845. Gender and Sexual Identity

Welcome to The Daily Platform from Bob Jones University in Greenville, South Carolina. We're continuing the study series about the doctrine of man. Today's message will be preached by Dr. Sam Horn, and the title of his message is Gender and Sexual Identity. We are in the middle of a series of messages on the study of man. And for those of you who are visiting today, I would like to take just a moment to set the context for today.

Today's conversation in that series. And this semester, our theme has been the study of anthropology, which is a fancy way of saying the study of man. And we began our study by looking at Psalm 8 and coming to the very heart of that Psalm with a question that God poses to us through the pen of David when he says, What is man that you are mindful of him? What is so significant about mankind that you crowned him with glory and honor, and that you set him a little lower than himself, and that you gave to him dominion, and that you put him over the entire planet? What is so significant about man?

And we have been taking our semester and looking at different aspects of that question and answering those from the text of scripture that speak to the topic of anthropology. And this morning, we are coming to a topic that speaks to the very heart of who we are as human beings. There's nothing more intimate and nothing more personal about us than our own identity. And at the core of our identity is something called our gender.

Our gender and our sexual identity speak to the very essence of who we are as an individual image bearer before God. So as we were looking at this series and sort of laying out the framework for the series, we identified this as a topic that we needed to talk about. And we laid out all of the different topics and we sent them to the faculty members that we had identified as ones that were going to be speaking on this and said, Pick the ones that you would like to talk about.

And nobody picked this one. So I'm speaking on this topic today. So I hope as we come together that the Lord will allow this topic to be one that will be useful to us and helpful to us. And as I thought about this topic and as I thought about the sensitive nature of it and really the application of it to my life and to your life, I did something that was very useful and very helpful to me in the process. I sat down with a number of you from the student body. In fact, there were three or four groups of you that were kind enough to give me 45 minutes, an hour of your time. And we sat and talked all the way through what I'm about to share with you. In essence, what we're talking about today is framed up around the ideas that came from a number of different students across the panorama of our university family.

Different majors, different categorizations, different years. And every one of them had some useful information to say that I think will find its way in our sermon this morning. So I'm praying as we come together around this topic that our hearts will be challenged, not just by my thinking and not just by our collective thinking, but by what God has to say.

And so maybe the best way to introduce the sermon this morning and to tee up the topic that we're going to talk about is to set out a story for you. And so I want you to fast forward in your mind just a few years till you're graduated from here and you're in your vocation, you're in the place of your employment, you're in the place where God has planted you. You may be working in a particular city, you have a church that you attend, you have a place that you live in.

Some of you may be married by that time, some of you may still be hoping to be married, some of you may just be enjoying life at that point. And you have a place where you're ministering, you have a place, a church that you're attending, ministry that God has given to you. And at some point along the way, you come in contact with a woman named Joan. And somehow or another, you make a connection with Joan.

Joan has a little girl, maybe 10 or 11 years of age. And God prompts on your heart to reach out to Joan and to invite her to your church. And you begin to talk to her about the opportunities at your church for her daughter.

And that speaks to her. It seems to get her attention and so she comes to church and she starts plugging into the body. Her daughter starts plugging into the programs that are available to her. And you begin to watch an incredible thing happen in Joan's life over the course of the next 12 months. You watch her go from someone who's just sort of really suspicious about what's happening in this group of people and sort of skeptical about what she's hearing to over a period of time, you begin to notice that she is starting to engage. You happen to glance over when you're in church together and you begin to sense that God is really reaching down through His word into Joan's mind and into her heart and you can begin to see the connections starting to happen.

And of course you're praying for Joan the entire time. And one day, you happen to be in the lobby of the church and she comes up to you after a sermon and says, you know, I would value an opportunity to have a conversation. And so you arrange for a time to have a conversation with Joan, maybe you meet at a coffee shop, maybe there's another place where you end up having a conversation and she sits down with you and she begins to tell you what God has been doing in her life.

And it is astonishing. She articulates to you in verbal form everything that you have been suspecting and that you have been observing in her life. She talks to you about how she felt when you first invited her to church and how she kept coming back because her daughter really liked the friends that she was making and she really appreciated the wholesome environment and the activities that were there. But she talks about, and she starts telling you about how God began to really get her attention as she was hearing the pastor talk from His word. And as she begins to tell you what was going on, she finally comes to the place where she said, you know, over the last several weeks it's like God has been opening my eyes, scales have been falling away and I finally understand this thing that you keep talking about when you talk to me about the gospel. And I'm here today because I want you to know something.

I have really understood and embraced what Jesus did for me on the cross. And she's telling you that she's born again and as you are talking to her, it is very evident that this has really happened to her. And then she says this to you, I have a question.

I have an issue that nobody here knows about. I wasn't always Joan. I was born John. And as I was growing up, I struggled immensely with my identity. I felt like I was trapped in the wrong body. And no matter what I did or no matter how I tried to convince myself differently, no matter what my parents said to me, I couldn't get away from the reality of what I was feeling. And as I went into my teen years, this just accentuated even more. And then when I became a young adult in my late teen years and into my early 20s, I just couldn't live with it anymore. And I decided to make a transition and to stop being John and to live as Joan.

And I did that. And for the last 25 or so years, that has been my identity. At some point along the way, I really wanted a child and so I adopted the little girl that comes with me to church. She has no idea that I'm anything other than Joan.

That's all she's known. But I have come to realize the truth of the gospel and I have a whole new perspective on what Jesus did for me and what God's intention for me is. What should I do? So here's the question. What would you say to Joan? And this is not, the story is a hypothetical one, but that really is a situation that many of us are going to face very soon in our life. Some of you are education majors. And you may be in a scenario very shortly where you're teaching young children whose parents are like the parents of Ryland who at two years of age began to articulate to her parents that she was convinced that she was a boy and at five years of age her parents had been convinced of that and transitioned her from being a girl to a boy and she showed up at school to be taught. You're going to have those kind of situations very shortly.

Some of you are going to be in a case or in a situation where you have a close friend who struggles with this or you have a family member or you have an associate at work who comes in one day and says, you know what, I used to be Bob, but from now on I want you to call me Rebecca or whatever. So what do you do, do we have anything as Christians to say into these sorts of conversations? So when I sat down with the students and we really began talking about illustrations like this, it got really clear that this was a very significant topic and due to the time that we have to address it, we're only going to talk about two parts of it today.

And before we talk about those two parts, I want to make sure that we boundary something off. We need to recognize that there are people in life who really do have issues that happened to them at birth. Maybe there was an abnormal development of tissue during fetal development or maybe there was a physical abnormality that happened to them at birth and they are working with their parents or their caregivers or even with themselves later in life to try to figure out what their God assigned gender is and we understand that that category of people exists and we are not talking about that category of people this morning. We are talking about people who have normal functioning biological bodies that are clearly identified in one gender or another who don't want to continue living in that gender.

What do we have to say to those kinds of people who are struggling with that issue? And at the heart of that debate is a thorny question. And the question is this, who gets to determine a person's gender and sexual identity? Who gets to decide that? Is gender something that we choose on the basis of what we perceive in our own soul to be the case or is it something that God assigns? And that question really is at the heart of the debate.

It's really at the heart of the issue. And in order to answer that question, effectively we have to start somewhere and I don't want to assume that we are all starting in the same place. We either have to lean on our own understanding as the writer of Proverbs said, Solomon said, or we have to go somewhere to find out if God has given wisdom about this and that's why I had you turn to 2 Peter chapter 1 because in verse 19 Peter says that we have a more sure word of prophecy, speaking of the scriptures. And then he says we would do well if we would heed that word and he describes it as a light shining in a dark place, waiting for the day to dawn and the day star to come.

That's poetic language for Peter acknowledging that we live in a very dark place and at times we are groping in that darkness for some way forward and there is a day coming when Jesus will arrive and fix everything but until that day arrives we need help and we need guidance. And that guidance comes in a scripture that was given by God as holy men of old were moved by the Holy Spirit to write it down. And you know this from your classes and from your own study of scripture that God would say to you about his word, it is reliable, you can trust it. It is sufficient, you can use it to shape your life even in a case like this and it is authoritative.

It will give you the right answer. It may not be comfortable, it may not be simple, it may not be easy but there is an answer that God gives in his word to guide and to govern us even in an issue as deeply convoluted and as deeply intimate and personal as our gender and sexual identity. So how do we proceed?

Let me give you two thoughts about that. First of all we need to talk about how we should engage in this conversation. Not just what should we say but how should we speak when we engage.

And you'll notice on the screen that I've given you all three ideas at once so that for time's sake we can look at them together but as we talk about this conversation Solomon reminds us that rash or careless words are like sword thrusts. We can speak to this in such a way that actually does more damage than help. So as we think about a topic like this that the entire world is talking about CNN ran a documentary on little Ryland's life and the agony that her parents went through and that documentary was called Raising Ryland.

It aired this past July. Time Magazine has run several feature articles on this very topic. The entire world is talking about this topic so the question is when we come into this conversation and we start talking and we start engaging which I think we should and we must. How we come into that conversation is as important as what we have to say.

So how do we frame a conversation about this with people who are going through this struggle themselves? I think we need to speak lovingly and compassionately. And when you hear how Jesus speaks to people who were deeply broken by their sin or deeply trapped in their sin it becomes very very evident that the overwhelming characterization of Jesus talking to people who were bound up in their sin is compassion. They didn't just hear what he had to say.

They felt what he had to say. So however else we speak we need to speak compassionately as a fellow sufferer. We may not be broken in this way. We may not be struggling with this particular thing but if we're all honest here this morning we all have tasted the brokenness of sin in some capacity or another in our life. We all have experienced deep brokenness and the radical effects of sin and the ruin that it brings in our lives.

We all can speak to that as a common sufferer. So when we come to this issue we come as a fellow sufferer coming in the name of Christ speaking lovingly and compassionately and then secondly I think we have to speak truthfully and courageously. Speaking lovingly is not incompatible with speaking truthfully. In fact the scripture actually marries these two ideas together in Ephesians chapter 4 when we're told to speak the truth in love. So we need to speak lovingly and compassionately but we need to speak truthfully and courageously because we speak for God. We don't speak as God but we speak for Him in this matter.

If we really believe that there is authoritative truth that He has given that speaks to this issue we speak lovingly and compassionately and the most loving thing we can say is the truth that God has given whatever that truth is about this issue. And then we need to speak redemptively and hopefully because we know the power and the hope of the Gospel. The fundamental premise of the Gospel is this, God is on a mission to redeem and restore fallen people to the image and likeness of His Son. The fundamental premise of the Gospel is this, things are not the way they should be.

And things are not the way they will be. So how do we get from where we are to where God wants us to be and God's answer to that is no matter where you start, no matter what the brokenness, no matter how deep the pain, you start with the Gospel. So what we bring to this conversation is the love and compassion of Jesus. It's the truth courageously given that God has spoken about this issue and it is centered on the reality and the hope of the Gospel. We speak redemptively.

And that brings us to the final thing and that is this, what should we actually say to people who are struggling with this? And I would say that I'm going to frame this up not so much as a proclamation that we make because there are times in a context where you are speaking in a proclamation type way. You're standing up in an audience like we're doing here today and you're proclaiming something that God has said. Or maybe you're writing an article or you're publishing a book like so many have done on this topic and you're putting it out there to speak to the general public and that's a proclamation. That's an apologetic proclamation for a position that God is articulating and there is a need for that and there is a place for that. I'm actually talking about something differently. I'm talking about when you sit down across the table from someone who is struggling with this and has questions about this, how do you talk to them and what do you say to them in that setting?

And I would suggest that you can do four things with them. Here they are quickly. Number one, you can remind them that God created and designed the idea of gender. Whatever they're struggling with when it comes to gender and identity, God designed it and he designed it at creation. Do you remember the creation story in Genesis chapter 1 verses 26 and 27 and 28 where God speaks and repeats it again in Genesis chapter 5 verse 2 where he articulates that he created mankind and then he immediately says, now I made mankind for the purpose of image bearing and that requires two equal genders. And so when God describes the creation of man, he describes it immediately in the form of two image bearers who are equal in value that have different genders. They may have different roles and different responsibilities, but they stand before their creator equal in their gender. So when you stand before God as a male or you stand before God as a female, there is no difference in value. That's what I think Paul means when he says there is neither male nor female.

He is saying there is no better standing that one gender has over the other. They stand equally before God as necessary components to the image bearing capacity that God has for the race. So the first thing he would say to somebody is, you know, God actually created gender and he designed it at creation. And then secondly, he assigned it at conception. It's not just that he designed it sort of at the humanity level. He actually assigns it on the individual level and Psalm 139 talks about the fact that each of us is fearfully and wonderfully made and we are individually designed by God and the innermost parts of our being are woven together, they're knit together and that process happens in the womb.

So whatever your gender is, it was designed by God as part of the image bearing capacity and purpose that he has for you and it was assigned to you at conception and then God says he delights in its consecration. He comes to the end of Genesis chapter 1 verse 31 and he looks at all of this and he says this is good. So the first thing we would speak lovingly and courageously and truthfully and redemptively to somebody is we would say, you know, when you're thinking about this issue, one of the things that you need to bring to the table in your mind is the fact that God did design this, he did assign it.

And in his design and in his assignment, he delights in this. The second thing I would say is we probably ought to try to help them to see God's theological purpose for our gender. So why did God design this? And we talked earlier in the sermon about Psalm 8. God desired to fill up the earth with his glory and the way that he determined to do that was to set mankind above all of the earth and to assign them a responsibility to fill up that earth with image bearers who would know and love and rejoice in the goodness of God. And there was a consecrated process by which this would happen that would involve the coming together of two perfectly designed genders in a holy relationship, blessed and consecrated by God.

That wouldn't just be the assignment we were to do, it would be the delight that God would give us as we would experience the intimacy of that relationship within the context of a covenant that was consecrated by God. That's why God designed gender. There is a theological reason for your gender. And then thirdly, I would say there's a redemptive purpose for your gender. God intends to fix everything that has gone wrong in the universe through the arrival of an individual in the human race that has been described and prophesied as the coming Messiah and he would come through the birth that God would give to a particular woman.

You could say it this way. And I think this is good to remind ourselves because so often we sort of joke that the whole reason we're in this mess is because of what Eve did. We're actually in the mess because of what Adam did. And the reason we're out of the mess, those of us who have accepted the Lord is because of what God did through Eve. In sending his son, born of a woman, made under the law to redeem those. So God has a redemptive purpose for our gender and the minute you start putting all these pieces together you begin to understand, you know what? No wonder Satan has gone after this so hard. This is why in the Old Testament there are so many prohibitions against the misuse of our sexual identity or the misuse of our gender identity. In fact, in Deuteronomy chapter 22 God expressly prohibits his people from adopting the lifestyle or the mannerisms or the clothing of the opposite gender and he says it's an abomination. Why in the world does God care about this?

Because it's part of his redemptive plan. And then the fourth thing I would say is there is a future plan and hope for the struggle. Romans talks about the fact that there is coming a day when Messiah comes where he is going to restore everything that has been broken including our bodies. So, what would I say to Joan? What would you say to Joan? Let me tell you what I would say to Joan and we'll pray and you can decide whether or not what I say to Joan matches what you've read and what you've heard in the Scriptures. I would say to Joan, Joan, the gospel of Jesus Christ that you embraced changes everything.

It changes everything. Through that gospel God is redeeming and restoring fallen people like me and like you and that includes things like our gender brokenness. So, the gospel frees you to live authentically in the true gender that God designed and assigned to you at the beginning. The gospel frees you to live authentically as God designed you to live. And then secondly, the gospel gives you grace and strength because you and I both know that that journey isn't going to be easy. And so, as you make that journey and you take those steps the gospel doesn't just give you the freedom to live authentically. It gives you the grace to do so and the strength to do so. And then finally, the gospel gives you a new and a true identity in Christ that goes beyond your gender. You are accepted in the beloved. And there is present value in your struggle. There is a new creation that has happened to you and as a new creature you now have the ability to display the incredible power and the transforming value of the gospel.

Not just as a theory, but in your own life. And by the way, there was a disciple named John who was known as the beloved. And John, as you transition back to John, you can become like him, a beloved follower of Christ. Lord, thank you for your word.

We know that this has been a very significant topic and we haven't really done it justice in the time that we've had together. But Lord, as we've looked at the overarching framework of what your word has to say on a much, much higher level than just an immediate circumstance, would you help us to think your thoughts after you? Lord, there are people perhaps here who are struggling with this. And Lord, we would never want anybody to walk away from a sermon like this thinking that this has just been minimized or that there are just simple answers to profound questions that real people are struggling with at the very soul and the very essence of who they are as a person. So Lord, would you take your word and do the work that only your spirit can do? And we'll pray these things in Jesus' name. Amen. You've been listening to a sermon by Dr. Sam Horn, which is part of the series, What is Man? Join us again next week as we continue this series here on The Daily Platform.