing as female member of human species. A common response was to simply say, a woman is whoever identifies as a woman (which tells you nothing! If I were to say to you, a blork is whoever identifies as a blork…)

Here’s where underlying worldview is so important. Because when we understand what ideas lay at the root of these ideologies, we can contrast it better with Christian worldview and see why it truly reflects story of reality and the issues we’re looking at in this series do not.

We referenced Dr. John Money and his theory of gender roles, gender as a social construct. But he didn’t come up with this out of the blue - I want to share some teaching laid out by Carl Trueman, a scholar at Grove City College, who has written a much-referenced book entitled, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self. He helps explain how our culture’s thinking has shifted in terms of what it means to be human, particularly as it relates to our sex and gender. Key idea here is Expressive Individualism, hold on to that.

It used to be that your understanding of self was rooted in roles and responsibilities - to your family, to your community, institutions you were a part of. Father’s job wasn’t primarily about his personal satisfaction, but about whether or not he was providing for his family. Children had a responsibility to family name, you would be known by family connections, son of so-and-so.

In some societies, these were very rigidly determined, from an early age you would know your lot in life - family trade, no social mobility - and in some cultures, arranged marriages. But there was very much a sense of, for better or worse, you knew where you fit in, who you were, your role, identity.

There’s been a huge shift here - largely influenced by an Enlightenment philosopher by the name of Jean Jacques Rosseau, had a famous line in one of his writings called, The Social Contract, “Man is born free, and everywhere he is in chains.”

Note what he is saying here about humanity, human nature: In our natural state, we are free, absolute freedom of the individual. We are born free. It is society that puts us in chains. It’s the expectations of society, how we’re supposed to act, dress, what it means to be a man or a woman - these are the things that put us in chains. Culture telling me who and what I am, what I can or can not do.

Do you see the shift in where the sense of self comes from? Here authenticity is found in inner self. According to this worldview, my inner feelings are root of understanding who I am, they give me my sense of self. Which is why quest to “find myself” is a purely modern one - it would not have made sense to generations past. They were not lost.

This is basis of that idea, expressive individualism: True freedom is the ability to express that feeling-based sense of self.

Now, largely through the work of Sigmund Freud, this “inner sense” way of determining who you are became highly sexualized. So that sex became something you are (defined by your sexual orientation) rather than something you do.

Which, again, very different from historic cultures, even those who engaged in same-sex behavior, such as the Greeks and the Romans. They would have never seen themselves as gay or lesbian, that would not have been their identity.

This worldview - expressive individualism, sexualized has led us to place we are today. Namely, that individual feelings and desires are more important than roles, responsibilities. We’re seeing this played out in our culture:

Fascinating (and horrific) that drag queen shows are promoted as a social good, as family friendly events. Drag queen show is a perfect example of expressive individualism - A man feels like a woman and so dresses in an outlandish way as one - belief is that we should now celebrate that.

Even idea of pride parades - parade is a community celebration…we have parades for Homecoming (centered on local school), Christmas, 4th of July - our nation’s independence. Pride and parade to celebrate expressed sexual desire. This is who I feel I am and you must celebrate it with me.

If you don’t recognize someone who identifies as transgender - you refuse to use their preferred pronouns, or you dead name them (use their previous name associated with their previous gender) you are accused to denying their existence. Think about that - it’s not just you’re being rude or unkind, you’re denying their very existence - because in this worldview, who you are is determined by your inner self, your feelings. Expressive individualism.

I hope it’s immediately apparent how different this is from the Biblical view. Remember, this is not just our story, but we affirm it as The story, the story of reality, what is true, what actually is - and why it is. We went through this two weeks ago, looking at Colossians 1. All rooted in Jesus as Lord - over all creation (everything made in him and through him and for him), Lord of salvation - God is reconciling all things to himself through Jesus, through his blood, shed on the cross. If we go back to Genesis, we learn more about how and why God created us:

Genesis 1:27-28...So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

How we were created - this is what is true about who we are. We were created explicitly male and female. Man and woman. It is built into the very fabric of who we are, down to our DNA. We aren’t generic human bodies who then decide what gender we feel we are. We were created by God specifically as male or female.

Which is why, in spite of Dr. John Money’s claim that his experiment with the Reimer twins as a unqualified success, it was actually an abysmal and tragic failure.

At the age of 13, “Brenda” began to rebel more and more, especially as Money and his co-horts were trying to persuade her to undergo reconstructive surgery, to try to make her appear more as a woman. She became suicidal and her mother broke down and told her the truth. Brenda immediately changed her name to David and began living what he always was, a boy. Grew up, got married. In adulthood he began sharing his story publicly, particularly to counter Money’s narrative that the experiment was a success. Tragically, his brother died of an intentional drug overdose - and two years later, David took his own life.

The very foundations of gender as a social construct were built on a lie. We do not construct our gender or our sex - we are created by God as male and female.

Genesis passage doesn’t simply teach us how we were created (male and female), but why, why is it that we were created male and female.

First one is pretty obvious: Biology 101, this is how sexual reproduction works, male and female coming together, becoming one flesh - in order to multiply, bear fruit. No amount of gender identification is going to make a man capable of being pregnant.

But notice that’s not the only thing Bible tells us - not only are we to fill the earth, but we are to subdue it. To have dominion, “rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

In the beginning, the Bible tells us, earth was “formless and empty”, a chaotic nothingness. Story of creation is God forming and filling the earth. We’re to carry on that work - fill earth (make babies) and we form it, give it shape - build roads and houses and make products and sell them. We teach and nurture and heal. We bring good into lives of others.

As Paul writes in Ephesians 2:10…For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.

Christian worldview directly challenges the ideas that undergird the whole idea of Gender Identity - expressive individualism. That it is through our innermost feelings that we discover who we are.

I believe this is one of the prime reasons there is so much emotional anxiety among this generation, bearing burden they cannot bear - no one can. Trying to sort through their feelings to discover their true selves. We’re a mess. Our emotions are all over the map.

God makes clear - we find our true selves in him - we were made by him and for him. We created us with purpose. We find joy and fulfillment not in constant navel gazing, but in doing the good works that God has already laid out for each of us - ways we’re going to be for the good of others, as we fulfill our roles and responsibilities - as husbands and wives, fathers and mothers, son and daughters, members of a family and members of a community. Including our church community. God has specific work for each and every one of us.

A few last words - Christians response. There’s so much more I could go into about this topic, we could talk about studies that demonstrate that vast majority of youth grow out of gender dysphoria, talk about phenomenon of rapid onset gender dysphoria, tell stories of those who detransitioned.

But I want to finish with this reminder - our goal in all of this is to approach these topics with grace and truth. Speak the truth in love.

We’ve got to speak the truth about this - one, simply because we always want to speak the truth, but also because there’s many in our culture who are afraid to speak against it - labeled as bigots. But it’s important we speak the truth because I’m afraid that there are going to be far too many youth whose lives are going to be negatively impacted by this gender identity movement - devastating impact of puberty blockers, surgeries that cannot be undone - making youth infertile, incapable of sexual orgasm, lifelong complications). Studies show that rate of suicide doesn’t diminish.

But we need to come with grace, to speak the truth in love - we’re seeing generations who are being brought up in a torrent of lies and there is often tremendous social pressure to conform to these ideas.

But for us to remember that it must be painful and difficult to feel at odds with your body, to experience gender dysphoria. We ought to have compassion for those struggling with this - especially since there is almost always other mental and emotional struggles at work.

So, how do we put this teaching into practice?! Spiritual Disciplines - it seems to me that we must be mindful of our own temptation to find our identity in ourselves - we’re not immune from culture, from expressive individualism.

So how might we root our identity more fully in Jesus - arc of Christian faith is grow more and more into a fuller sense that I belong to Jesus, my life is for him and for his glory. One of our core values: Seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

Daily prayer, reciting Matthew 6:33. Or Galatians 2:20. Or 1 Peter 2:9 (But you are a chosen people…). Martin Luther, “I am baptized.”

Not just our identity, but our purpose - to love and serve others. You are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works. Move into the sense of self of being a servant of Christ. Make a commitment to serve someone this week. Give of yourself for the sake of another.

Our identity is not primarily in our gender, our race, our profession - it is in Jesus Christ.