Gender and Christianity

Doing an essay on gender and Christianity, I thought to myself what a daunting task taking the wonders and awesomeness of the Lord's work in my life and impart this to others.  The words that follow are my perspective and while other interpretations of the scripture abound I have learned to hear what the Lord brings to your heart through worship, interaction with others and study of the Word.

Only through the advancement and diffusion of knowledge and understanding can we begin to overcome the stigma society associates with gender issues.  According to Harry Benjamin, gender is a complex construct consisting of many factors, the external biological presentation, chromosomal identification, endocrinology, gender identity, central nervous system makeup and sexual identity and orientation.  Through the study of intersexuality we have learned that humanity does not come in two mutually exclusive genders.  Throughout the centuries many have been blessed with gender issues, however thanks to technological advances today we have gained some acceptance but work is still required.

We all have a spiritual side.  For me it is a belief in God the Creator.  Whatever your understanding of the Creator your spiritual side is something that not only you but others will be challenged with when dealing with gender issues.  Maintaining my relationship with the Creator was paramount as I made my choices in my life. 

The Scripture

Mom was trying to understand my abnormalities and choices when John 9:1-3 was revealed to us.  

         John 9:1-3  "1 And as [Jesus] passed by, he saw a man which was blind from [his] birth.  2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born  blind?   3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him." 

The Creator not only understood what the blind person was going through but that he was blind to allow the Creator's awesomeness to be revealed through his healing.  I can honestly say my life, once given totally to the Lord is blessed and I truly have a song in my heart.

The following passage is one of the first often encountered when confronting gender issues.

         Deuteronomy 22:5 " The woman shall not wear that which pertaineth unto a man, neither shall a man put on a woman's garment: for all that do so [are] abomination unto the LORD thy God."

Intersexualism or transsexualism has nothing to do with clothing.  If we all wore orange coveralls I know I would be no different.

Continuing to look at Deuteronomy we see the Word in the Old Testament speaking of the body.  The words privy member translated from the Hebrew Lexicon are "penis, urethra, male organ" or "as fluid duct"

         Deuteronomy 23:1 "He that is wounded in the stones, or hath his privy member cut off, shall not enter into the congregation of the LORD."

In contradiction to the rules against eunuchs in Deuteronomy stands the following from Isaiah.

         Isaiah 56:3-5  "3  Neither let the son of the stranger, that hath joined himself to the LORD, speak, saying, The LORD hath utterly separated me from his people: neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I [am] a dry tree.  4  For thus says the Lord: to the eunuchs who keep my sabbaths, who choose the things that please me and hold fast to my covenant,  5   I will give, in my house and within my walls, a monument better than sons and daughters, I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off."

"Shall not be cut off??"  Who says the Bible doesn't have much humor!  I feel this passage pertains not just to intersexuals and transsexuals but to anyone that questions surgery and the Lords temple, our bodies.  Since it appears in the Old Testament along with the Deuteronomy passage it stands to show that everyone who is right with the Lord will come to know their everlasting name.

         Acts 8:26-39  "26  And the angel of the Lord spake unto Philip, saying, Arise, and go toward the south unto the way that goeth down from Jerusalem unto Gaza, which is desert.  27  And he arose and went: and, behold, a man of Ethiopia, an eunuch of great authority under Candace queen of the Ethiopians, who had the charge of all her treasure, and had come to Jerusalem for  to worship,  28 Was returning, and sitting in his chariot read Esaias the prophet.   29  Then the Spirit said unto Philip, Go near, and join thyself to this chariot.  30 And Philip ran thither to [him], and heard him read the prophet Esaias, and said, Understandest thou what thou readest?  31  And he said, How can I, except some man should guide me? And he desired Philip that he would come up and sit with him. 32  The place of the scripture which he read was this, He was  led as a sheep to the slaughter; and like a lamb dumb before his shearer, so opened he not his mouth:  33 In his humiliation his judgment was taken away: and who shall declare his generation? for his life is taken from the earth.  34  And the eunuch answered Philip, and said, I pray thee, of whom speaketh the prophet this? of himself, or of some other man?  35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and began at the same scripture, and preached unto him Jesus.  36  And as they went on [their] way, they came unto a certain water: and the eunuch said, See, [here is] water; what doth hinder me to be baptized?  37  And Philip said, If thou believest with all thine heart, thou mayest. And he answered and said, I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.  38  And he commanded the chariot to stand still: and they went down both into the water, both Philip and the eunuch; and he baptized him.  39  And when they were come up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord caught away Philip, that the eunuch saw him no more: and he went on his way rejoicing."

This is the story of the evangelist Philip who meets a devout Ethiopian eunuch.  Philip offers to interpret a passage the eunuch was reading.  The passage was Isaiah 53:7-8, often interpreted as a prophecy of Christ's coming.  Philip takes this chance to tell the eunuch about Christ, and the eunuch asks to be baptized.  This eunuch is traditionally held to be the person who brought Christianity to northern Africa.

The point is that even eunuchs can be baptized as Christians or join in God's worship, contradicting Deuteronomy 23:1 and in keeping with Isaiah 56:3-5.  Eunuchs have been doing the work of the church since the time of Christ.

         Matt 19:12 "For there are some eunuchs, who were so born from their mother's womb: and there are some eunuchs, who were made eunuchs by men: and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the Kingdom of Heaven's sake.  He that is able to receive it, let him receive it."

Here Jesus speaking directly about eunuchs.  Some believe it is a discussion of voluntary celibacy, but the fact that Christ mentions people born that way indicates to me a birth condition.  Some have also interpreted this to mean gays or lesbians, which doesn't seem out of the question.  However, I think the most literal interpretation would include intersexed (born that way) and transsexual persons (made that way).  Regardless of interpretation, the point is that everyone with faith can receive the Lords grace and enter His Kingdom.

God and Discrimination

In the Old Testament there are reasons that the laws of the Sabbath were broken and we were to look at the reason that these things occurred.

         John 7:24  "Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment."

Take this one step further as it is not my position to be the judge of anyone and am reminded of the passage from Matthew.

         Matthew 7:1-5   Judge not, that ye be not judged.  2    For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.  3    And why

beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?  4    Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye; and, behold, a beam [is] in thine own eye?  5    Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.

From all that I have gone through how could I dare to pass judgment on others?  This however does not mean that I see a society that runs amuck.  If lead by the Creator it is my belief that we can see past the physical and stand in awe at the possibilities of a world united in worship.

         1 Samuel 16:7 " ... for [the LORD seeth] not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart."

Here the Lord speaks to Samuel, the lowly shepherd David is anointed king of Israel.  Samuel assumes the Lord will choose one of David's handsome brothers, but the Lord judges different from man looking at the heart.  

         Acts 10:34  "Peter began to speak: "I now realize that it is true that God treats everyone on the same basis (does not discriminate, from the Hebrew Lexicon).  Whoever (in every nation he that) fears him and does what is right is acceptable to him..."

The original context was race, but a broader interpretation seems valid.  This appears in the story of the first Gentile converted to Christianity and there is no exclusionary clause here i.e. except for those with gender issues! 

         Galatians 3:28  "...there is neither male nor female, for we are all one in Christ Jesus."

For many that take the scripture out of context I find this passage refreshing and in the same note awesome as we truly have no reference to base what we will be like when we are one, united with Christ. . .but what a grand thing to look forward to.

         John 3:16-17  "16  For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that

whosover believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17  For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved."

No reading on scripture would be complete without including this passage and I am happy to say contains no exclusionary clause.

Your body is a temple

"Your body is God's temple" argument is used for everything from suicide to poor eating habits.  I believe that the body is indeed a temple, not ours to do with as we wish therefore suicide and euthanasia are not decisions we have the right to make, likewise I am pro life with exceptions of mother's health or rape. 

         I Corinthians 3:17  "If anyone (to corrupt) destroys (defiles) God's temple, God will destroy him.  For God's temple is holy, and you yourselves are his temple."

Where surgery is correct for intersexuals or transsexuals, the argument often manifests itself as, "If God had wanted you to be a woman, the Creator would have made you that way."  This argument is easily countered by asking if this applies to any sort of medical intervention, from wearing corrective lenses, to taking aspirin, and surgeries to correct other birth defects.

This easily leads to another common thought that "God don't make mistakes" or "God made you that way and you need to stay that way".

This objection seems to be the hardest for Christians who happen to be intersexual or transsexual to handle when it is expressed.  One can just say that "God made me this way for a purpose and the Lord knows what is going to happen even when I was in my mothers womb."

         Isaiah 44:2  "Thus saith the LORD that made thee, and formed thee from the womb, [which] will help thee; Fear not. . ."

         Psalm 139:13  "For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb."

This objection stems from a false assumption that all children are born perfect therefore "God doesn't make mistakes."  The fact is that one in every 2000 births result in some form of gender abnormality. 

All children regretfully are not born perfect.  While not stated as such, this is the implicit claim that is made when people say God doesn't make mistakes.  So, is it God's mistake that a child is born blind or deaf or crippled or deformed?  According to this theory, these terrible things that happen are God's will and in God's plan.  I have to wonder what kind of a monstrous God these people serve to imagine that God would purposely create a child with muscular dystrophy or cause the birth of a crack baby or a child born with AIDS.

Consider that God made these children handicapped, ill or deformed as he did the blind man, these are consequences of a fallen world.  It's not a matter of God making a mistake; it's simply the nature of an imperfect world.  The same holds true for gender issues.  There is a growing body of evidence that transsexuals are born with a brain of the opposite gender as well as other biological factors.  Some are already referencing transsexualism as synonyms or a form of intersexualism.  Some that initially begin thinking themselves transsexual have uncovered biological factors through the help of competent caregivers.  We have long since passed the stage of believing that the disabled are unclean.  It's time to do the same for gender issues.

In the beginning, God did indeed make two perfect people and the genders were clearly defined.  But they also lived in perfect health in a perfect garden that didn't even have weeds.  But we live after the fall.  There are weeds in the garden.  One of which is gender abnormality.

Christianity

No matter how far one falls God is there to catch you in the arms of Grace.  What a wonderful feeling to know that he is truly in my life. 

I believe that Christ died for me and because of his death and my faith; Gods grace will provide a place for me with my Savior forever. 

         In Acts 15:11 "But we have faith that we will get salvation through the grace of the Lord Jesus. "

also in  Acts 16:13  ". . . Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house."  

Worshiping today has been turned from the unique experience individual's share with the Creator, to a political or socially directed quagmire of events that have little to do with worshiping.  While I will be quick to note that not all churches nor individuals which attend them fit this category, I do feel that because many have lost focus they leave the church looking elsewhere for what the think they need rather than realizing that worshiping the Creator is a personal and unique thing.  I have found that in coming together with others to worship brings focus to your own worship and ultimately receiving so much more that we could alone.

         Matthew 22:37 & 39    Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.  39    And the second [is] like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself.

A recent devotional was speaking on understand the scripture and I feel appropriate here.  The devotional said in part that we often can take only a word or a verse at best and meditate and pray for understanding, more and we may miss something.  This individual had started to study the Lords prayer.  She got no further than the first two words "Our Father".  What wonder in these words that encompass everyone, not the select few or everyone but the select few but everyone as the Creator is indeed "Our Father"      

If you don't know the Lord as your personal Savior it does not take much.  Understanding that you're a sinner, belief that Christ did indeed carry your sins and mine to the cross and died there bearing the burden of these sins, the faith that Christ arose from the dead and has ascended into heaven preparing a place for us.  That Christ will again return and take all who believe home to the Creator to live every tomorrow.  You don't need me, a pastor, anybody or anything else other than His word and faith to understand this truth.  If you believe then by Gods grace you will be saved. 

Summary

Gender and Christianity.  For me gender is just one aspect of being human.  My relationship with the Creator makes being human a wonderful experience knowing that the Lord is on my side.  We were told that the Lord would be with always, we were never told the path would be easy.  I have come to the understanding that no matter how hard things get on this road in life it's a smoother road with God.

Think on this, in 2000 the Gallop Origination reported that 37 percent of Americans read the bible regularly (everyday or weekly); Gallop also reported that 90 percent of Americans believed in God and 80 percent of those say they are Christians.  (The Atlanta Journal Constitution, 28 October 2000.)  If this is true think what an awesome power we could be if we were united in worship.

Organisation Intersex International

God Don't Make Mistakes!

by Dalelynn