Identity

It is important to know how God sees us, the identity that He has given to us in Christ.  Ephesians 1
contains one of the passages in Scripture that can reinforce these ideas about who we really are:
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ,
4 just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love,
5 having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will,
6 to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.

We are created in the image of God, intended for His glory - think about that: who you are and how you represent Christ are intended to bring honor to God.  We can do this!  That is part of our spiritual nature, as new creations in Him. When we are confused about our own identity and settle for less than who God made us, we can reflect on what the Bible tells us and how we are described.  The more we know about God's special work in our hearts, the more freedom we can experience to live that out!

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In Genesis 1, we read the breathtaking story of creation and we can gain insight about the creation and ordination of humanity:
27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth."

We are hearing story after story of people who have become discontent with their biological makeup, for whatever reason.  In the name of so-called "gender identity," individuals are seeking special consideration based on their own perception of their gender, rather than the way that God has made them.

This gender deception has been expressed in the public policy realm.  As Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council writes,

Various localities, states, and the federal government are being urged to expand the protected categories under existing civil rights laws to bar "discrimination" in employment, housing, and/or public accommodations on the basis of "gender identity." "Gender identity" is typically described as "a gender-related identity, appearance, expression, or behavior of an individual regardless of the individual's assigned sex at birth."

Sprigg adds that, "To suggest that the identification of a human being's sex at birth represents merely an 'assignment,' as though it were entirely a social construct agreed upon by the child's parents and physician, is absurd."  He warns against the negative policy consequences of the adoption of such legislation, including public safety, saying that, "The government should never purposefully threaten the public safety of women and children by creating the legitimized access that sexual predators tend to seek."

Lawmakers in Washington state are seeking to undo a rule allowing transgender individuals in the state to use public bathrooms based on their gender identity.  The Daily Signal reported that the state’s Human Rights Commission approved the rule, which requires such access to sex-specific facilities including bathrooms and locker rooms.  Last week, it reported that a bill to repeal the rule has cleared a state Senate committee.

And, the website has reported that the New York City Commission on Human Rightshas updated a policy to specifically protect transgender and gender non-conforming individuals from discrimination in areas of employment, public accommodation, and housing.

According to the city, gender non-conforming individuals is a term “used to describe someone whose gender expression differs from traditional gender-based stereotypes.”

Under the new policy, landlords, employers, and businesses can face civil penalties up to $125,000 per violation and up to $250,000 “for violations that are the result of willful, wanton, or malicious conduct.”  That would include, "Failing to use an individual’s preferred name, pronoun, or title," "Refusing to allow individuals to use single-sex facilities, such as bathrooms or locker rooms, and participate in single-sex programs, consistent with their gender identity," and other regulations.

What a deceived world we live in!  And according to a story on the ChristianNews.net website, there's a woman in Norway who claims that she was “born in the wrong species” and asserts that she is really a cat trapped in a human body. She recently appeared in a news broadcast wearing fake cat ears and a tail as she asserted, “I’ve been a cat all my life.”

She said, "I realized I was a cat when I was 16 when doctors and psychologists found out what was ‘the thing’ with me,” adding, “Under my birth there was a genetic defect.”  She is also quoted as saying, "Yes, I’m born like this ... Born in the wrong species. … It’s obvious I’m a cat when I start purring and meowing and walking around on four legs and stuff like that.” The woman is shown crawling on her hands and knees on the floor and scratching at the door as she looks out the window.

OK, enough already!  You already have people who believe that their bodies, fearfully and wonderfully designed by God, are ill-suited for their true perceived identity.  Now, you have someone who believes, presumably, that she is a cat in a human body.

How far we've come.  Now, I will say, we need to be compassionate upon those who are having legitimate struggles with such topics as sexuality or who are experienced confusion surrounding their gender.  I believe you do have people who are confused, and we should be in a position to point people to their Creator God, who brings peace and clarity.

But, now those who are confused and those who support them want to extrapolate personal confusion to society at large.  News media reporting on stories related to gender identity is just one of the factors that can lead to the normalization of gender confusion - as that is normalized, it can result in the types of public policy accommodations that I was just mentioning.  We have to reject these dangerous narratives that contradict the beauty of God's design.

And, we have to correct our own personal narratives.  We may not have struggles over gender identity, but there may be confusion over who we are in Christ.  And, our lack of knowledge about or acceptance of what the Bible says about us can place us in a less-than-optimal spiritual position.  The Bible tells us who we are in Jesus, who He has made us to be, and there are numerous passages that reinforce our true nature, recreated in the image of God through Christ.  As we embrace our true identity, we become free to live according to that new nature - as new creations in Christ!