As someone with several friends and family who identify with the LGBTQIA+ community, it’s really difficult for me to have conversations about sexuality with other believers because of the responses I often hear.
I acknowledge that this is a broad generalization, but in my experience with fellow believers, it has led me to be disappointed in their lack of compassion, their obvious ignorance, judgment and often hatred towards those they deem to “be more sinful.”
But before we deem someone else's sins worse than our own, let’s remember that James 2:10 says, “For whoever keeps the whole law but fails at one point has become guilty of it all.”
My disappointment was furthered a few months ago by my classmates when Dr. Madueme read portions of an article titled “Here’s Why Human Sex Is Not Binary,” by Agustin Fuentes along with further discussion on trans people, gender dysphoria and sexuality. The pointed looks, whispers and even snickers I noticed as Dr. Madueme spoke about these topics really disheartened me.
I understand that I come from a very different background than most people at Covenant and was lucky enough to have parents who wanted to have honest and open conversations with me about biblical sexuality, especially when I was struggling with my own. I can’t be upset that not everyone was raised exactly like me, but it does frustrate me that when talking about gender dysphoria and sexuality with Christians and students at Covenant, there is often an air of discomfort as people still see these topics as “taboo.”
In a day and age where anything is possible, we need to do better as Christian institutions to equip our students to have conversations with people who are a part of the LGBTQIA+ community. Instead of squirming in our seats when someone mentions the word gay, or when we see two men holding hands, we should be open to listening to people’s stories and struggles just like Jesus listens to ours.
While it’s important to listen to people’s stories and have compassion on their struggles, as Christians we still need to stand firm in our beliefs that biological sex is indeed binary, contrary to what Fuentes and other scientists believe.
In Genesis 1:27, God states “male and female he created them.” Christian scientists and philosophers who believe that gender is not binary such as Myron A. Penner, April M. Cordero and Amanda J. Nichols (whose article Dr. Madueme mentioned in class and I have briefly looked over) argue that with this radically changing culture, gender is not just defined biologically but also socially and culturally.
While I agree socially and culturally that the definition of men and women, along with masculinity and femininity, is changing, that doesn’t change the fact that biologically speaking we are born male or female. You can identify how you like if you believe those to be your convictions, but biologically you were born one or the other. I am in no way trying to diminish the struggles of people who are working through their gender identity, as I have never experienced that and cannot speak on those struggles.
What I hope I have emphasized is that as Christians, it’s important that we stand fast in our beliefs while still having ears that listen, hearts that emphasize, and mouths that speak kindly and generously. Before we take the speck out of our brother's eye, let’s first examine our own hearts and realize that only the Lord can judge with such grace and mercy.