Gender Identity

Intro: Recap on what I am asking the students to do.

Be respectful

Consider these points carefully.

Mention that this is a changing and difficult topic

I am not an expert in gender identity theories, nor am I an expert in the Bible.

However, I do know the Bible pretty well, and I know that God has given us the Bible as a way to understand how to live, and I believe that the Bible has something to say in the matter of gender identity.

Defining Terms

Gender Dysphoria

Deep and abiding discomfort or distress over the incongruence between one’s biological sex and one’s psychological and emotional experience of gender.

Gender Identity

How people experience themselves, male or female, including how masculine or feminine they feel.

Transgender

Broad term encompassing many experiences of gender identity which do not align normatively with a person’s biological sex

Gender Pronouns

the terms people choose to refer to themselves that reflect their gender identity

What does the Bible say about gender identity?

Matt 19:1-12 “When Jesus had finished these words, He departed from Galilee and came into the region of Judea beyond the Jordan; and large crowds followed Him, and He healed them there. Some Pharisees came to Jesus, testing Him and asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason at all?” And He answered and said, “Have you not read that He who created them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? “So they are no longer two, but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let no man separate.” They said to Him, “Why then did Moses command to give her a certificate of divorce and send her away?” He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but from the beginning it has not been this way. “And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for immorality, and marries another woman commits adul…”

Matt. 19:1-12.

From this passage, we can see that God created two genders, male and female.

The portion on eunuchs “From birth” seems to point to those who were maybe born intersex [meaning that they had no complete biological gender]

We could potentially include in this then, differing gender identities.

Psalm 139:1-16 “O Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I rise up; You understand my thought from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are intimately acquainted with all my ways. Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, O Lord, You know it all. You have enclosed me behind and before, And laid Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot attain to it. Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You formed my inward parts; You wove me i…”

Psalm 139:1-16.

We learn form this passage that God knew you before you were ever born. He knew your every thought, He fearfully and wonderfully wove you in the womb!

He didn’t make a mistake when He made youu!

While you may be in the midst of suffering where you aren’t sure who you are, that doesn’t change that God knows exactly who you are!

Ephesians 2:1-5 “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins, in which you formerly walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, of the spirit that is now working in the sons of disobedience. Among them we too all formerly lived in the lusts of our flesh, indulging the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, even as the rest. But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved),”

Ephesians 2:1-5.

Our natural inclinations are not what brings ultimate satisfaction.

They actually bring death and destruction.

“People are born with all sorts of predispositions that do not produce joy and wholeness. The way I was born still requires evaluation to determine whether that 'way' is a positive one, to be affirmed, embraced and lived out; or a negative one, to be rejected, moderated, or treated. (Walker, 73)”

But God has a better plan for you than to struggle with an identity because of your natural predispositions. He died for you so that you could have life to the full.

Finally, I think we should say here that gender dysphoria, or struggling with gender identity, is not a sin.

"In the same way, individuals who experience gender dysphoria are not sinning when such experiences occur. To feel that you body is one sex and your self is a different gender is not sinful. The Bible nowhere categorizes unwanted psychological distress as sinful in itself. (68)

"But deciding to let that feeling rule - to feed that feeling so that it becomes the way you see yourself and the way you identify yourself and the way you act - is sinful, because it is deciding that your feelings will have authority over you, and will define what is right and what is wrong. (68)

What should our response be.

Three main lenses by which everyone responds to gender identity

Integrity lens.

Emphasis on Gen. 1-2

A morality on gender identity. Right or wrong way to look at things

Disability lens.

Emphasis on Gen. 3

Looking at the gender identity issues form the lens of compassion

These people are just struggling with the consequences of the Fall.

Diversity lens

This is a new people group that should be celebrated and affirmed.

Very highly supported by the LGBTQIA+ movement

We should be able to pull something from each lens.

From the integrity lens

We know that the Bible did create male and female and that He was good and right in doing that.

From the disability lens.

We know that the Fall has broken creation so that everyone’s experience with reality is not completely correct, so gender identity can be messy.

We’re not supposed to view people who struggle with gender identity as the enemy, they are people who need the Gospel like you or I.

The diversity lens.

This lens, I think, is the weakest, but they do one thing really well.

They make the person struggling with gender identity feel like they belong somewhere.

While we are not affirming of a non-normative gender identity, making people feel isolated is not the solution, inclusion in the message of the Gospel is.

For those of you that may struggle with gender identity or your pronouns, we want to try to help you

You aren’t alone.

Everyone doesn’t feel comfortable in their own skin all the time. Maybe for you, you could be experiencing the difficulty of being alive at a strenuous time and are living in a tension of feeling the effect of sin.

Maybe you truly have gender dysphoria, in which case this is a place where we want you to feel loved.

Talk to someone.

If you are struggling, you need to talk to someone who loves you.

You might need counseling, you might just need to have someone value you and talk to you. But this isn’t something to do alone.

Finally, we all need to give this to Christ.

Whether you are struggling to identify who you are or are confident, but want to love people better, the answer must be found in Christ.