The Valley Family Forum
Building Faith, Family and Freedom
Sexual Identity — Male and Female — Gender Confusion
God’s Glorious Design for Sex,
Gender, Marriage, and Family
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“In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth, and He made man in His own image, both male and female. He blessed them and told them to go out and multiply, and to replenish the earth.” (Genesis 1:1, 26-28)
“Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.” (Gen. 23:24)
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Fired! The Long Leap from Creation to Confusion to Chaos
This past week, a popular French teacher at West Point High School in Virginia was fired because of his Christian stand on clear Biblical teaching that God created us as male and female. Therefore, he said he could not refer to a biologically birthed girl as a transgender identified boy.
Responding to a public outcry over the firing, The District Superintendent justified it by claiming that his discrimination against the girl/boy “leads to creating a hostile learning environment.”
Confused situations like this form the backdrop for our Crossroads program this weekend with our special guest, John Kidd, who is the Youth Pastor at Covenant Presbyterian Church in Harrisonburg and himself the father of two young children.
We’ll begin by asking how we have arrived at this point where some of our school administrators and elected officials have become so easily confused about sexual identities, and where they treat Christians like unclean lepers and even like criminals for their beliefs on these issues.
What is at the core of this transgender movement? Does it go back to our own betrayal of sexual integrity and marital fidelity that was so blatantly on display during the sexual revolution of the ‘60’s, and then to the more recent Obama-backed embrace of homosexuality followed by the Supreme Court’s approval of same-sex marriages?
As a result, is biological gender itself in danger of losing its special purpose and its unique design for complimentarity between the two sexes, including its indispensable role for the procreation of future generations, for raising strong and healthy families, and for the sanctity of life itself? If so, does it endanger the indispensable truth that every child needs a loving father and mother.
The Search for Truth: The Bible, the Culture, and My “Feelings”
This creates a challenge for all of us. Do we ourselves know and can we explain what the Bible says about sex, gender, marriage, and the family? Or perhaps, like Eve in the Garden of Eden, are we also sometimes tempted to ask whether God really meant what He said. And like her, might we too prefer to make our own rules about who we are and how we should live, guided only by the simple rule that “If it feels good, do it.”
In addition, how do we respond to those who choose to dismiss the Bible and its teachings, or to others who are overtly hostile to it because it challenges their immoral lifestyles? And how do we confront a culture that leads them down a broad road which – as the Bible teaches – leads to their destruction rather than to freedom?
At the bottom of it all, how do we respond to the concept that the world is divided into two separate spheres, one of which contains the Laws of Nature with its scientifically observable and eminently believable certainties like gravity, and the other one which contains the moral Laws of Nature’s God.
In this second sphere, morality is considered to be relative and a matter of mere personal preference. In this view, the Bible is an ancient book that no longer applies to today’s “enlightened” world. Therefore, we are now entitled to hold differing versions of “Truth”.
Within this “enlightened” concept culture, not God, determines what is “right” and what is “wrong”, and as the God of Culture changes, our moral standards change with it. There is no longer a “transcendent, God-breathed” truth and, if the Bible has any value at all, it is only as a book of outdated “suggestions” rather than as commandments for how we should live.
Taking Our Stand, Sharing in Love
That brings us back to our French teacher who was fired for standing up for his faith. Are we prepared and are we willing to take our stand on Biblical teaching, come what may? Can we accept that we too may be persecuted for our beliefs?
Within our own circle, how can we help our children and other family members find their way through this sea of sexual confusion that surrounds them? How can we help them deal with these new teachings about “gender fluidity” in which they, like the “Gender Unicorn”, can choose from within a broad range of sexual orientations and attractions, and even change their sexual identity throughout their lifetimes?
Even more broadly, how can we best respond to our neighbors, to our colleagues at work, and even to members of our own churches who may have rejected clear Biblical teaching about morality and chosen to embrace new kinds of sexual relationships and identities.
How can we, recognizing our own sinful natures, show our love for them while at the same time make clear that we cannot condone, affirm, or participate in their immoral choices and decisions?
At the end of the day, then how can we, by our own personal lives, be the Salt and Light that Jesus called us to be in His Sermon on the Mount, and as lights in a crooked and perverse nation, as Paul urged in his letter to the church at Philippi? As Jesus taught and as He prayed, this is not a time for retreat but for a bold proclamation of what is True.
Crossroads: Where Faith and Culture Meet
For more on all of this, including suggested resources for further study, please join Rita Dunaway, Pastor John Kidd, and me this weekend on the following stations: WBTX (1470/AM and 102.1/FM) today (Saturday) at 4:00 p.m. and again on Sunday at 7:30 a.m., followed by WSVA (550/AM and 92.1/FM) at 8:30, and WNLR (1150/AM) at 11:30. You can also listen online by clicking on the link to Crossroads on the home page of our web site at www.valleyfamilyforum.org.
Crossroads is entirely listener supported, and we deeply appreciate your prayers, your encouragement, and your financial support of these programs. Therefore, in this special season of Christmas charity, if you would like to help, please send your check to Crossroads at PO Box 881, Harrisonburg, 22803. All donations are tax-deductible.
With appreciation, for God, for Country, and for Biblical Truth,
Dean
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