This is the second installment in a three part series concerning God’s Truth concerning human sexuality. In the first installment, “God’s Truth Concerning Sexual Sin “, I explained that God equates sexuality with spirituality, in that the sexual connection between people is symbolic of the spiritual connection between us and Him. To defile the physical connection also defiles the spiritual connection. Therefore, the truth concerning our sexuality and the way we live that out is very closely connected to our spirituality and the way we live that out. For more concerning that, please read that first article.
Now, in this second installment, I would like to talk about God’s Truth concerning sexual Identity. As I introduce this topic, I would like to talk about a couple of truths regarding my own identity. I am a blind man. That is something I have said many times without giving much thought to it but I want to take a minute to think about it and to talk about it. What did I say there? I am blind. I am a man. Both of those are truths. What makes them true?
Let’s talk about the first of those truths. I am completely blind, in both eyes. The last time I saw anything was in January of 1997. Those who are familiar with my story know that my blindness is the result of a condition, called retinopathy of prematurity, followed by a long string of eye surgeries and complications. Even for those who are not familiar with my story, if they were to see me wearing dark glasses and holding a white cane, they would probably correctly assume that I am blind. If anyone were to challenge that assumption, even a cursory examination by an eye doctor would confirm it because there are multiple physical reasons why I cannot see anything. I am blind. That is an objectively confirmable fact and that is the truth.
Let’s talk about the second truth. I was born in March of 1977. The doctor said “it’s a boy”, or words to that effect, and that was that. Anatomically, I am a male. People can tell that by looking at me. I am mostly bald and I am uglier than most women. if anyone were to challenge the fact of my sex, as with my blindness, an examination by a doctor would confirm it because all of the even non-superficial physical factors are consistent with my male identity. I am a man. That is an objectively confirmable fact and that is the truth.
Let’s come back to my blindness. You are most likely not blind. You can put on dark glasses and hold a white cane and, seeing that, most people would assume that you are blind. Does that actually make you blind? No, of course not. Behind the dark glasses, you could put on eye patches and gauze, the kind they use after eye surgery, and that would keep you from being able to see. At this point, you might feel a little like a blind person, or think you do anyway, but would you actually be blind? Most people would still say no. Why? Because, if you were to be examined by a doctor, under all of the superficial things that make you look blind and maybe even feel blind, there would be no physical cause for you not being able to see. Regardless of how you look, regardless of how you feel, if the physically confirmable facts say that you are not blind, then you are not blind. Being blind or not is not subjective. It is an objective truth.
There are many reasons why it’s good that the fact of blindness is an objective truth. For example, if someone just identify’s as blind, when in fact they are not, should they be able to draw disability, if they don’t work, or demand disability related work place accommodations, if they do work? Should they be able to go through the process to obtain a guide dog, which are in very limited supply, and thus cause less of them to be available for those who truly are blind? No, of course not. There are plenty of practical reasons why disability related truth must be objective.
Now, let’s come back to the truth of my being a man. I could put on a dress and a wig and all sorts of other things that may make me look like a woman. Does that make me a woman? No. I could take pills and injections and maybe even have surgeries that change some of the more superficial physiological factors that would make me look more like a woman and maybe even make me feel, or think I feel, a little more like a woman. Would that make me a woman? No. Why not? Because an examination by a doctor would not confirm that all the physiological facts fit with the way I look and maybe feel. No matter what I do, my most basic and less superficial physiological sexual factors will never match those of someone who was born a woman. Therefore, I will never be a woman. Regardless of how you look, regardless of how you feel, if the physically confirmable facts say that you are not a woman, then you are not a woman. Being a woman or a man is not subjective. It is an objective truth.
As with disability, there are many reasons why it’s good that the fact of gender is an objective truth. For example, if someone just identifies as a woman, when in fact they are not, should they be able to use women’s bathrooms, get jobs based on gender based affirmative action, play women’s sports, or take maternity leave? No. There are plenty of practical reasons why gender related truth must be objective.
You can make yourself look blind but that doesn’t mean you are. I can make myself look like a woman but that doesn’t mean I am. The truth is not whatever we want to make it. It is not subjective. It simply cannot be, if we want society to function well. I think almost everyone would agree with the example of my blindness which I used to illustrate this point but some people would not agree with the example of my sex. What is the difference, except that being a male or female is physiologically much more fundamental and so should be even more intuitive than being blind or not blind. Seriously, think about it, does not the same basic logic apply to both examples? The difference is that, unlike for something like blindness, some people feel that there is no objective standard concerning gender identity. However, there definitely is.
So far, I have talked about the practical implications of objective gender identity, which are important enough, but now, let’s move on and look at something much more important, the spiritual implications of gender identity.
In the beginning, God created man kind in His own image and He created us male and female (Genesis 1:27). Clearly, male and female here are not arbitrary terms but specifically refer to the two opposite biological sexes because God then told them to multiply (Genesis 1:28) and procreation requires both sexes. God also tells us which is which because we later see, in Genesis 3:16 and 3:20, that it is the female who gives birth to the children which have been conceived. You see, we make choices that shape our lives but, at the most fundamental levels, God makes us who we are and we do not have the right to question Him about that. We cannot say “Why have you made me like this?” (Romans 9:20). We simply are who we are.
Neither sex is superior to the other but both sexes were created with different attributes, physiological and otherwise, and thus were created to fill different roles. God gives us the tools that He means for us to have, in order for us to fill the roles He would have us to fill. Consider the following Scripture, concerning spiritual gifts.
1 Corinthians 12
7 But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:
8 for to one is given the word of wisdom through the Spirit, to another the word of knowledge through the same Spirit,
9 to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healings by the same Spirit,
10 to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits, to another different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.
11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
Notice two things in particular about this passage. Verse 7 says that the manifestation of the Spirit is given. It does not say that it is chosen. Verse 11 says that gifts are “distributed to each one individually as He wills”. It says “as He wills”, not “as they will”. Clearly, God chooses what gifts we are given and we have nothing to say about it. This Scripture is talking specifically about spiritual gifts, which are gifts that are given to people, by God, at the time of salvation, in order to equip them to carry out ministry on His behalf. Our gender is given at the point of creation, not at the point of salvation, and our gender may not be given to us specifically in order to help us to conduct ministry. However, I think there is a general principle here that does also apply to gender. It is God who made us and it is He Who chose the fundamental building blocks of who we are, including gender, and all of those individual building blocks make up who He created us to be. If we start trying to change those fundamental building blocks, then we change the final product to something other than what He intended it to be, which impacts every facet of our life in ways which are against His will and, thus, are detrimental to us, whether we realize it or not.
You may say “God wouldn’t have made transgender people feel this way if He didn’t intend them to act on those feelings”. I have heard this said about many things, not just gender, and this statement is wrong, for many reasons. First of all, God did not “make them feel this way”. Acting contrary to God’s Word is sin and God does not tempt anyone to sin (James 1:13). Second, it is natural for us to have desires that God would not want us to have and which are not in our best interest. Jeremiah 17:9 says that the heart of mankind is “desperately wicked”. Proverbs 14:12 says “There is a way that seems right to a man, But its end is the way of death”.
Consider these words of Jesus.
Mark 7
20 And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man.
21 For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders,
22 thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness.
23 All these evil things come from within and defile a man.”
Just because someone has a feeling does mot mean that God put it there. Ever since the fall from grace, starting with the first act of rebellion in the Garden of Eden, the heart of all of man kind is sinful. Many thoughts and desires come from within us and our own sinful hearts and, as a result, many of those feelings and desires are sinful. It can be very hard to know which thoughts and feelings are of God and which are simply of our own emotions. This is one reason why it is so important to study God’s Word, to be anchored in it, to use it as the standard by which to judge our thoughts and feelings. Psalm 119, verse 11, says “Your word I have hidden in my heart, That I might not sin against You”. If our feelings don’t line up with God’s Word, then they are not of Him, period.
Many people reading this will probably think I am being hateful toward transgender people. That is certainly not my intent. However, I do believe that God’s Word is the standard by which we are to live our lives and I believe that, according to His Word, people are not to challenge the choice regarding gender that God made when He created them. Doing so is sinful and not only greaves the heart of God but also negatively impacts the life of the person who is choosing that transgender lifestyle. That is the truth, according to God’s Word, and expressing that truth is not hateful. Knowing the truth and remaining silent would be hateful.
If you are transgender, I and others who speak God’s truth don’t hate you. I admit that some who proclaim the name of Christ may come across as though they hate you but those people are not practicing what Christ actually taught. I would counsel those Christians to read Galatians 6:1, in which we are instructed to deal with such things in a “spirit of gentleness”, and then ask God to help them to act accordingly. Many in the mainstream media try to portray the Christian community as hating transgender people but most of those in the main stream media don’t understand what Christianity is really about. God certainly doesn’t hate you. On the contrary, He loves you so much that He sent His only Son to voluntarily take the punishment for all your sins, if you are willing to repent of your sin and submit to Him as Lord and Master. It is true that repenting would mean turning away from your transgender lifestyle but please don’t get so hung up on that point that you don’t look past it to find out what else a relationship with Him would mean. Don’t take my word for it. Also don’t let those who call themselves Christians but who act like they hate you push you away from Him. Get in His Word. I’m not talking about a verse or two. Spend some time studying it and pray for God to help you to understand it and to direct you to good resources that can help you. Find out, for yourself, Who He really is, not who you have heard He is and certainly not who popular culture says He is. Reach out to Him and begin to form a personal relationship with Him. If you will do that, I promise you that He will be the best friend you have ever had.
If you want to begin to learn how to reach out to Him, please check out the “The Most Important Thing” section of this website.
