Men and women are different.
It seems for most people, at some point that statement becomes controversial. For some it is so controversial that it is to be rejected out of hand in all situations. For others, it is only controversial in specific ways. Let’s take it one degree at a time:
Men and women are different, therefore transgenderism must be rejected.
Most of us have watched with disbelief as our nation has debated transgenderism over the past decade. We’ve watched the debate over “dead names” and pronouns. We’ve seen “transgender women” (biological men) be allowed to compete against women athletically and dominate, to no one’s surprise. We’ve argued over who should use what bathroom. No matter how much some want to bend reality to be whatever they want it to be, men cannot become women and women cannot become men. God created them male and female (Genesis 5:2). Nearly all Christians would agree on this point.
Men and women are different, and they were given different roles in the church.
Just because one doesn’t feel like God would assign different roles for men and women, and just because one can rip Galatians 3:28 out of context and make it contradict the rest of the Bible’s teaching on the matter, it doesn’t negate the very plain teachings about male leadership in the church. This doesn’t mean men and women aren’t equal. It means they are different.
I suspect this point will have offended some, but most Christians are likely still in agreement.
Men and women are different, and therefore they should have different roles in the home.
I’m not talking about the worthless sitcom tropes of a dumb, juvenile man who does nothing but drink beer and watch football while the smart, capable wife does all the work. Nor am I talking about some twisted old view in which the man has no involvement with the children because that’s “the woman’s job.” I’m talking about Ephesians 5’s gender roles, where the husband gives his life for his wife while she submits and follows his lead. I’m talking about Deuteronomy 6 male leadership in which the husband and father takes responsibility for teaching his family about God. I’m talking about Titus 2 womanhood in which the wife and mother takes mentors who can teach her how to love her family and be a keeper at home. I’m talking about re-adopting the politically incorrect descriptions of 1 Peter 3 in which the wife strives to have a gentle and quiet spirit while the husband shows her honor as the weaker vessel. I suspect things just got controversial for a few. This is the point at which you begin to see how the culture’s thinking has crept into the church.
Men and women are different, and therefore boys and girls should be raised in accordance with such differences.
This, I suspect, is the point at which the statement becomes most controversial. Years of conditioning have taught us to raise boys and girls exactly the same, telling them to pursue the same things, giving them the same goals. But if men and women aren’t interchangeable (a point on which we almost all agree), and men and women have been given different roles in the church (a point on which most of us agree), and men and women have been given different roles in the home (a point on which many of us agree), why on earth would we not raise them by those principles?
Are you teaching your son to be respectful of women as a weaker vessel worthy of honor, particularly with regard to how he speaks to his mother and how he treats his sister? Are you committed to helping him avoid the snare of pornography? Are you teaching him to “act like a man” (1 Corinthians 16:13), standing with integrity and being willing to do that which is difficult but necessary? Are you setting the example in these areas? If not, you are harming them and any future women and children to whom they are tied.
Are you teaching your daughter to possess a gentle and quiet spirit, or are you teaching her to be “empowered” so the world can hear her roar? Are you teaching her that submissive marriage and motherhood are good and holy things to desire, or are you teaching her to put those things off, or to reject such “antiquated” ideas? Are you teaching her to view herself as no different than the boys, even viewing the boys as direct competition? Mothers, are you modeling biblical love and submission to her? If not, you are harming her and her potential future husband and children.
Raise your boys to be men. Raise your girls to be women. What society needs, what the church needs, and what your grandchildren, great-grandchildren, and great-great-grandchildren need are for you to raise up men and women who take on the roles God gave them.
The funny thing is, for most Christians the issue of transgenderism isn’t controversial whatsoever. God made men, and God made women, and the outward differences are pretty easy to see. We are ok with that, and we believe anyone who disagrees with that to be an opponent of objective truth. But the internal differences behind men and women’s God-given roles are just as objectively true. God made men and women just as different inwardly as He did outwardly. Our hormonal differences are undeniable. Why is the one a no-brainer for Christians yet the other so controversial? Because we’re not very good at developing and holding to Biblical truths before the tides of change start rolling in.
The truth is, we humans aren’t very smart. We should have learned literally from the first two people on earth that God’s prescribed way is the best way for us, even if we really, really, really want to go another way. And yet we still cause His plain teachings to be controversial because we crave man’s approval first. But there is no point at which we outgrow God’s wisdom. Every time man has decided we know better than God, it has ended in abject failure. Why would we think that to be different with the gender roles God placed throughout the Bible?
Reject what society says. Embrace what God says. You’ll be glad you did, and the world will be a better place for it.
