Bruce Jenner<\/p>\n
Rachel Dolezal<\/p>\n
Dylann Roof<\/p>\n
An Olympic champion decathlete who now identifies as a woman; a white woman who told others she was black; a young man who walked into an African-American church prayer meeting Wednesday night and killed 9 people, saying, according to reports, \u201cYou rape our women and you\u2019re taking over our country. And you have to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
What is the link among them?<\/p>\n
They certainly are dramatically different from each other \u2013 most obviously in that neither Jenner nor Dolezal has assaulted another person, while Roof has committed a horrendous act of terror.<\/p>\n
But look at these three through the lens of identity, through the question, \u201cWho are you?\u201d Each seems to be trying to find an identity they lack:<\/p>\n
Jenner is trying to find joy, fulfillment, and freedom in gender identity. Realize that Jenner is not among those whose biological development goes awry in the womb, resulting in a difficult-to-determine sex. He is a biological male. Indeed, no woman has ever run 400 meters in 47.51 seconds as he did \u2013 and if any woman ever does, she certainly will not also be able match Jenner in putting a 16 lb shot over 50 feet, long jumping over 23\u2019 8\u201d, pole vaulting over 15\u2019 8\u201d, and high jumping over 6\u2019 7\u201d. (All time only 14 women have long jumped farther, 9 women have vaulted higher, and 17 women have jumped higher \u2013 and no woman appears on even two of those lists.)<\/p>\n
But gender, say many today, is a social construct, distinct from biological sex, and Jenner is simply choosing to live as his\/her genuine gender, not trying (at least not yet) to change sex.<\/p>\n
Certainly many of the expectations a culture has for men\u2019s roles and women\u2019s roles are social constructs, with little if any relation either to biology or to biblical manhood and womanhood. The way we dress, the way we walk, the work that we do, the jewelry or make-up we wear, laws concerning voting and land ownership and inheritance \u2013 all these are social constructs. We Christians have to be careful not to claim that our own sub-culture\u2019s expectations for how men and women act are all rooted in biblical revelation.<\/p>\n
But while we must agree that some <\/i>aspects of any culture\u2019s conceptions of manhood and womanhood are social constructs, biology tells us there are some unique roles for the sexes, and Scripture tells us our Creator\u2019s prescription \u2013 a prescription which may seem to be constraining, but in fact, as one aspect of submission to Christ and being transformed through the renewal of our minds, will lead to freedom.<\/p>\n
Jenner stated, \u201cAs soon as the Vanity Fair cover comes out, I\u2019m free.\u201d Jenner is trying to find freedom and joy in a change of identity, a change of public persona, a change of outward gender role. But Scripture tells us our identity is to found in Christ and obedience to Him. No other identity will lead to eternal joy.<\/p>\n
Dolezal and Roof in quite different ways are trying to find joy and fulfillment through racial identity: Dolezal by pretending to be black and becoming a defender of black interests; Roof apparently by deluding himself into thinking of whites as superior, and finding identity in being the supposed noble defender of the superior race. Roof\u2019s sense of identity then leads to the horror and carnage of Wednesday night.<\/p>\n
Note that race is completely a social construct. Race, unlike sex, is not biologically determined. Some ethnicities are biologically distinct \u2013 but not races. That is, there are no genetic markers common to everyone we perceive as black, or to everyone we perceive as white \u2013 just as in India there are no genetic markers common to everyone in one caste or another. Yet this social construct of race (like caste) influences the way we see ourselves and others, and deeply impacts how others treat us (horribly, even to the point of hating and persecuting and killing).<\/p>\n
So since race is a social construct, what\u2019s the problem with a person society labels \u201cwhite\u201d as a child deciding to live as \u201cblack\u201d as an adult?<\/p>\n
The problem \u2013 for Jenner, for Dolezal, for Roof, and for us \u2013comes down to: Where do you primarily <\/i>find identity?<\/p>\n
We all have multiple roles and identities: Our families, our jobs, our income, our nationalities, our ethnic heritage, our language, our education \u2013 all of these as well as race and gender feed into who we are.<\/p>\n
But where do you primarily <\/i>find identity.<\/p>\n
Scripture tells us: Our first and foremost identity, the identity that defines us most vitally, the identity that determines our future is this: Who we are before God.<\/p>\n
For God created mankind in His image and by right that creation rules as king. All mankind shares His image. Yet all mankind has defiled that image, rebelling against our rightful king, setting ourselves up as the arbiter of right and wrong \u2013 indeed, attempting to find our primary identity in something other than what God says about us. We deserve His punishment; we deserve eternal separation from Him. But God determined and promised that He would call from all types of mankind one people for Himself to be His treasured possession \u2013 to delight in Him above all things, and to be His great joy for all eternity. In an act of sheer grace, He sent His Son, the Second Person of the godhead, to become man and to live the life we all should have lived. Through His death on the cross, He suffered the penalty due to us for our rebellion. But God raised Him from the dead, proving the penalty was sufficient. To all who come to Him by faith in the Son, submitting to Him as King, rejoicing in Him as the greatest Treasure, He grants an identity that defines all else: Beloved by God. A part of the Bride of Christ. God\u2019s precious possession.<\/p>\n
So the Apostle Paul writes:<\/p>\n
In Christ Jesus you are all sons of God, through faith. For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. And if you are Christ’s, then you are Abraham’s offspring, heirs according to promise. <\/b>(Galatians 3:26-29) <\/b><\/p>\n
Paul is not denying that ethnicity is important \u2013 any more than he is denying that sex is important. He is saying that in Christ, we have a new identity: Members of God\u2019s family! We have put off the old self and have put on the new self \u2013 a restored image of God! (Colossians 3:9-11). We retain our sex, our ethnicity, and, at least for a \u00a0time, our roles in the economy \u2013 but none of these define us. We may be black or white or Chinese or Indian \u2013 and our ethnicities can serve to glorify God (Revelation 7:9-10) \u2013 but we are all primarily Abraham\u2019s offspring, heirs of the promise to him, fulfilled in Christ Jesus.<\/p>\n
So by all means pray that Jenner and Dolezal and Roof will find their identity in the only source of true freedom, true fulfillment, and true joy \u2013 Christ Himself.<\/p>\n
But also ask yourself: Who am I? What most defines me?<\/p>\n
Scripture tells us: Our relationship to God must define us most. If we do not know Christ, our separation from Him, our position under His wrath, defines us. If we trust in Christ, He gives us an identity. He calls us God\u2019s children. He makes us His Bride \u2013 without spot or blemish or any such thing.<\/p>\n
That is who we are. This defines us \u2013 more than race or gender or income or class. May we delight in that identity \u2013 and live it out fully \u2013 to the glory of our Lord.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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