A Biblical Response to Gender Identity
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NOTE:
This is a manuscript, and not a transcript of this message. The actual presentation of the message differed from the manuscript through the leading of the Holy Spirit. Therefore, it is possible, and even likely that there is material in this manuscript that was not included in the live presentation and that there was additional material in the live presentation that is not included in this manuscript.
Engagement
When Ryan and I began to plan our preaching schedule for this year, we wanted to make sure that we included some topical sermons that addressed some of the cultural issues that we are facing as disciples of Jesus. Although we probably wish that it were otherwise these are some issues that just aren’t going away. And it’s really important that we have a firm grasp on what the Bible teaches in these areas. There are two crucial reasons why we must do that:
We need to develop some firm Bible-based convictions so that we, both as individuals and as a collective body, can continue to stand against the onslaught from our culture that is only going to get more forceful. We need to know what we believe so that we don’t get deceived by the world.
We also need to understand what the Bible teaches so that we can obey Jesus’ command to be salt here on earth. We’ve talked about this before, but one of the functions of salt in Jesus day was to be a preservative. And in each of these areas we’re going to address, we have a responsibility to do what we can to preserve these biblical values in our culture.
Tension
The topic that I’m going to address today has come even more visible in our culture than when we first identified this topic a few months ago. I’m sure that most of you are familiar with some of these recent events:
During the recent hearings for Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson, Jackson said that she could not define the word “woman” because she is not a biologist.
University of Pennsylvania swimmer Lia Thomas, a biological male, won the women’s 500 meter freestyle event at the NCAA swimming and diving championships last month.
On the last season of the singing competition show, The Voice, a singing duo that consisted of a father and his transgender “son” made it to the live shows portion of the competition.
By now I’m sure you’ve figured out that this morning I’m going to be addressing the topic of gender identity. Before we go any further, I want to address two groups of people who may be joining us this morning:
It is certainly possible that there are some of you who have struggles in this area. Although this issue affects a very small number of people, it is much more prevalent in the the younger generations that we identify as Millennials and Generation Z. According to some recent studies, as many as 15% of our young people have indicated they struggle with gender identity. If that describes your life, then I want to say two things to you:
God loves you! He created you and He willingly gave His life for you.
Because He loves you, He wants to give you an abundant, full life that is far better than what you think you may have right now. We’ll talk more about that later.
The second group I want to address are those of you who are thinking “Why does this even matter? It doesn’t impact me directly, so why should I even care?” We need to care because we are called to share the gospel with our entire community, even those whose lifestyles we don’t understand or agree with. And it is an issue that all of us are likely to have to deal with more and more.
Since this is such a sensitive topic, let’s pray before we go any further.
Truth
While my goal this morning is to help us understand this topic from a biblical viewpoint, I think we’d all agree that there are also some biological and cultural issues that have a tremendous impact on our understanding. Since I am far from an expert on any of this, over the last several weeks I’ve been reading a book titled The End of Gender, written by neuroscientist Dr. Debra Soh. Interestingly Dr. Soh is an avowed atheist whose work has often been more accepted by the Christian community than by her own peers in the scientific community. While some of what she writes in her book clearly does not align with Scripture, many of her conclusions about gender identity and the transgender movement actually are right in line with what the Bible teaches. So during the message I’m going to share a few quotes from her book.
Let’s define some terms:
Let’s define some terms:
“sex” = biological makeup - either male or female
Although it is common to determine one’s sex based on physical characteristics, chromosomes or hormonal profiles, scientifically sex is determined by gametes, or reproductive cells. Females produce large ones called eggs and males produce small ones called sperm. In 99.98% of people, they are unambiguously either male or female at birth.
Therefore sex is binary - not a spectrum
“gender” = how our biology is expressed in social and cultural roles - either man or woman
There are two related but distinct aspects of our gender:
“gender identity” = how we feel in relation to our sex
Do I feel masculine or feminine?
“gender expression” = the external manifestation of our gender identity
How we express our gender identity through things like our appearance, clothing,hairstyle and mannerisms. It’s important to note that no one is 100% gender conforming. However, just because I like watching cheesy Hallmark movies with my wife does not make me a woman any more than that fact that Mary would rather come to church for a work day than attend a women’s tea makes her a man. But that doesn’t mean that there is some third category of gender or even that gender is some kind of continuum.
As we’re going to see in a moment, the Bible actually does distinguish between sex and gender, although biblically they are never out of sync. Dr. Soh argues that there is also a biological connection between the two:
Dr. Debra Soh in The End of Gender:
Biology, not society, dictates whether we are gender-typical or atypical, the extent to which we identify as the sex we were born as, and the partners we are sexually attracted to. When sperm fertilizes an egg at conception, the baby will be either female or male. This biology will influence hormonal exposure in the womb, as well as the child’s resulting gender identity. At about seven weeks, if the embryo is male, the testes will begin to secrete testosterone, masculinizing the brain. If the embryo is female, this process does not occur.
Although sex and gender are both biologically based, it isn’t accurate to use them interchangeably. For some reasons that are easy to understand, gender is used almost exclusively in our culture, even when a person is actually referring to sex. For instance, it is common today for parents to hold a “gender reveal “ party. But they’re not really revealing the baby’s gender, but rather, the baby’s sex. It’s understandable that even if the parents know the difference between the two, that they might not want to call it a “sex-reveal” party. But nevertheless sex and gender are not the same.
“gender dysphoria” = distress caused by a mismatch between a person’s gender identity and their sex
Just because someone feels a small sense of uneasiness or dissatisfaction with their gender, does not mean that they have gender dysphoria. The American Psychiatric Association considers gender dysphoria to be a mental disorder which is defined as follows:
...a marked incongruence between one’s experienced/expressed gender and their assigned gender, lasting at least 6 months...
Their definition also requires the presence of multiple desires and/or behaviors that demonstrate significant distress.
It can be common for a person, especially growing up, to sometimes wonder about their gender, but that does not mean that you have gender dysphoria.
Dr. Debra Soh in The End of Gender:
Girls who are even slightly masculine, or who prefer to wear men’s clothes because they are more comfortable, now believe this makes them something other than a girl. In truth, I’d argue very few women enjoy squeezing into dresses or skirts and having to sit awkwardly in public places so that they don’t accidentally flash unsuspecting onlookers. This is why sweatpants were invented.
“transgender” = a person who feels that their gender identity is more in alignment with the opposite sex.
In some cases those who consider themselves transgender choose to express their identity through the way they dress, talk, and act and the name they choose. In other cases, they also elect to go through medical treatments that change their bodies to make them more compatible with their gender identity.
With those definitions in mind, let’s spend the rest of our time focusing on...
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY?
Only God gets to determine my identity
To a large degree, our culture has bought into the idea that we all have the right to determine our own identity. But the Bible confirms what many of us already sense - that is just not possible. In both the Old and New Testament, God is compared to a potter who has the right to make whatever He wants when He creates each of us.
Isaiah 45:9 (ESV)
9 “Woe to him who strives with him who formed him, a pot among earthen pots! Does the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ or ‘Your work has no handles’?
20 But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”
21 Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use?
Obviously when a potter does his work, he is the one who determines what he is making. The pot, or whatever else is being molded, has no say in the matter. In the same way, as God’s creation, we have no right to question why God made us the way He did and we have neither the ability nor the right to determine our own identity.
This is the foundation for everything else we’re going to learn this morning, so if you don’t get this right, you may very well struggle with everything else we’re going to learn.
At creation, God established two sexes - male and female
27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.
This is really very simple, isn’t it. At creation, God established two sexes and only two sexes - male and female. And He confirmed that when He gave the command to be fruitful and multiply - something that requires both sexes.
At creation, God established two genders - man and woman
As we’ve talked about before, Hebrew literature is often circular rather than linear or chronological. So it’s really no surprise that in Genesis chapter 2 the author circles around and shows one aspect of creation from a different perspective. This time, instead of focusing on the sex of the man and the woman, he focuses on gender:
22 And the rib that the Lord God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man.
23 Then the man said, “This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.”
Notice that this time, the focus is on gender and the terms man and woman are used rather than male or female.
Many people will try to claim that Jesus never spoke about things like homosexuality or gender identity. But the fact is that He confirms the idea of two genders when He cites the creation account in Genesis:
4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female,
In the creation account, it is clear that our sex and our gender were both assigned by God at creation and that they are inextricably linked. The Bible teaches that we are created male and female, and we are to fulfill our gender roles according to our bodily sex. Both our sex and our gender are part of God’s created order. And, as we said just a little bit ago, He, and He alone gets to determine my identity.
Not surprisingly, science actually confirms what the Bible teaches:
Dr. Debra Soh in The End of Gender:
Similar to sex, gender—both with regard to identity and expression—is biological. It is not a social construct, nor is it divorced from anatomy or sexual orientation. Despite what contemporary scholars may have you believe, all of these things are very much linked. Biology, not society, dictates whether we are gender-typical or atypical...
So why all this confusion in our culture today?
Sin has distorted God’s created order
Sin has impacted everything in God’s created order - from the physical process that creates new life to the minds and heart attitudes of people. In the first chapter of his letter to the churches in Rome, Paul describes how sin has impacted God’s design for sex and gender:
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves,
25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.
26 For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature;
27 and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error.
28 And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done.
We certainly see this being lived out in our culture today. Instead of submitting to God’s design for marriage and sex, our culture has claimed that they have a right to do as they please and to choose their own identity.
But...
THERE IS HOPE!
THERE IS HOPE!
One day God will restore His created order
One day, Jesus will return to this earth. And that will set into action a whole series of events that will culminate in God restoring His created order back to the way it existed before it was corrupted by sin. Paul writes about that in Romans 8:
20 For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.
One day there will be no more birth defects that impact our sex. There will be no more confusion about gender. There will no longer be people who think they can determine their own identity apart from who God has made them to be.
While as Christians we are to live in light of that living hope, it is also true that
Jesus offers abundant life right now
When we put our faith in Jesus, He makes us to be new creations who find our identity in Him alone:
17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.
Notice the phrase “in Christ” there. Paul uses that phrase frequently in his letters to show that those who have placed their faith in Jesus now have a new identity, one that is completely consistent with God’s original created order. So while we are still impacted by the sin that is present in the world, we no longer have to live in bondage to that sin. And, as we are reminded by the words of Jesus, that makes it possible to have an abundant life right here and now:
10 The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.
So if you are struggling with any aspect of gender identity right now, the only lasting solution is to give your life to Jesus - to put your faith in Him alone. He has promised that if you’ll do that, He will give you a new identity in Him and He will give you a life that is full and abundant. That is something the world just can’t offer.
There is little doubt that these issues aren’t going to go away. So...
HOW ARE WE TO RESPOND TO THOSE WHO ARE STRUGGLING IN THIS AREA?
If, as we have just said, that Jesus is the only lasting answer to these gender identity issues, then our task as disciples of Jesus is to treat these people in a way that doesn’t become a barrier to the gospel in their lives.
Love
Jesus gives us the overriding principle:
39 And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.
As we’ve talked about before, the kind of love that Jesus is speaking of here is the kind of love that puts the needs of the other person ahead of our own. And that isn’t always easy, especially when dealing with people who hold to positions that clearly violate the Bible. But we can love those people without having to even like them and we can certainly do that without having to accept their lifestyle.
Compassion
Jesus consistently demonstrated compassion to sinners because He understood that without faith in Him they were helpless to overcome their sin and the consequences of that sin.
36 When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Not surprisingly, people with gender dysphoria are at much greater risk for negative outcomes – including suicide, depression and anxiety disorders. This is true even for those who choose to bodily transition. So they don’t need us to judge them and make them feel even worse than they already do. What they need most is our compassion.
But, on the other had, we also need to make sure that we don’t shy away from...
Truth
Jesus taught clearly that the way to freedom is through truth:
31 So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples,
32 and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
Ultimately, the only way that people who are struggling with gender dysphoria are going to get free from that is to understand the truth that we have been talking about today. But it’s not always easy to convey that truth in an effective way that won’t drive people away from Jesus. It’s also important to understand that the way that truth is communicated is going to be different for those who are disciples of Jesus and those who are not yet disciples. Paul provides some needed guidance:
9 I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people—
10 not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world.
11 But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one.
12 For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge?
13 God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”
Unfortunately, within the church many people have taken Jesus’ words from the Sermon on the Mount and used them to teach that all forms of judgment are wrong. But we see clearly here that within the church, we not only have the right to judge blatant, continual, unrepentant sin, we actually have a responsibility to do so, especially when it comes to sexual immorality. And those who would choose to practice a transgender lifestyle certainly are included there.
But even then, we still need to love those people and treat them with compassion and, as Paul points out in another of his letters, do everything we can to restore that person:
1 Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted.
But at some point, if those efforts fail, we must cut ties with that person so that their sin does not impact the entire body.
Dealing with those outside the body is much more nuanced. While we must be firm in our convictions and hold to the truth, beating someone over the head with the Bible probably isn’t going to be very effective. So we have to do some of the things we learned a few weeks ago when we talked about our witness. We have to speak with gentleness and respect. That includes our posts on social media. We have to treat the other person with dignity. And then, when opportunities come up to have influence in the lives of others, we need to boldly proclaim the clear teaching of the Bible regarding these issues.
Prayer
I think this goes without saying. From time to time, God is likely going to bring people into our lives who are struggling with their gender identity. For some of you, that will be your classmates at school. For others, it will be a co-worker or a neighbor or a family member or a friend. And when that occurs, you need to pray for that person and ask God to reveal the truth to them. And you also need to pray that God will give you opportunities to share the truth with that person and ask God to give you wisdom as you do that.
Inspiration
Obviously we’ve just scratched the surface here today. I actually had to cut a lot out of my message in order to keep it to a reasonable length and it’s still been a little longer than I’d like. So it’s likely you still have some questions. I am certainly far from an expert here, but I’ve tried to do enough research to be able to understand these issues enough to address them as accurately as possible. So I’d be more than happy to have a further discussion with any of you or point you to some good resources if you’d find that helpful.
We do live in a world that has been messed up by sin. As we talked about earlier one day God is going to restore His creation to its original perfect state. But in the meantime, He calls us to be salt and light. My prayer this morning is that we’re all a little better equipped to do that now.