The Freedom of Gender

In Jonah 4, God and his prophet are in a standoff with one another.  Jonah is angry at God for his kindness towards Nineveh.  Angry enough to die.  He begs God to take his life away.  He says, “Please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”  God gives him some comfort through the shade of a plant, but eventually, he lets nature run its course, the plant dies, and Jonah becomes angry again.  God responds with a curious response.  He says:

You pity the plant, for which you did not labor, nor did you make it grow, which came into being in a night and perished in a night.  And should I not pity Nineveh, that great city, where there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left and also much cattle?

Cows!  Or not?

Most people get caught up in the last line, “also much cattle,” (which alone deserves its own post) but not what we’ll discuss today.  I’m caught up in the line, “120,000 persons who do not know their right hand from their left.”  I’ve talked with church members a lot about that phrase.  How do we see a culture that “[does] not know their right hand from their left?”  There can be studies on what the right-hand vs. the left-hand means in the Israelite culture, but really… The simplest and most immediate understanding is that a generation misses something familiar and simple.  This leads to the topic of my post.

Total Confusion

When asked to write about gender and identity, I thought: “Really?  Solas is asking me to do this?”  It’s simple, but profoundly complex to our world.  I thought, “I’ll talk about the deep confusion that comes from this issue.”  And though it is easy to take shots at our society with a Supreme Court of the United States candidate who says she can’t define a woman because she’s not a biologist, or how we have a non-satirical documentary called What is a Woman? (Which, by the way, is the most-watched documentary of recent days), it’s not as simple to convey these truths charitably.  But instead of dwelling on what society thinks, I would instead ask:  What does the Bible say?  And then ask, “how do we live according to that?” So, I will ask!  What does the Bible say about sex and gender?

The Only Two: Male and Female

As with every other article on gender, Genesis 1:27 is a must, “so God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”  Within humankind, there are two kinds of people.  There are males and there are females.  Those are the two categories that are made in God’s image.  What then do we do in a culture that claims there are unlimited genders?  We must recognize that there are only two God-glorifying genders: female and male.

This won’t sit well with some.  If that’s you, I assure you that there is hope!  This reality, of having only two genders, leads us to realize that we were created to image God as God designed.  We reflect him in our biology, and our gender is intrinsically tied to our biology.  We reflect him in our nature.  Some limits and freedoms are unique to both genders (Deut 22:5 is a great example, but Ephesians 5:21 shows the importance of mutual submission), and there is a mutual need for one another even to exist (1 Cor 11:12).

Less Restricting than Our World (Really!)

The Bible isn’t near as much concerned about the particulars that we in modern-day North America care about.  This may not sit well with our readers.  Especially when many are rebelling against things that would be considered “traditionally masculine or feminine”.  There is a call for men to act like men, and women to act like women.  The particulars for both men and women go beyond the scope of today, but they can be found.  I encourage all our readers to consider either their mission as a man who reflects God’s image, or a woman who reflects God’s image.

This won’t be comfortable for everyone.  Not everyone is comfortable in their skin.  I certainly am not.  But this isn’t because God created you to be the wrong gender.  Instead, it is a reminder of our fallen state.  We’re broken.  The curse of sin has touched and distorted everything.  It’s why we feel shame and discomfort, and often feel wrong in our skin.  But the answer doesn’t come from trying to change our bodies to make them feel right.  We're missing half the picture if we think our bodies are exclusively who we are.  Our physicalbodies and spiritual souls work together as one whole person.

The Body Broken for Us

We can try as much as we want.  It won’t give ultimate relief.  Ultimate relief comes from the gospel of Jesus Christ.  He came as a human (I would wager far less pleasant than being in the form of God).  He endured the curse, with a body that tires and wears out.  He took on the world without ever letting his weariness from the toil of the curse cause him to sin.  Then he endured the deep pain on the cross.  A pain that bruised, battered, and broke him.  It was a pain he never deserved (but what we did).

So instead of letting yourself suffer from trying and failing to become something you’re not:  Seek after Christ.  Chase after the one who lived, died and was resurrected from the dead.  He has promised that we will have imperishable bodies and an abundant life.  We can trust the promise he has made.  All will be given eternal hope, life, and joy.  We will be with God forever.  There and then, we will have no discomfort.  We will have no fear.  We will be completely satisfied.

Conclusion

When you struggle with your identity, be it your gender or sexual identity, your physical identity, your social identity, or whatever else, don’t be disheartened.  There is a better identity in Christ that will give lasting satisfaction.  When you trust in him, you do not need to try and forge your gender.  You won’t have to create your own identity.  God chose your gender for your benefit.  Your identity is secure in something that does not change.  You can be a male, or a female, who knows that you’re living in a world that doesn’t fit right, but has an assured hope of a world where there will be perfect.  A world of completeness, with you will have no longing to be something else.  As we learn in 2 Corinthians 5:17, you are a new creation.  The old things will have passed away.  Behold the new things to come!