WEBVTT

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 Why don't we begin with prayer.

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 Father, thank you for gathering us here this morning, and thank you, Lord, for the opportunity

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 to come together as believers on Sundays, primarily because of your resurrection from

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 the dead and the way that that gives us hope and joy and perseverance.

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 And we thank you, Lord, that because you are risen, we know that your work on the cross

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 was complete.

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 And we thank you for the empowerment of your Holy Spirit that can help us face whatever

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 we are walking through right now.

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 We pray for our time together this morning as we consider the question of transgender

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 identity and what your word has to say to that and how to interact fruitfully with one another

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 and with our neighbors about these questions.

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 We pray that this would be a fruitful conversation together and that you would be at work among

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 us and in us.

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 Be shaping us into the people who you have called us to be that we may reflect Christ in

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 our world today.

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 In Jesus' name we pray.

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 Amen.

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 Amen.

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 All right.

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 So we are in the middle of our class on gender and sexuality, and today we are looking at

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 the question of transgender identity.

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 So we began this class looking at how we're all beautiful because we're made in the image

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 of God and broken because of sin and its effects.

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 We looked at sort of two positive visions the Bible gives us about how our gender and sexuality

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 can be sort of a witness to Christ's redemption, namely through Christ-centered marriage and

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 through consecrated Christian singleness.

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 We looked at how we need both of those expressions in the church to bear witness to the fullness

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 of who Christ is.

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 And now we're looking at sort of a series of challenging issues that are sort of both things

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 that our culture is talking a lot about, as well as things that I think as a church we

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 need to sort of think through together.

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 So today we are looking at the question of transgender.

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 So let me just introduce this, a few statistics.

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 I've listed some things here.

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 There's a growing prominence of transgender individuals in our culture.

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 So according to a survey from 2016, about 1.4 million adults in the U.S. identify as transgender.

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 The total population of the U.S. is 330 million, but that includes adults and children.

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 So if you include adults, about 230 million adults.

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 So that's about 0.6% of the adult population.

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 That's about double the percentage that a similar survey found 10 years prior.

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 So particularly I think since the Supreme Court legalized same-sex marriage in 2015, sort of the transgender questions

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 have gained a growing prominence.

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 They're sort of the focus of most political debates about gender and sexuality is now sort of focused on this area.

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 So, for example, should there have been laws passed on both sides in some states saying public bathrooms are based on your biological sex

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 and other states say public bathrooms, you can go into whatever public bathroom you want based on your sort of self-conception of your own gender identity.

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 There's been debates about public school curricula, transgender athletes.

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 So in Connecticut, the winner of the women's track and field, one of the track and field competitions in the last couple of years

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 has been a biological male who transitioned to living as a female.

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 And so there's been debates about is this fair?

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 And all kinds of complicated questions.

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 Whether transgender individuals have the right to serve in all branches of the military

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 and what accommodations must be made for them.

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 And that one's sort of still hanging, whether the Supreme Court is about to consider whether gender identity is protected

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 under discrimination laws in the same way that race is.

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 Medicare now does cover what is – there's a bunch of names for this.

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 It used to be called a sex change operation.

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 Now I think the sort of preferred name is a gender-affirming surgery,

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 but gender reassignment surgery, sex reassignment surgery, there's all kinds of these names.

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 But basically surgical treatments and hormone treatments for people who want to sort of change from one gender to another.

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 Now I think many people may look at these things and say,

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 wow, like everything's sort of going in this direction.

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 But at the same point, if you look at the statistics,

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 transgender individuals are still – are personally often very vulnerable.

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 So 40 percent, according to one – it's more than one survey that's found this,

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 but 40 percent of transgender individuals in the United States have attempted suicide during their lifetime,

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 compared to about 5 percent of the general population.

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 A survey conducted in Sweden, and Sweden's a country that has had sort of very progressive,

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 sort of pro-transgender laws for a longer time.

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 But a recent survey said those diagnosed with gender incongruence were about six times as likely

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 to have had a health care visit due to a mood or anxiety disorder,

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 sort of anxiety or depression of some kind usually,

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 more than six times as likely to have been hospitalized after a suicide attempt.

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 So that's just a little bit of where we are culturally.

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 I want to sort of not immediately try to weigh in on that,

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 but I want to step back a little bit and start by looking at the larger biblical story

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 and its implications, and then how do we as Christians sort of understand these things.

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 So first couple of terms, just how terms are currently used.

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 Sex is usually used to refer to a person's biological status, right?

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 Your genitals or your, you know, XX or XY chromosomes.

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 Gender is used often to refer to sort of cultural attitudes, feelings, behaviors

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 that a culture associates with, you know, being male or being female.

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 And then what are sometimes called intersex conditions.

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 So these are called disorders of sex development.

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 So this is when a person's biological sex from birth is not clearly male or female.

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 Now this is very rare, but it does happen.

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 And in fact, a year or two ago I was talking with a pastor in the Boston area

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 who there's a child born to a couple in his congregation who had one of these conditions.

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 And the parents were trying to discern what do we do here.

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 So one of the questions is do you do an early sort of surgical intervention?

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 But there's a variety of these conditions.

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 Some are more serious than others, but often there's some kind of an abnormality

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 between the sex chromosomes, sort of XX or XY,

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 or occasionally there's sort of a, there's like an XXY, I think, one.

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 Sometimes there's a bit of a mismatch or an ambiguity

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 in sort of the body of a child when they're born.

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 So there's controversy within the medical community about should we try to sort of fix this now,

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 or should we just let it be and let it develop as it may,

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 and different conditions, you know, sometimes lean one way or the other.

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 So this is a complicated, just sort of a biological condition that some people are born with.

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 The other thing that we're talking about, which is different,

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 is gender dysphoria or gender incongruence.

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 So this is when someone's deeply felt gender identity does not correspond to their biological sex.

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 So, for example, a person who was born as a boy may feel and act like a girl, right?

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 People with gender dysphoria desire to live as a member of the opposite sex

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 and often dress and use mannerisms associated with the other gender.

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 Now, epidemiologists estimate about 5%, perhaps up to 5%, of kids without an intersex condition,

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 without a biological condition, sort of frequently or sometimes wish to be the opposite sex.

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 Now, for the vast majority of children, somewhere between 80% and 90% who feel this way during childhood

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 or during early adolescence, these feelings resolve as they grow up into adulthood

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 and don't continue in the majority of cases.

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 And people wonder why does this happen, and the causes are debated and they're uncertain.

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 And sort of a prominent theory is often sort of explained in a simplified way like this.

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 For most people, the shape of their brain corresponds to their biological sex.

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 So there's actually studies about how women's brains and men's brains actually just in various parts of the brain

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 are actually shaped differently and sort of interact with the world differently.

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 But one theory is that for some people, there's sort of a mismatch and your body is one way,

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 but your brain is sort of oriented the other way.

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 And so that's why some people identify as transgender.

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 But now, this theory is not proven.

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 And again, brain studies are very difficult because how do you study the brain of a living person?

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 Well, there's some limitations, right?

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 You can't take it out, right?

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 And you can't sort of handle it directly.

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 So all brain studies are challenging in just how to do that.

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 And anyway, that's an open question.

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 So there may be a biological component to that.

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 There may be other factors involved.

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 You know, there's obviously cultural factors involved at the level of whether people are sort of encouraged

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 to sort of pursue or identify this way.

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 So in various cultures throughout history, there are occasional examples of people who are born as males

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 but live much of their life sort of as females or vice versa.

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 The sort of first widely publicized person to go through a sex reassignment surgery was a World War II veteran

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 who was a biological male who had surgery and identified as a female by the name of Christine Jorgensen.

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 There was a couple earlier examples in Europe in the 1930s.

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 There was one person who died in the course of surgery attempting to do this.

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 Anyway, that's just a little bit of the sort of terms and history.

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 So what's the biblical framework?

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 How do we begin to sort of understand and interact with these questions?

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 Well, as we've looked at in this class, sort of God's intention for us in making us,

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 we're made in God's image.

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 Every person is made in God's image.

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 And God's made us male and female in the beginning.

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 And that's sort of God's a good thing that God has made us as men or as women.

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 And this whole idea of sort of the male-female, the communion between male and female,

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 both at a sort of broad level sort of in the human race as well as particularly in marriage,

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 is sort of an echo of the divine human communion.

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 That phrase comes from actually Pope John Paul II, who wrote a long,

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 had a long series of addresses called the theology of the body,

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 which are actually quite insightful.

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 Many of them are just sort of detailed expositions of Genesis and Ephesians and some other things.

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 But there's actually some quite, you know, I wouldn't go with him on every conclusion,

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 but there's a lot of good stuff in there.

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 And then in the fall, right, but we don't, but none of us experience life as God,

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 fully as God originally intended it, right?

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 The fall touches every part of us, including our bodies, our sense of who we are in our gender,

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 our sort of sexual desires and expressions.

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 You know, the fall sort of, there's no part of us that is free from the effects of the fall.

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 So our minds, you know, our self-perceptions and self-concepts,

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 the assumptions we make about other people.

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 I mean, how many assumptions do we make about other people that are later proven wrong, right?

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 Think about that, right?

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 That's evidence of we live in a fallen world.

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 We have trouble communicating.

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 We have trouble understanding each other.

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 We have trouble sort of relating to each other.

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 You know, we all experience this in some way or other.

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 Now, I think for many of us who feel comfortable in our own bodies and comfortable in our own biological sex,

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 it's particularly hard to empathize or understand what it would be like to have gender dysphoria.

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 I think that for many people, it's easier to think about, you know, if, say, let's say you are a heterosexual male or female, right?

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 It's probably easier for most people to think about what it would be like to have same-sex attractions

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 than to wish that you were the completely opposite gender.

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 Sort of, it's sort of a leap further, and I think some people particularly feel,

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 that's why this issue can be particularly challenging because people are like,

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 well, why would, why would I, why would anyone want to be, you know, you're a male.

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 Like, why would you want to be a female, or you're a female.

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 Like, why would you want to be a male.

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 But I think stepping back and realizing that we live in a fallen world, right?

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 And the fall affects all of us.

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 There's, so the fact that some people experience sort of biological conditions,

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 intersex conditions, or gender dysphoria, sort of a deep sense that I feel like I'm trapped in the wrong body.

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 There's something, I feel like there's something fundamentally wrong with the body that I was given

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 or that needs to be changed in order to sort of become who I really am.

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 Now, if we think about that more broadly, that shouldn't be a surprise, living in a fallen world.

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 And even if it's sort of hard to initially relate to for some of us,

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 I think if we sort of think a little deeper, you know, how many of us have some,

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 have experienced some aspect of our body that we feel like just where we have felt either deeply hurt

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 or violated or shameful or something that we feel like just is broken or frustrating,

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 you know, maybe a condition that you can't change like, you know, blindness or whatever, right?

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 Something you've had since birth or something that develops as you grow, right?

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 You know, if we think in that way, I think we can sort of begin to,

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 this doesn't feel as sort of alien or unusual, right?

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 We live in a broken, frustrating world.

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 All of us are alienated from who we're designed to be,

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 and we await the final redemption of our bodies.

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 So I think part of what I want to say is, you know, if this feels initially just very difficult

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 to identify with someone who identifies as transgender, let's not just stay there,

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 but let's try to, like, part of loving someone is trying to understand them

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 and trying to sort of understand and learn about what it's like to be them

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 and what they're walking through.

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 So I think we shouldn't just stay in a sort of, like, that's weird,

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 and I will never really understand that, and I'm just going to try to avoid that.

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 Now, that's not really a Christian posture of love, right?

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 So we want to try to go beyond that.

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 But we see in the coming of Christ, God's redemption being extended to all kinds of sinners

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 and all kinds of brokenness.

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 Now, okay, in light of this biblical story, how do we understand and respond to people

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 who experience gender dysphoria or who identify as transgender?

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 So a few books on this topic.

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 So this is a small little book, and it is where I would recommend any Christian begin

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 if you're trying to think through this issue.

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 So it's by Vaughn Roberts, who's a British pastor,

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 and there's copies of this on the bookstall.

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 Well, another book is by a Christian psychologist named Mark Yarhouse.

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 So this gets into more sort of clinical, psychological details.

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 He's counseled people with gender dysphoria.

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 There's a few areas where I wish he would be a little more clear on some of the boundaries

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 of sort of what is and isn't appropriate for Christians.

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 I think he leaves a few questions a little more open than I would want to,

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 but on the whole, I think there's a lot of good stuff in here.

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 And a third book is Andrew Walker, God and the Transgender Debate,

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 What Does the Bible Actually Say About Gender Identity?

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 And that covers sort of a broad variety of things.

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 But Yarhouse sort of outlines three common frameworks for understanding gender dysphoria.

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 And I think his frameworks are helpful, so I want to use this as a frame for this lesson.

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 So the first framework is the integrity framework,

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 and that sort of emphasizes God's design in creation, right?

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 Emphasizes sort of the first part of the biblical story.

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 The sacredness of humanity as created male and female.

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 And so in this framework, God made you male or female,

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 and so the encouragement is live into that.

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 Live according to that.

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 Express yourself in a way that's consistent with that.

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 I think there is biblical support for this view in both the Old and New Testaments.

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 God instructs the nation of Israel in the Old Testament and the Christian church in the New Testament

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 to preserve and reflect the goodness of the creation order, including male and female distinctions.

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 So the Old Testament specifically prohibited cross-dressing, sort of intentionally appearing as the opposite sex,

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 and also genital mutilation, which happens at some times in the ancient world.

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 So men were occasionally castrated because of a ritual of dedication to a pagan god

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 or because they had a special official position, that of a eunuch in the king's service,

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 and God wanted such practices to have no place among his people,

00:19:18.919 --> 00:19:24.639
 and he did not want that to become an accepted or common practice among the people of Israel.

00:19:24.640 --> 00:19:32.240
 So the New Testament reaffirms male-female distinctions,

00:19:32.360 --> 00:19:38.080
 even as it speaks powerfully to the unity and equal value and interdependence of men and women in Christ.

00:19:38.980 --> 00:19:42.100
 So Galatians 3.28 talks about how we share a common salvation.

00:19:42.300 --> 00:19:45.280
 Jew or Greek, slave or free, male and female are all one in Christ.

00:19:46.040 --> 00:19:49.120
 Now some people will quote that verse, Genesis 3.28,

00:19:49.119 --> 00:19:56.500
 and attempt to argue that Christians can get rid of or transcend, sort of rise above, the male-female binary.

00:19:56.979 --> 00:20:03.599
 And so Christians can embrace, you know, and fully approve of sort of a transgender identity,

00:20:04.079 --> 00:20:08.519
 and that should have an important place in the church, and that's just part of the whole spectrum.

00:20:09.079 --> 00:20:11.219
 But that's not Paul's intention in the verse.

00:20:11.220 --> 00:20:18.539
 And I think it's not consistent with sort of the encouragement that Scripture places

00:20:18.539 --> 00:20:21.819
 that being male or being female is a gift from God.

00:20:23.799 --> 00:20:27.880
 The New Testament de-emphasizes boundaries and distinctions based on race and class,

00:20:28.339 --> 00:20:32.019
 but in several places it affirms the abiding goodness of humanity as male and female.

00:20:32.019 --> 00:20:37.960
 So there's various passages that could be pointed to.

00:20:38.559 --> 00:20:42.819
 1 Corinthians 11 is sort of a sticky, thorny passage about head coverings.

00:20:42.940 --> 00:20:52.200
 But whatever the passage is teaching, it's encouraging people to sort of receive their maleness or femaleness as a gift from God

00:20:52.200 --> 00:20:56.819
 and to sort of express that sort of in appropriate signs.

00:20:56.819 --> 00:21:03.079
 So however you interpret the details of that, I think it supports the point.

00:21:03.179 --> 00:21:04.279
 There's other passages I've listed.

00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:09.240
 And most clearly, Jesus himself reaffirmed God's design of humanity as male and female.

00:21:09.519 --> 00:21:11.779
 It's not just Paul's teaching. Jesus did too.

00:21:12.799 --> 00:21:20.220
 But there's a second framework, not only the integrity framework, but second, the disability framework.

00:21:20.419 --> 00:21:22.599
 So this is another approach to gender dysphoria,

00:21:22.599 --> 00:21:28.099
 and it sees it as analogous to other forms of impairment that aren't voluntarily chosen, right?

00:21:28.159 --> 00:21:31.519
 Some people are born blind, are developed blindness over the course of their life.

00:21:31.919 --> 00:21:34.799
 Some people struggle with depression or other things.

00:21:34.959 --> 00:21:39.779
 And this view emphasizes we live in a fallen world, and because we are all fallen,

00:21:40.240 --> 00:21:44.019
 we should respond compassionately to people who experience gender dysphoria

00:21:44.019 --> 00:21:47.859
 and to seek to alleviate some of the misery and pain that they experience.

00:21:48.379 --> 00:21:51.679
 I think, again, we find biblical support for this view throughout the Bible.

00:21:52.599 --> 00:21:57.740
 So I've listed some verses particularly about eunuchs, right?

00:21:57.899 --> 00:22:01.959
 So eunuchs were people were most often, sometimes the word is used more broadly

00:22:01.959 --> 00:22:04.119
 to just defer to any official in the king's service,

00:22:04.399 --> 00:22:11.199
 but usually it was referred to a male who had been castrated for the sake of sort of,

00:22:11.579 --> 00:22:14.659
 so he would not have, so he could not get married, would not get married,

00:22:14.659 --> 00:22:18.079
 and could not produce children, and would not have any descendants,

00:22:18.079 --> 00:22:23.019
 and would be loyal only to the king and not to his sort of progeny.

00:22:24.220 --> 00:22:27.000
 And we saw how in the Old Testament, you know, God said,

00:22:27.079 --> 00:22:29.859
 no, don't practice castration.

00:22:30.059 --> 00:22:32.500
 That is not what God's people should be doing.

00:22:32.619 --> 00:22:38.220
 But in Isaiah we saw God promised that there would be a place in his house

00:22:38.220 --> 00:22:42.279
 even for eunuchs who choose what pleases me and hold fast my covenant.

00:22:42.279 --> 00:22:45.319
 But in the Old Covenant, that really was only a future hope.

00:22:45.759 --> 00:22:47.420
 It wasn't really a present reality.

00:22:49.319 --> 00:22:54.619
 And interestingly, Jesus refers to eunuchs in Matthew 19, 11, and 12.

00:22:55.339 --> 00:22:56.980
 Now, he's using the eunuch as a figure.

00:22:58.259 --> 00:23:02.119
 So what he said, now, but, you know, in Jesus' Jewish culture,

00:23:02.720 --> 00:23:08.440
 eunuchs were basically like, they were like lepers, like stay away from them.

00:23:08.440 --> 00:23:12.840
 Their, you know, their bodies do not reflect God's creational design.

00:23:13.279 --> 00:23:16.799
 They've been damaged, and so keep your distance.

00:23:17.700 --> 00:23:18.980
 They don't belong.

00:23:20.340 --> 00:23:23.920
 So I've included a quotation from Josephus and a Roman official, right?

00:23:24.180 --> 00:23:27.120
 So eunuchs, described eunuchs as,

00:23:27.259 --> 00:23:31.480
 exiles from the society of the human race, belonging neither to one sex nor the other.

00:23:32.200 --> 00:23:35.620
 And I think many people today who have an intersexual condition biologically

00:23:35.619 --> 00:23:40.679
 or who experience gender dysphoria and really feel like they're somehow trapped in the wrong body

00:23:40.679 --> 00:23:47.979
 have felt a similarly sort of deep and persistent sense of alienation and rejection and not belonging.

00:23:48.679 --> 00:23:51.199
 And I think their experience today may have some parallels

00:23:51.199 --> 00:23:55.500
 to how a castrated eunuch might have felt in the time of Jesus.

00:23:56.459 --> 00:24:00.039
 And in this context, I think Jesus' words are perhaps a bit surprising.

00:24:00.639 --> 00:24:03.279
 So first, Jesus says, there are eunuchs who have been so from birth.

00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:07.960
 Now, that certainly would include people born with an intersex condition.

00:24:09.200 --> 00:24:14.619
 So interestingly, you know, that is a rough one, right?

00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:22.940
 You know, imagine being born, and your genitals are sort of not typically male or female,

00:24:23.180 --> 00:24:29.139
 or just there's a sort of a, you know, there's a birth defect in that regard, right?

00:24:29.140 --> 00:24:35.259
 Anyway, these conditions are rare, but isn't it some comfort that the Lord himself acknowledges the reality

00:24:35.259 --> 00:24:38.820
 and the pain of an unwanted and unchosen condition?

00:24:40.980 --> 00:24:43.320
 Jesus continues, there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men.

00:24:43.560 --> 00:24:47.840
 Everybody knew that happened sometimes, and eunuchs were generally despised for that reason.

00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:51.740
 And then Jesus says, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven.

00:24:51.740 --> 00:24:54.339
 Now, Jesus isn't, again, Jesus isn't promoted.

00:24:54.620 --> 00:24:56.859
 Jesus is not using this as a literal thing.

00:24:56.940 --> 00:24:59.319
 He's not saying people should castrate themselves for the kingdom.

00:25:00.359 --> 00:25:04.120
 But he's pointing to the eunuch as a figure of Christian discipleship.

00:25:04.579 --> 00:25:07.680
 So there's a redemptive thrust here.

00:25:08.440 --> 00:25:12.359
 The eunuch wasn't just someone whose body was defective, whose body had been mutilated,

00:25:12.519 --> 00:25:16.140
 and therefore was excluded and undesirable and not redeemable.

00:25:16.140 --> 00:25:19.820
 No, the figure of the eunuch also embodied undivided devotion to the king,

00:25:19.940 --> 00:25:24.000
 and a eunuch's condition, though tragic and regrettable, could be redeemed through Christ.

00:25:24.620 --> 00:25:31.220
 And we see this in an actual person, not just in a figure of speech, in the book of Acts, right?

00:25:31.259 --> 00:25:36.340
 The Ethiopian eunuch is fully accepted into God's family through the saving work of Christ,

00:25:36.440 --> 00:25:41.340
 and he finds great joy when he's baptized along the road.

00:25:41.339 --> 00:25:48.779
 And so the gospel promise extends to individuals with an intersex condition and individuals with gender dysphoria.

00:25:50.199 --> 00:25:56.079
 Whoever surrenders to Christ belongs to him now and forever, and even our bodily defects and weaknesses.

00:25:56.819 --> 00:26:00.539
 When we surrender them to Christ and seek to live in accordance with his will,

00:26:00.919 --> 00:26:04.959
 can be redeemed and turned for God's good and wise purposes.

00:26:04.960 --> 00:26:15.400
 So I think this is an important sort of redemptive hope that Scripture extends to all people,

00:26:15.559 --> 00:26:19.779
 including people with an intersex condition or with gender dysphoria.

00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:26.079
 Now the third framework that Yarhouse talks about, that I think increasingly,

00:26:26.480 --> 00:26:29.620
 so the first framework is integrity, emphasizing God's creational intention.

00:26:29.819 --> 00:26:33.480
 Second framework, disability, that emphasizes sort of we live in a fallen world,

00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:34.500
 so we should be compassionate.

00:26:34.900 --> 00:26:36.539
 Third framework is diversity.

00:26:37.140 --> 00:26:43.640
 And sort of this is the dominant framework through which our society understands gender dysphoria

00:26:43.640 --> 00:26:45.400
 and transgender identity.

00:26:45.900 --> 00:26:49.200
 And really what it is, is it's a narrative of redemption,

00:26:49.400 --> 00:26:55.220
 but it's an alternative, non-biblical, sort of secular, sort of narrative of redemption.

00:26:55.220 --> 00:27:04.319
 So basically, it says that being transgender is one among many beautiful and individual expressions of gender.

00:27:04.779 --> 00:27:09.960
 It's important to affirm people in whatever their deeply felt gender identity may be,

00:27:10.299 --> 00:27:15.180
 in order to participate in their liberation from stigma, shame, and oppression.

00:27:16.279 --> 00:27:20.980
 Some of the results of that would be people should have access to medical treatment covered by insurance,

00:27:20.980 --> 00:27:25.860
 whether it's counseling or hormones or surgery, people should have the legal right to work at any job,

00:27:25.940 --> 00:27:30.779
 regardless of gender identity or expression, the ability to easily change the gender listed on their IDs,

00:27:31.360 --> 00:27:35.420
 and sort of broad social affirmation and approval of a transgender self-concept.

00:27:36.319 --> 00:27:44.000
 So that's the most common sort of, well, the most common view in, at least in large sectors of our society today.

00:27:44.059 --> 00:27:44.720
 Not everywhere.

00:27:44.720 --> 00:27:48.480
 But probably here in New Haven.

00:27:49.839 --> 00:27:52.559
 So how do we biblically evaluate this view?

00:27:53.380 --> 00:27:56.500
 Sort of, well, take note that in this view,

00:27:56.940 --> 00:28:00.740
 the most sacred principle is the autonomy of the individual

00:28:00.740 --> 00:28:05.160
 and whatever an individual most deeply feels about themselves.

00:28:06.420 --> 00:28:09.160
 Now this is sometimes called expressive individualism.

00:28:09.160 --> 00:28:15.820
 So it's the idea that your truest identity is not connected,

00:28:16.080 --> 00:28:19.440
 your truest identity is deep inside yourself.

00:28:19.940 --> 00:28:27.720
 So it's not inherently connected to your parents or your friends or the society that you live in

00:28:27.720 --> 00:28:30.000
 or the role that you find yourself in,

00:28:30.120 --> 00:28:32.580
 or even the body that you find yourself in.

00:28:32.579 --> 00:28:36.500
 Your deepest identity is something that only you can define,

00:28:37.240 --> 00:28:39.279
 and it's sort of only yours.

00:28:39.659 --> 00:28:41.679
 Sort of apart from everything else.

00:28:44.439 --> 00:28:49.299
 And there's a book by Charles Taylor called A Secular Age,

00:28:49.319 --> 00:28:50.839
 and he calls this the buffered self.

00:28:51.439 --> 00:28:54.419
 But it basically means yourself, your true self,

00:28:54.419 --> 00:29:02.319
 is sort of like, sort of, well, sort of protected from everything else.

00:29:02.579 --> 00:29:04.179
 Right? It's deep down inside yourself.

00:29:04.500 --> 00:29:04.619
 Right?

00:29:06.980 --> 00:29:08.859
 Now this is a very prominent view.

00:29:09.419 --> 00:29:11.480
 So one study found the following.

00:29:11.639 --> 00:29:15.980
 Eighty-four percent of Americans believe that enjoying yourself is the highest goal of life.

00:29:16.539 --> 00:29:18.819
 Eighty-six percent indicate that to enjoy yourself,

00:29:18.919 --> 00:29:21.059
 you must pursue the things you desire most.

00:29:21.419 --> 00:29:24.539
 And ninety-one percent say that to find yourself,

00:29:24.819 --> 00:29:25.919
 you should look within yourself.

00:29:26.399 --> 00:29:28.519
 And for American Christians, the numbers are

00:29:28.519 --> 00:29:32.159
 sixty-six percent, seventy-two percent, and seventy-six percent.

00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:35.720
 So seventy-six percent of American Christians say

00:29:35.720 --> 00:29:38.720
 that to find yourself, look within yourself.

00:29:39.759 --> 00:29:40.040
 Right?

00:29:40.320 --> 00:29:42.600
 So this is this view.

00:29:42.840 --> 00:29:43.140
 Right?

00:29:43.259 --> 00:29:46.259
 Which has become very widespread in our society

00:29:46.259 --> 00:29:48.680
 long before the last ten years

00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:50.800
 when a sort of transgender identity

00:29:50.800 --> 00:29:52.600
 has become a big public thing.

00:29:53.320 --> 00:29:53.620
 Right?

00:29:53.820 --> 00:29:55.720
 So this is a much bigger cultural phenomenon.

00:29:55.720 --> 00:29:58.120
 So the problem is,

00:29:58.279 --> 00:30:00.279
 that framework is deeply unbiblical.

00:30:01.779 --> 00:30:03.980
 Not simply because it affirms

00:30:03.980 --> 00:30:06.059
 non-biblical gender identity,

00:30:06.220 --> 00:30:08.299
 but more fundamentally because it idolizes

00:30:08.299 --> 00:30:10.960
 the individual and our internal self-concept

00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:13.480
 as the source of our truest identity.

00:30:13.480 --> 00:30:16.039
 So I think we need to step back

00:30:16.039 --> 00:30:16.860
 and sort of say,

00:30:17.039 --> 00:30:20.000
 how do we engage with this broader assumption

00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:22.360
 that has just become, like,

00:30:24.220 --> 00:30:27.819
 even more widely accepted than being transgender?

00:30:28.420 --> 00:30:28.640
 Right?

00:30:28.720 --> 00:30:31.420
 This assumption is far more widely,

00:30:31.620 --> 00:30:32.819
 is even more widely accepted

00:30:32.819 --> 00:30:34.720
 than the specific issue we're talking about.

00:30:35.220 --> 00:30:37.000
 And how do we examine ourselves

00:30:37.000 --> 00:30:39.539
 to see whether we have bought into this

00:30:39.539 --> 00:30:40.579
 at some level or other?

00:30:40.579 --> 00:30:42.179
 And what's the alternative?

00:30:42.539 --> 00:30:43.199
 Biblically, right?

00:30:43.419 --> 00:30:46.379
 So many people embrace this idea

00:30:46.379 --> 00:30:47.939
 of sort of expressive individualism

00:30:47.939 --> 00:30:48.980
 or sort of your true self

00:30:48.980 --> 00:30:50.199
 is only deep inside yourself

00:30:50.199 --> 00:30:52.299
 because they're reacting to negative experiences

00:30:52.299 --> 00:30:54.879
 or perceptions of more traditional sources of identity.

00:30:55.079 --> 00:30:56.299
 So in traditional societies,

00:30:56.679 --> 00:30:58.720
 your identity does not come from deep within yourself.

00:30:59.119 --> 00:31:00.699
 Your identity comes from your family

00:31:00.699 --> 00:31:01.879
 or your society,

00:31:02.279 --> 00:31:04.519
 your position in a hierarchical society,

00:31:04.919 --> 00:31:06.759
 and your role, your social role.

00:31:07.279 --> 00:31:08.679
 And so many people look at that

00:31:08.679 --> 00:31:09.099
 and they're like,

00:31:09.099 --> 00:31:09.899
 that's oppressive,

00:31:09.899 --> 00:31:12.259
 or I've experienced that as oppressive.

00:31:13.399 --> 00:31:14.859
 Some, in many societies,

00:31:14.939 --> 00:31:16.319
 those roles can be very rigid,

00:31:16.839 --> 00:31:18.939
 especially roles about gender and family.

00:31:20.859 --> 00:31:22.539
 You know, many people,

00:31:23.079 --> 00:31:24.559
 even in our society today,

00:31:24.980 --> 00:31:27.099
 have been sexually abused, right?

00:31:27.199 --> 00:31:28.599
 So that's just one example

00:31:28.599 --> 00:31:30.359
 where people sort of would say,

00:31:30.719 --> 00:31:33.459
 that's a violation of who I am,

00:31:33.759 --> 00:31:34.859
 and so, you know,

00:31:34.939 --> 00:31:36.039
 who am I really?

00:31:36.039 --> 00:31:38.980
 Well, it can't be determined by sort of

00:31:38.980 --> 00:31:41.659
 what other people have done to me

00:31:41.659 --> 00:31:43.359
 or other people around me.

00:31:44.960 --> 00:31:48.440
 Now, Christians should share these concerns, right?

00:31:48.920 --> 00:31:51.579
 And the Bible is not actually promoting

00:31:51.579 --> 00:31:55.039
 sort of these sort of traditional sources of identity

00:31:55.039 --> 00:31:57.480
 as the end-all, be-all, right?

00:31:57.480 --> 00:32:00.180
 And the Bible actually affirms the value of the individual

00:32:00.180 --> 00:32:02.099
 as an image-bearer of God.

00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:04.259
 So the Bible actually,

00:32:05.460 --> 00:32:06.740
 you know, in traditional societies,

00:32:07.200 --> 00:32:08.160
 you know, particularly Jesus,

00:32:08.200 --> 00:32:09.539
 Jesus says to his disciples,

00:32:10.039 --> 00:32:11.059
 you know, you have to be willing

00:32:11.059 --> 00:32:12.539
 to leave

00:32:12.539 --> 00:32:14.640
 mother and father

00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:15.759
 to follow me.

00:32:16.160 --> 00:32:17.240
 In a traditional society,

00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:18.000
 that's heresy.

00:32:18.240 --> 00:32:19.299
 That's like, what?

00:32:19.759 --> 00:32:21.019
 Like, you know,

00:32:21.180 --> 00:32:22.819
 that's leaving your true identity

00:32:22.819 --> 00:32:24.159
 to follow Jesus.

00:32:25.659 --> 00:32:26.599
 And, right, so,

00:32:26.799 --> 00:32:30.079
 you know,

00:32:30.159 --> 00:32:31.480
 we can agree, right,

00:32:31.559 --> 00:32:32.399
 sometimes traditional

00:32:32.399 --> 00:32:33.359
 sort of identity

00:32:33.359 --> 00:32:34.139
 can fail to honor

00:32:34.139 --> 00:32:34.819
 how God has made

00:32:34.819 --> 00:32:35.740
 each particular person.

00:32:35.879 --> 00:32:36.220
 But,

00:32:36.639 --> 00:32:37.759
 I think there's also a problem

00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:40.039
 with the modern idea

00:32:40.039 --> 00:32:41.379
 that your true self

00:32:41.379 --> 00:32:42.859
 is sort of

00:32:42.859 --> 00:32:43.700
 hidden deep

00:32:43.700 --> 00:32:44.500
 with inside yourself

00:32:44.500 --> 00:32:45.839
 and only you can access that

00:32:45.839 --> 00:32:47.039
 and only you can define that

00:32:47.039 --> 00:32:47.939
 and only you can discern

00:32:47.939 --> 00:32:48.599
 what that is.

00:32:48.599 --> 00:32:51.519
 because what do we find

00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:52.240
 when we look deep

00:32:52.240 --> 00:32:53.099
 inside ourselves?

00:32:54.119 --> 00:32:54.439
 Well,

00:32:55.079 --> 00:32:55.639
 we find

00:32:55.639 --> 00:32:56.759
 our desires

00:32:56.759 --> 00:32:57.779
 are constantly competing.

00:32:58.980 --> 00:32:59.159
 Okay,

00:32:59.259 --> 00:32:59.980
 obvious example,

00:33:00.619 --> 00:33:01.459
 I want to be healthy

00:33:01.459 --> 00:33:02.519
 and in shape

00:33:02.519 --> 00:33:04.099
 and I really like ice cream.

00:33:04.779 --> 00:33:06.099
 I could eat ice cream

00:33:06.099 --> 00:33:06.859
 every night.

00:33:07.579 --> 00:33:08.039
 You know,

00:33:08.259 --> 00:33:08.539
 like,

00:33:08.859 --> 00:33:10.019
 sometimes after my kids

00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:10.519
 go to bed,

00:33:10.899 --> 00:33:11.819
 I don't have anybody

00:33:11.819 --> 00:33:13.039
 who's going to be clamoring

00:33:13.039 --> 00:33:14.059
 to share it with me

00:33:14.059 --> 00:33:14.819
 and,

00:33:15.240 --> 00:33:15.619
 man,

00:33:15.919 --> 00:33:17.679
 I enjoy that.

00:33:17.839 --> 00:33:18.199
 Chocolate,

00:33:18.200 --> 00:33:18.620
 whatever,

00:33:18.920 --> 00:33:19.160
 right?

00:33:20.019 --> 00:33:21.360
 Those are competing desires.

00:33:23.140 --> 00:33:23.539
 Or,

00:33:23.660 --> 00:33:24.400
 I want to have integrity

00:33:24.400 --> 00:33:25.140
 and character

00:33:25.140 --> 00:33:26.740
 but I also want to succeed

00:33:26.740 --> 00:33:27.420
 in this world

00:33:27.420 --> 00:33:28.039
 and sometimes

00:33:28.039 --> 00:33:28.500
 there's going to be

00:33:28.500 --> 00:33:29.160
 a tension there,

00:33:30.000 --> 00:33:30.279
 right?

00:33:30.980 --> 00:33:31.700
 Which one of those

00:33:31.700 --> 00:33:32.319
 do I prioritize?

00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:32.720
 I want to,

00:33:32.880 --> 00:33:33.819
 I have impulses

00:33:33.819 --> 00:33:34.580
 toward being aggressive

00:33:34.580 --> 00:33:35.880
 and I have impulses

00:33:35.880 --> 00:33:36.680
 toward being sensitive.

00:33:39.080 --> 00:33:39.980
 We also find

00:33:39.980 --> 00:33:40.519
 that our desires

00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:41.580
 are constantly changing,

00:33:42.319 --> 00:33:42.580
 right?

00:33:42.620 --> 00:33:43.740
 Why do people stress out

00:33:43.740 --> 00:33:44.759
 about decisions often

00:33:44.759 --> 00:33:45.620
 because we don't even

00:33:45.620 --> 00:33:46.460
 know what we want,

00:33:47.460 --> 00:33:47.700
 right?

00:33:47.700 --> 00:33:48.259
 And our desires

00:33:48.259 --> 00:33:49.220
 are constantly changing.

00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:49.860
 We don't know what

00:33:49.860 --> 00:33:51.000
 we really want to prioritize.

00:33:51.700 --> 00:33:51.860
 You know,

00:33:51.900 --> 00:33:52.660
 it's not just that

00:33:52.660 --> 00:33:54.319
 decisions are hard

00:33:54.319 --> 00:33:55.220
 to sort of work

00:33:55.220 --> 00:33:55.960
 through logistically.

00:33:56.160 --> 00:33:56.860
 Sometimes we just

00:33:56.860 --> 00:33:57.240
 don't even know

00:33:57.240 --> 00:33:57.799
 what we want.

00:33:59.340 --> 00:34:00.500
 And then how we do,

00:34:00.620 --> 00:34:01.500
 how we prioritize

00:34:01.500 --> 00:34:02.680
 our constantly competing

00:34:02.680 --> 00:34:03.559
 and changing desires

00:34:03.559 --> 00:34:04.120
 is affected

00:34:04.120 --> 00:34:05.120
 by our society.

00:34:05.640 --> 00:34:06.080
 So,

00:34:06.620 --> 00:34:08.019
 take the impulses

00:34:08.019 --> 00:34:08.659
 toward aggression

00:34:08.659 --> 00:34:09.900
 and toward sensitivity,

00:34:10.579 --> 00:34:10.940
 okay?

00:34:10.940 --> 00:34:12.300
 I have some Scandinavian

00:34:12.300 --> 00:34:12.700
 heritage,

00:34:12.700 --> 00:34:14.039
 so I like to imagine

00:34:14.039 --> 00:34:14.639
 that I have some

00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:15.420
 Viking ancestors.

00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:15.980
 I don't know

00:34:15.980 --> 00:34:16.720
 whether I really do,

00:34:17.079 --> 00:34:18.119
 but say one of my

00:34:18.119 --> 00:34:19.000
 Viking ancestors,

00:34:19.900 --> 00:34:21.039
 he would feel like,

00:34:21.360 --> 00:34:21.639
 ah,

00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:22.500
 the aggression

00:34:22.500 --> 00:34:23.500
 is me.

00:34:23.720 --> 00:34:24.460
 Of course,

00:34:24.820 --> 00:34:25.539
 that's how,

00:34:25.700 --> 00:34:25.960
 you know,

00:34:26.039 --> 00:34:27.440
 I'm going to embrace

00:34:27.440 --> 00:34:28.039
 that impulse

00:34:28.039 --> 00:34:28.599
 toward aggression

00:34:28.599 --> 00:34:30.039
 and resist the impulse

00:34:30.039 --> 00:34:30.800
 toward sensitivity,

00:34:31.380 --> 00:34:31.960
 okay?

00:34:31.960 --> 00:34:32.599
 If you're a young

00:34:32.599 --> 00:34:33.780
 professional dude today,

00:34:33.960 --> 00:34:35.360
 you will be taught

00:34:35.360 --> 00:34:36.519
 to resist that

00:34:36.519 --> 00:34:37.460
 impulse toward aggression

00:34:37.460 --> 00:34:39.139
 and maybe go to therapy

00:34:39.139 --> 00:34:40.019
 for anger management,

00:34:40.559 --> 00:34:40.860
 right?

00:34:40.940 --> 00:34:41.820
 And embrace your

00:34:41.820 --> 00:34:43.220
 sensitive side,

00:34:43.360 --> 00:34:44.780
 relational side,

00:34:44.940 --> 00:34:45.240
 right?

00:34:45.699 --> 00:34:46.000
 Like,

00:34:46.380 --> 00:34:48.400
 these things are very

00:34:48.400 --> 00:34:49.619
 socially sort of

00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:50.280
 influenced.

00:34:51.360 --> 00:34:51.659
 And so,

00:34:51.740 --> 00:34:52.079
 currently,

00:34:52.199 --> 00:34:53.039
 our social context

00:34:53.039 --> 00:34:53.679
 is increasingly

00:34:53.679 --> 00:34:54.780
 encouraging people

00:34:54.780 --> 00:34:56.480
 to define their own

00:34:56.480 --> 00:34:57.320
 gender and sexual

00:34:57.320 --> 00:34:58.340
 identity based on

00:34:58.340 --> 00:34:59.059
 how they feel

00:34:59.059 --> 00:34:59.639
 internally,

00:35:00.059 --> 00:35:00.800
 apart from any

00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:01.579
 external guiding

00:35:01.579 --> 00:35:02.260
 principles,

00:35:02.940 --> 00:35:04.980
 except for not

00:35:04.980 --> 00:35:05.740
 violating someone

00:35:05.740 --> 00:35:06.119
 else,

00:35:06.119 --> 00:35:07.819
 someone else's

00:35:07.819 --> 00:35:08.819
 ability to do that,

00:35:08.900 --> 00:35:09.579
 and even apart

00:35:09.579 --> 00:35:10.079
 from the given

00:35:10.079 --> 00:35:10.920
 structure of their

00:35:10.920 --> 00:35:11.679
 physical body.

00:35:11.859 --> 00:35:12.019
 So,

00:35:12.380 --> 00:35:12.679
 again,

00:35:12.739 --> 00:35:13.359
 this is evidenced

00:35:13.359 --> 00:35:14.019
 by how many

00:35:14.019 --> 00:35:14.920
 different names

00:35:14.920 --> 00:35:15.639
 there are,

00:35:15.880 --> 00:35:16.179
 and sort of

00:35:16.179 --> 00:35:18.019
 constantly developing

00:35:18.019 --> 00:35:19.920
 names for sort of

00:35:19.920 --> 00:35:20.599
 gender and sexual

00:35:20.599 --> 00:35:21.119
 identities.

00:35:22.639 --> 00:35:23.440
 Facebook got to

00:35:23.440 --> 00:35:24.519
 71 gender options

00:35:24.519 --> 00:35:25.219
 and then they just

00:35:25.219 --> 00:35:26.139
 added a fill-in-the-blank

00:35:26.139 --> 00:35:26.519
 option.

00:35:27.839 --> 00:35:28.960
 But this can be

00:35:28.960 --> 00:35:29.920
 deeply confusing

00:35:29.920 --> 00:35:31.319
 and anxiety-producing.

00:35:31.440 --> 00:35:31.559
 I mean,

00:35:31.599 --> 00:35:32.880
 we live in a society

00:35:32.880 --> 00:35:33.920
 with the highest

00:35:33.920 --> 00:35:35.779
 rates of anxiety,

00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:37.579
 probably in the

00:35:37.579 --> 00:35:37.960
 history of the

00:35:37.960 --> 00:35:38.239
 world,

00:35:38.900 --> 00:35:40.299
 even though the

00:35:40.299 --> 00:35:40.980
 level of physical

00:35:40.980 --> 00:35:42.159
 dangers in our

00:35:42.159 --> 00:35:42.900
 society is much

00:35:42.900 --> 00:35:44.659
 lower than in

00:35:44.659 --> 00:35:46.139
 many other parts

00:35:46.139 --> 00:35:46.420
 of the world

00:35:46.420 --> 00:35:46.940
 and many places

00:35:46.940 --> 00:35:47.380
 in history.

00:35:48.719 --> 00:35:49.199
 So,

00:35:49.400 --> 00:35:50.339
 I think there's a

00:35:50.339 --> 00:35:51.179
 lot of anxiety

00:35:51.179 --> 00:35:51.980
 and a burden

00:35:51.980 --> 00:35:52.819
 that we place on

00:35:52.819 --> 00:35:54.619
 ourselves when we

00:35:54.619 --> 00:35:55.639
 feel like our

00:35:55.639 --> 00:35:56.460
 true identity is

00:35:56.460 --> 00:35:57.119
 something that only

00:35:57.119 --> 00:35:57.859
 we can define

00:35:57.859 --> 00:35:58.539
 within ourselves

00:35:58.539 --> 00:35:59.159
 because deep

00:35:59.159 --> 00:35:59.699
 within ourselves

00:35:59.699 --> 00:36:00.539
 we don't truly

00:36:00.539 --> 00:36:01.440
 find ourselves.

00:36:01.440 --> 00:36:06.740
 one author who

00:36:06.740 --> 00:36:07.559
 I don't think is a

00:36:07.559 --> 00:36:08.119
 Christian wrote,

00:36:08.500 --> 00:36:09.220
 my sense of self

00:36:09.220 --> 00:36:10.320
 comes from myself,

00:36:10.900 --> 00:36:11.619
 that can't be

00:36:11.619 --> 00:36:11.940
 right.

00:36:13.099 --> 00:36:13.260
 Right?

00:36:13.380 --> 00:36:14.019
 And especially if

00:36:14.019 --> 00:36:14.579
 you're trying to

00:36:14.579 --> 00:36:15.240
 find out who you

00:36:15.240 --> 00:36:15.900
 are and then you

00:36:15.900 --> 00:36:16.720
 feel, I'm trying to

00:36:16.720 --> 00:36:17.559
 find out who I am,

00:36:18.019 --> 00:36:18.820
 but I have to look

00:36:18.820 --> 00:36:19.500
 deeper into myself

00:36:19.500 --> 00:36:20.220
 to find out who I

00:36:20.220 --> 00:36:20.760
 am, but within

00:36:20.760 --> 00:36:21.360
 myself I don't

00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:22.000
 really know who I

00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:24.019
 am, doesn't that

00:36:24.019 --> 00:36:24.679
 become an endless

00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:25.139
 cycle?

00:36:26.300 --> 00:36:26.599
 Right?

00:36:26.740 --> 00:36:28.019
 Or whenever we

00:36:28.019 --> 00:36:28.840
 attach ourselves to

00:36:28.840 --> 00:36:29.420
 some idea of who

00:36:29.420 --> 00:36:31.139
 we are, then that

00:36:31.139 --> 00:36:31.760
 might change down

00:36:31.760 --> 00:36:32.180
 the road.

00:36:33.360 --> 00:36:34.360
 And so this is the

00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:34.740
 world that we're

00:36:34.740 --> 00:36:35.880
 living in.

00:36:37.420 --> 00:36:41.019
 And it can be a

00:36:41.019 --> 00:36:41.619
 big burden because

00:36:41.619 --> 00:36:42.840
 if nothing else can

00:36:42.840 --> 00:36:43.940
 give us our self

00:36:43.940 --> 00:36:44.840
 worth, if nobody

00:36:44.840 --> 00:36:45.700
 else can sort of

00:36:45.700 --> 00:36:46.920
 bestow that upon

00:36:46.920 --> 00:36:48.680
 us, then we have

00:36:48.680 --> 00:36:50.019
 to achieve that

00:36:50.019 --> 00:36:51.000
 all alone.

00:36:51.860 --> 00:36:52.639
 And that can be a

00:36:52.639 --> 00:36:54.400
 crushing burden if

00:36:54.400 --> 00:36:56.760
 we really think

00:36:56.760 --> 00:36:57.920
 about how do I

00:36:57.920 --> 00:36:59.260
 convince myself

00:36:59.260 --> 00:37:01.120
 that I am deeply

00:37:01.120 --> 00:37:03.060
 worth something

00:37:03.060 --> 00:37:06.120
 without anyone

00:37:06.120 --> 00:37:07.040
 else who can

00:37:07.040 --> 00:37:08.680
 truly sort of

00:37:08.680 --> 00:37:09.580
 give me that

00:37:09.580 --> 00:37:10.480
 verdict that I'm

00:37:10.480 --> 00:37:11.020
 longing for.

00:37:13.140 --> 00:37:14.080
 So I think as

00:37:14.080 --> 00:37:15.420
 Christians we need

00:37:15.420 --> 00:37:17.500
 to realize the,

00:37:17.920 --> 00:37:18.480
 recognize what

00:37:18.480 --> 00:37:19.720
 attracts people to

00:37:19.720 --> 00:37:21.220
 sort of this

00:37:21.220 --> 00:37:21.940
 framework, right?

00:37:22.000 --> 00:37:22.600
 There's a hunger

00:37:22.600 --> 00:37:23.600
 for identity, who

00:37:23.600 --> 00:37:24.160
 am I?

00:37:24.640 --> 00:37:24.860
 Right?

00:37:24.920 --> 00:37:25.420
 That's a question

00:37:25.420 --> 00:37:26.060
 every human being

00:37:26.060 --> 00:37:26.620
 is dealing with.

00:37:26.860 --> 00:37:27.380
 And community,

00:37:27.520 --> 00:37:28.360
 where do I belong?

00:37:28.360 --> 00:37:29.320
 And redemption,

00:37:29.539 --> 00:37:30.099
 is there meaning

00:37:30.099 --> 00:37:30.920
 to my suffering?

00:37:31.680 --> 00:37:32.420
 Is there meaning

00:37:32.420 --> 00:37:33.079
 to my pain?

00:37:33.940 --> 00:37:34.840
 Those are questions

00:37:34.840 --> 00:37:35.640
 that everybody's

00:37:35.640 --> 00:37:36.420
 wrestling with.

00:37:36.460 --> 00:37:38.099
 And I think as

00:37:38.099 --> 00:37:38.780
 Christians we need

00:37:38.780 --> 00:37:40.800
 to both be seeking

00:37:40.800 --> 00:37:42.280
 Christ and how he

00:37:42.280 --> 00:37:43.420
 speaks to those

00:37:43.420 --> 00:37:44.500
 deepest needs and

00:37:44.500 --> 00:37:45.460
 desires and

00:37:45.460 --> 00:37:46.340
 presenting Christ to

00:37:46.340 --> 00:37:46.820
 people who are

00:37:46.820 --> 00:37:47.620
 struggling with those

00:37:47.620 --> 00:37:48.380
 questions.

00:37:49.220 --> 00:37:49.440
 Right?

00:37:49.519 --> 00:37:49.940
 We find our

00:37:49.940 --> 00:37:51.500
 truest selves, not

00:37:51.500 --> 00:37:52.440
 only within ourselves,

00:37:52.579 --> 00:37:53.440
 not only from our

00:37:53.440 --> 00:37:54.960
 society, but in

00:37:54.960 --> 00:37:55.519
 being known and

00:37:55.519 --> 00:37:56.219
 loved by God.

00:37:57.079 --> 00:37:58.099
 And then through

00:37:58.099 --> 00:37:58.719
 the means that

00:37:58.719 --> 00:37:59.420
 God has provided,

00:37:59.559 --> 00:38:00.619
 through God's

00:38:00.619 --> 00:38:01.259
 people and God's

00:38:01.259 --> 00:38:02.259
 family around us,

00:38:02.639 --> 00:38:03.619
 and through his

00:38:03.619 --> 00:38:04.440
 word and through

00:38:04.440 --> 00:38:05.699
 just sort of who

00:38:05.699 --> 00:38:06.420
 God has made us

00:38:06.420 --> 00:38:06.739
 to be.

00:38:09.699 --> 00:38:10.500
 All right, let me

00:38:10.500 --> 00:38:11.119
 do this next

00:38:11.119 --> 00:38:11.400
 section.

00:38:11.500 --> 00:38:12.579
 I'm going to skip

00:38:12.579 --> 00:38:13.659
 the end for next

00:38:13.659 --> 00:38:14.000
 week.

00:38:14.860 --> 00:38:15.840
 How ought we to

00:38:15.840 --> 00:38:16.559
 approach a Christian

00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:17.019
 who has an

00:38:17.019 --> 00:38:17.759
 intersex condition,

00:38:17.840 --> 00:38:18.239
 who has an

00:38:18.239 --> 00:38:18.639
 experience gender

00:38:18.639 --> 00:38:19.059
 dysphoria?

00:38:19.259 --> 00:38:19.900
 Now next week we'll

00:38:19.900 --> 00:38:20.579
 talk more about how

00:38:20.579 --> 00:38:21.179
 we relate to our

00:38:21.179 --> 00:38:23.159
 neighbors who identify

00:38:23.159 --> 00:38:27.219
 as LGBT or

00:38:27.219 --> 00:38:28.399
 intersex or other

00:38:28.399 --> 00:38:31.319
 identities.

00:38:32.059 --> 00:38:33.659
 But let me just

00:38:33.659 --> 00:38:34.199
 speak briefly.

00:38:34.399 --> 00:38:35.219
 How do we approach

00:38:35.219 --> 00:38:35.779
 a Christian who

00:38:35.779 --> 00:38:36.339
 might have one of

00:38:36.339 --> 00:38:36.799
 these conditions?

00:38:36.899 --> 00:38:37.679
 So first, we

00:38:37.679 --> 00:38:38.299
 shouldn't withdraw

00:38:38.299 --> 00:38:39.259
 even if it's hard

00:38:39.259 --> 00:38:40.000
 to understand or

00:38:40.000 --> 00:38:40.539
 empathize with

00:38:40.539 --> 00:38:41.239
 their experience.

00:38:42.099 --> 00:38:42.679
 People who are

00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:43.219
 bearing difficult

00:38:43.219 --> 00:38:43.819
 burdens will need

00:38:43.819 --> 00:38:44.599
 extra care and love

00:38:44.599 --> 00:38:45.139
 from the body of

00:38:45.139 --> 00:38:45.920
 Christ, not less.

00:38:46.819 --> 00:38:47.819
 Second, we should

00:38:47.819 --> 00:38:48.759
 affirm and encourage

00:38:48.759 --> 00:38:49.539
 the goodness of how

00:38:49.539 --> 00:38:50.219
 God has made them

00:38:50.219 --> 00:38:50.920
 as male or female,

00:38:51.059 --> 00:38:51.599
 especially in ways

00:38:51.599 --> 00:38:51.940
 that they can

00:38:51.940 --> 00:38:52.420
 receive.

00:38:53.159 --> 00:38:54.799
 you know, I

00:38:54.799 --> 00:38:55.199
 think it's best

00:38:55.199 --> 00:38:55.719
 to sort of start

00:38:55.719 --> 00:38:56.960
 with what somebody

00:38:56.960 --> 00:38:58.659
 can sort of receive

00:38:58.659 --> 00:39:01.480
 and accept and

00:39:01.480 --> 00:39:02.679
 sort of affirming

00:39:02.679 --> 00:39:04.219
 their maleness or

00:39:04.219 --> 00:39:05.000
 femaleness in that

00:39:05.000 --> 00:39:05.259
 way.

00:39:05.739 --> 00:39:06.599
 We should resist.

00:39:06.779 --> 00:39:07.920
 I think sometimes

00:39:07.920 --> 00:39:10.960
 there are sort of

00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:12.839
 very rigid stereotypes

00:39:12.839 --> 00:39:14.259
 of what it means to

00:39:14.259 --> 00:39:15.299
 be male or female

00:39:15.299 --> 00:39:17.679
 that sort of actually

00:39:17.679 --> 00:39:19.059
 reinforce this idea

00:39:19.059 --> 00:39:21.179
 that, well, I'm not

00:39:21.179 --> 00:39:22.460
 really in the right

00:39:22.460 --> 00:39:23.139
 body.

00:39:23.679 --> 00:39:25.260
 And so I think in

00:39:25.260 --> 00:39:25.760
 the church we need

00:39:25.760 --> 00:39:26.720
 to be careful not

00:39:26.720 --> 00:39:28.800
 to sort of add

00:39:28.800 --> 00:39:30.940
 unbiblical stereotypes

00:39:30.940 --> 00:39:32.760
 to what the Bible

00:39:32.760 --> 00:39:33.679
 actually says about

00:39:33.679 --> 00:39:34.579
 the gift of being

00:39:34.579 --> 00:39:35.220
 male and female.

00:39:37.599 --> 00:39:38.340
 We should care for

00:39:38.340 --> 00:39:38.940
 the whole person

00:39:38.940 --> 00:39:39.900
 and not fixate only

00:39:39.900 --> 00:39:40.480
 on their gender

00:39:40.480 --> 00:39:41.639
 identity, right?

00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:42.539
 Maybe somebody is,

00:39:42.860 --> 00:39:43.300
 you know, especially

00:39:43.300 --> 00:39:45.019
 if somebody's suicidal,

00:39:45.639 --> 00:39:45.920
 right?

00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:47.400
 Maybe the, maybe,

00:39:47.639 --> 00:39:49.240
 maybe, well, okay,

00:39:49.300 --> 00:39:51.180
 let's talk about

00:39:51.180 --> 00:39:53.780
 it's God has a purpose

00:39:53.780 --> 00:39:55.320
 for you to live.

00:39:56.180 --> 00:39:58.079
 You know, maybe there's,

00:39:58.460 --> 00:39:59.599
 you need to just sort of

00:39:59.599 --> 00:40:00.280
 put the conversation

00:40:00.280 --> 00:40:01.260
 about gender identity

00:40:01.260 --> 00:40:02.680
 on the shelf and

00:40:02.680 --> 00:40:03.880
 there's another more

00:40:03.880 --> 00:40:06.300
 pressing concern.

00:40:06.300 --> 00:40:11.580
 And then what if a

00:40:11.580 --> 00:40:12.460
 transgender identifying

00:40:12.460 --> 00:40:13.460
 individual comes to

00:40:13.460 --> 00:40:14.140
 faith in Christ?

00:40:14.480 --> 00:40:15.460
 That will likely be a

00:40:15.460 --> 00:40:16.280
 complicated process,

00:40:16.280 --> 00:40:16.920
 but there are people

00:40:16.920 --> 00:40:17.420
 who have.

00:40:18.720 --> 00:40:21.160
 So one man's name

00:40:21.160 --> 00:40:22.080
 is Walt Heyer.

00:40:22.340 --> 00:40:23.400
 So he went through

00:40:23.400 --> 00:40:24.400
 a transgender surgery.

00:40:24.539 --> 00:40:25.019
 He was initially

00:40:25.019 --> 00:40:26.440
 very excited about it,

00:40:26.539 --> 00:40:28.160
 sort of, and identifying

00:40:28.160 --> 00:40:28.780
 as a woman.

00:40:29.580 --> 00:40:30.720
 A few years later,

00:40:30.800 --> 00:40:31.440
 regretted it.

00:40:31.440 --> 00:40:32.400
 And eight years later,

00:40:32.480 --> 00:40:33.840
 ended up going back

00:40:33.840 --> 00:40:35.059
 to his birth sex

00:40:35.059 --> 00:40:36.019
 identity as a male.

00:40:36.860 --> 00:40:37.720
 He's written some books.

00:40:38.140 --> 00:40:38.780
 If you Google him,

00:40:38.820 --> 00:40:40.300
 you can find references

00:40:40.300 --> 00:40:41.220
 to some articles he's

00:40:41.220 --> 00:40:41.720
 written about his

00:40:41.720 --> 00:40:42.260
 experience.

00:40:44.380 --> 00:40:47.340
 So let me open it up

00:40:47.340 --> 00:40:48.260
 for questions since,

00:40:48.840 --> 00:40:49.660
 as usual, I'm running

00:40:49.660 --> 00:40:49.960
 late.

00:40:50.820 --> 00:40:52.820
 But we've got seven

00:40:52.820 --> 00:40:53.200
 minutes.

00:40:54.840 --> 00:40:55.280
 Peter.

00:40:56.900 --> 00:40:58.559
 When you were writing

00:40:58.559 --> 00:41:00.160
 up that section on

00:41:00.160 --> 00:41:01.840
 the statistics about

00:41:01.840 --> 00:41:02.840
 how people embrace

00:41:02.840 --> 00:41:04.400
 embrace the idea

00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:05.480
 that individuality

00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:06.180
 is sort of the

00:41:06.180 --> 00:41:06.800
 highest calling

00:41:06.800 --> 00:41:07.220
 and the thing

00:41:07.220 --> 00:41:07.740
 that we should

00:41:07.740 --> 00:41:08.940
 reach for,

00:41:09.720 --> 00:41:10.500
 it immediately

00:41:10.500 --> 00:41:12.320
 resonated with me

00:41:12.320 --> 00:41:13.480
 in regard to

00:41:13.480 --> 00:41:15.400
 Satan's sort of

00:41:15.400 --> 00:41:16.539
 manipulation of

00:41:16.539 --> 00:41:17.240
 Adam and Eve,

00:41:17.760 --> 00:41:18.720
 what they promised

00:41:18.720 --> 00:41:19.200
 them.

00:41:19.760 --> 00:41:20.100
 And then it was

00:41:20.100 --> 00:41:20.460
 kind of making

00:41:20.460 --> 00:41:21.380
 correlations with

00:41:21.380 --> 00:41:22.200
 how we as

00:41:22.200 --> 00:41:23.120
 Christians understand

00:41:23.120 --> 00:41:24.000
 what it means that

00:41:24.000 --> 00:41:25.360
 right now he's the

00:41:25.360 --> 00:41:26.200
 prince of the

00:41:26.200 --> 00:41:26.860
 power of the air.

00:41:27.120 --> 00:41:28.140
 And also thinking

00:41:28.140 --> 00:41:28.800
 about the church of

00:41:28.800 --> 00:41:30.039
 Satan, which

00:41:30.039 --> 00:41:30.880
 obviously is small

00:41:30.880 --> 00:41:31.880
 and we like to

00:41:31.880 --> 00:41:32.519
 think fairly

00:41:32.519 --> 00:41:33.380
 insignificant, but

00:41:33.380 --> 00:41:34.420
 still the main

00:41:34.420 --> 00:41:34.840
 thing that they

00:41:34.840 --> 00:41:36.320
 preach is not a

00:41:36.320 --> 00:41:37.900
 literal hell, literal

00:41:37.900 --> 00:41:38.640
 God and the devil,

00:41:38.780 --> 00:41:40.220
 but worship of self.

00:41:40.660 --> 00:41:43.960
 Do you see a thread

00:41:43.960 --> 00:41:44.619
 running through all

00:41:44.619 --> 00:41:45.619
 those things and do

00:41:45.619 --> 00:41:46.240
 you think that that

00:41:46.240 --> 00:41:48.220
 should kind of inform

00:41:48.220 --> 00:41:50.980
 us as we kind of

00:41:50.980 --> 00:41:52.519
 form our attitudes

00:41:52.519 --> 00:41:53.599
 towards how we're

00:41:53.599 --> 00:41:54.280
 going to be thinking

00:41:54.280 --> 00:41:55.079
 about this issue?

00:41:55.660 --> 00:41:55.880
 Yeah.

00:41:56.320 --> 00:41:56.519
 Yeah.

00:41:56.519 --> 00:41:57.320
 Well, I mean,

00:41:57.380 --> 00:41:58.400
 worship of self is,

00:41:59.039 --> 00:42:00.400
 I mean, where is it?

00:42:00.420 --> 00:42:01.239
 Second Timothy, Paul

00:42:01.239 --> 00:42:01.780
 says in the last

00:42:01.780 --> 00:42:02.440
 days there will be

00:42:02.440 --> 00:42:03.099
 people who will be

00:42:03.099 --> 00:42:05.179
 lovers of themselves,

00:42:05.739 --> 00:42:06.380
 lovers of money,

00:42:06.840 --> 00:42:07.480
 it goes on, long

00:42:07.480 --> 00:42:08.920
 list, of all kinds

00:42:08.920 --> 00:42:09.900
 of qualities that you

00:42:09.900 --> 00:42:10.739
 can see a lot, you

00:42:10.739 --> 00:42:11.559
 can see pretty much

00:42:11.559 --> 00:42:12.900
 all of those in our

00:42:12.900 --> 00:42:15.059
 society today.

00:42:16.320 --> 00:42:17.679
 But yeah, like self

00:42:17.679 --> 00:42:18.940
 worship, I mean,

00:42:19.139 --> 00:42:20.900
 I mean, that's pretty

00:42:20.900 --> 00:42:21.699
 rampant, right?

00:42:22.340 --> 00:42:23.980
 And again, when we

00:42:23.980 --> 00:42:25.079
 don't worship God, we

00:42:25.079 --> 00:42:25.759
 long to worship

00:42:25.760 --> 00:42:26.520
 something else.

00:42:27.940 --> 00:42:29.220
 So whether it's

00:42:29.220 --> 00:42:30.000
 sort of explicitly

00:42:30.000 --> 00:42:31.080
 worshiping ourself

00:42:31.080 --> 00:42:32.300
 or worshiping some

00:42:32.300 --> 00:42:33.860
 other created thing,

00:42:33.900 --> 00:42:34.420
 it's often a good

00:42:34.420 --> 00:42:35.520
 thing, right?

00:42:35.940 --> 00:42:36.680
 And again, yourself,

00:42:37.040 --> 00:42:38.100
 like, yes, God made

00:42:38.100 --> 00:42:39.920
 you, like, he loves

00:42:39.920 --> 00:42:41.580
 you, you know,

00:42:42.620 --> 00:42:44.100
 there's, you're

00:42:44.100 --> 00:42:44.940
 bearing the image

00:42:44.940 --> 00:42:47.760
 of God, and yet,

00:42:48.420 --> 00:42:49.320
 yeah, so yes,

00:42:49.700 --> 00:42:51.060
 was it part of the

00:42:51.060 --> 00:42:51.840
 devil's lie to Adam

00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:53.260
 and Eve to sort of

00:42:53.260 --> 00:42:54.280
 worship themselves?

00:42:54.600 --> 00:42:55.240
 Yeah, right, what

00:42:55.239 --> 00:42:56.579
 was Eve being, what

00:42:56.579 --> 00:42:57.799
 was, what did the

00:42:57.799 --> 00:42:59.699
 serpent sort of tempt

00:42:59.699 --> 00:43:00.379
 Eve to do?

00:43:00.739 --> 00:43:02.219
 Rely on her, sort of,

00:43:02.559 --> 00:43:03.679
 her own perception

00:43:03.679 --> 00:43:04.879
 became determinative,

00:43:05.379 --> 00:43:05.679
 right?

00:43:05.759 --> 00:43:06.379
 She looked at the

00:43:06.379 --> 00:43:07.639
 tree, looks good,

00:43:08.199 --> 00:43:09.000
 looks beautiful,

00:43:09.500 --> 00:43:10.399
 looks tasty,

00:43:10.939 --> 00:43:12.379
 I'll take it.

00:43:13.759 --> 00:43:15.139
 And in the process,

00:43:15.919 --> 00:43:17.079
 explicitly rejecting

00:43:17.079 --> 00:43:18.279
 sort of God's command,

00:43:18.679 --> 00:43:19.799
 and also not trusting

00:43:19.799 --> 00:43:20.699
 that God's command is

00:43:20.699 --> 00:43:21.639
 good, not trusting that

00:43:21.639 --> 00:43:23.279
 God is for us, right?

00:43:23.280 --> 00:43:24.480
 Isn't that what, what

00:43:24.480 --> 00:43:25.340
 Satan sometimes wants

00:43:25.340 --> 00:43:26.780
 to tempt us to think,

00:43:26.840 --> 00:43:27.700
 is that God isn't

00:43:27.700 --> 00:43:28.600
 really for me.

00:43:29.260 --> 00:43:30.320
 And so I can't really

00:43:30.320 --> 00:43:31.140
 trust what he says,

00:43:31.220 --> 00:43:32.920
 because I, I can't,

00:43:33.920 --> 00:43:36.060
 I can't rely on him as

00:43:36.060 --> 00:43:37.400
 being on my side,

00:43:37.480 --> 00:43:37.860
 ultimately.

00:43:38.560 --> 00:43:38.880
 Right?

00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:41.519
 And of course, isn't that,

00:43:41.680 --> 00:43:42.940
 and isn't that, I mean,

00:43:43.280 --> 00:43:44.200
 when we look to the

00:43:44.200 --> 00:43:45.440
 cross, isn't that what

00:43:45.440 --> 00:43:46.220
 Christ is hanging there

00:43:46.220 --> 00:43:46.580
 and saying?

00:43:47.299 --> 00:43:48.940
 Like, I'm for you,

00:43:49.059 --> 00:43:49.920
 and not against you,

00:43:50.039 --> 00:43:50.759
 and I'm willing to go

00:43:50.759 --> 00:43:52.400
 to this, for that

00:43:52.400 --> 00:43:52.679
 sake.

00:43:53.099 --> 00:43:54.219
 And yes, following

00:43:54.219 --> 00:43:55.019
 Christ might be

00:43:55.019 --> 00:43:55.960
 painful, he talks about

00:43:55.960 --> 00:43:56.679
 taking up our own

00:43:56.679 --> 00:43:57.380
 cross and following

00:43:57.380 --> 00:44:00.400
 him, but we have

00:44:00.400 --> 00:44:01.900
 one who is, who is

00:44:01.900 --> 00:44:02.420
 for us.

00:44:02.539 --> 00:44:03.079
 And denying

00:44:03.079 --> 00:44:03.539
 ourselves.

00:44:03.759 --> 00:44:04.579
 And so we can deny

00:44:04.579 --> 00:44:05.900
 ourselves for the sake

00:44:05.900 --> 00:44:06.579
 of the one who is

00:44:06.579 --> 00:44:07.460
 ultimately for us.

00:44:07.559 --> 00:44:07.779
 Right.

00:44:13.059 --> 00:44:13.460
 Ben.

00:44:13.460 --> 00:44:17.599
 So, so Peter

00:44:17.599 --> 00:44:19.220
 Kreeft talks about

00:44:19.220 --> 00:44:20.840
 the possibility of

00:44:20.840 --> 00:44:21.880
 gendered souls as

00:44:21.880 --> 00:44:22.720
 well as bodies,

00:44:22.980 --> 00:44:24.179
 because we're not

00:44:24.179 --> 00:44:25.579
 just bodily or

00:44:25.579 --> 00:44:26.519
 spiritual, but there's

00:44:26.519 --> 00:44:27.240
 this connection.

00:44:28.039 --> 00:44:30.039
 And suggests the

00:44:30.039 --> 00:44:30.780
 possibility that there

00:44:30.780 --> 00:44:31.679
 could be a mismatch.

00:44:32.480 --> 00:44:34.340
 And so in such a

00:44:34.340 --> 00:44:36.340
 case, that would be

00:44:36.340 --> 00:44:37.119
 a candidate for a

00:44:37.119 --> 00:44:38.119
 sex change operation,

00:44:38.260 --> 00:44:39.159
 whether of body or

00:44:39.159 --> 00:44:40.139
 soul, whether earthly

00:44:40.139 --> 00:44:40.699
 or heavenly.

00:44:41.320 --> 00:44:42.900
 So the question I have

00:44:42.900 --> 00:44:48.920
 is, the thrust you

00:44:48.920 --> 00:44:51.519
 seem to have is the

00:44:51.519 --> 00:44:53.200
 soul or what have

00:44:53.200 --> 00:44:55.400
 you should ideally

00:44:55.400 --> 00:44:57.240
 shift to switch to

00:44:57.240 --> 00:44:57.880
 match the body.

00:44:59.160 --> 00:45:04.820
 And why, why that

00:45:04.820 --> 00:45:05.639
 direction and not the

00:45:05.639 --> 00:45:06.139
 other direction?

00:45:06.559 --> 00:45:07.320
 Yeah, why that

00:45:07.320 --> 00:45:07.860
 direction and not the

00:45:07.860 --> 00:45:08.340
 other direction?

00:45:08.340 --> 00:45:14.579
 Well, so I think, I

00:45:14.579 --> 00:45:16.820
 mean, I don't see

00:45:16.820 --> 00:45:18.280
 any, I mean, I

00:45:18.280 --> 00:45:18.940
 think the idea of

00:45:18.940 --> 00:45:20.780
 gendered souls, so

00:45:20.780 --> 00:45:22.920
 the idea is that your

00:45:22.920 --> 00:45:25.120
 gendered body is sort

00:45:25.120 --> 00:45:26.500
 of separate from your

00:45:26.500 --> 00:45:27.579
 gendered soul.

00:45:28.579 --> 00:45:29.100
 Right?

00:45:29.200 --> 00:45:30.360
 Or is he saying,

00:45:30.480 --> 00:45:31.860
 like, that's a result of

00:45:31.860 --> 00:45:33.220
 the fall that there's...

00:45:33.219 --> 00:45:34.699
 The mismatch would be a

00:45:34.699 --> 00:45:35.579
 result of the fall.

00:45:36.459 --> 00:45:36.819
 Yeah.

00:45:37.559 --> 00:45:42.039
 But because we are...

00:45:42.039 --> 00:45:42.480
 These aren't, you know,

00:45:42.519 --> 00:45:43.819
 we're gendered beings

00:45:43.819 --> 00:45:44.819
 kind of through and

00:45:44.819 --> 00:45:45.159
 through.

00:45:45.319 --> 00:45:46.239
 It's not just our

00:45:46.239 --> 00:45:46.639
 bodies.

00:45:47.919 --> 00:45:48.339
 Yeah.

00:45:49.399 --> 00:45:49.859
 Yes.

00:45:50.019 --> 00:45:51.239
 So I think we can...

00:45:51.239 --> 00:45:53.779
 I think one thing that

00:45:53.779 --> 00:45:57.319
 we can positively sort of

00:45:57.319 --> 00:46:00.539
 affirm in people who

00:46:00.539 --> 00:46:01.359
 experience gendered

00:46:01.360 --> 00:46:02.860
 dysphoria is this longing

00:46:02.860 --> 00:46:04.820
 for wholeness or sort

00:46:04.820 --> 00:46:06.620
 of congruence or sort

00:46:06.620 --> 00:46:08.160
 of, like, something that

00:46:08.160 --> 00:46:09.039
 seems to fit together.

00:46:09.440 --> 00:46:09.640
 Right?

00:46:09.780 --> 00:46:10.160
 Yes.

00:46:10.480 --> 00:46:12.280
 Like, that's something we

00:46:12.280 --> 00:46:16.920
 can sort of affirm and

00:46:16.920 --> 00:46:18.720
 say, yeah, like, it is...

00:46:18.720 --> 00:46:19.740
 That is a good thing to

00:46:19.740 --> 00:46:20.059
 want.

00:46:20.500 --> 00:46:20.720
 Right?

00:46:21.099 --> 00:46:30.240
 And, I mean, yes, so

00:46:30.239 --> 00:46:31.439
 it's true that both our

00:46:31.439 --> 00:46:33.659
 bodies and our souls are

00:46:33.659 --> 00:46:35.639
 affected by the fall.

00:46:36.099 --> 00:46:38.819
 So I guess I would say I

00:46:38.819 --> 00:46:39.919
 don't see the idea of

00:46:39.919 --> 00:46:40.559
 gendered souls.

00:46:41.599 --> 00:46:42.439
 I mean, I need to think

00:46:42.439 --> 00:46:42.919
 more about that.

00:46:42.979 --> 00:46:43.739
 I don't see that clearly

00:46:43.739 --> 00:46:44.319
 taught anywhere in

00:46:44.319 --> 00:46:44.559
 scripture.

00:46:45.779 --> 00:46:46.179
 Right?

00:46:46.279 --> 00:46:47.000
 And then how do you

00:46:47.000 --> 00:46:47.879
 identify that your

00:46:47.879 --> 00:46:50.859
 gendered soul is, you

00:46:50.859 --> 00:46:52.419
 know, different than your

00:46:52.419 --> 00:46:52.799
 body?

00:46:55.399 --> 00:46:56.119
 I can't...

00:46:56.119 --> 00:46:57.799
 I think that might end up

00:46:57.800 --> 00:46:58.720
 becoming a very subjective

00:46:58.720 --> 00:47:01.039
 perception, right, based on

00:47:01.039 --> 00:47:02.180
 your idea of what a

00:47:02.180 --> 00:47:05.019
 gendered soul is.

00:47:05.580 --> 00:47:06.980
 I don't even know whether...

00:47:06.980 --> 00:47:08.039
 Yeah, I mean...

00:47:08.039 --> 00:47:08.840
 Greg, can I make a quick

00:47:08.840 --> 00:47:09.539
 comment on that?

00:47:10.039 --> 00:47:10.460
 Oh, sure.

00:47:11.800 --> 00:47:13.039
 John, just please help me.

00:47:15.680 --> 00:47:16.640
 What's the question?

00:47:18.300 --> 00:47:19.560
 It's hard to hear all

00:47:19.560 --> 00:47:19.820
 of us.

00:47:20.180 --> 00:47:20.860
 So, wait a minute.

00:47:21.539 --> 00:47:23.480
 The notion is that there are

00:47:23.480 --> 00:47:24.720
 souls and our souls are

00:47:24.720 --> 00:47:25.440
 gendered.

00:47:25.440 --> 00:47:27.559
 And our bodies are gendered.

00:47:27.639 --> 00:47:28.380
 And maybe there's a

00:47:28.380 --> 00:47:29.039
 mismatch.

00:47:29.480 --> 00:47:31.099
 And if there is a mismatch,

00:47:31.300 --> 00:47:32.320
 why should we think

00:47:32.320 --> 00:47:34.619
 redemption might not be,

00:47:35.039 --> 00:47:36.200
 well, let's just get the

00:47:36.200 --> 00:47:37.659
 body to match the soul,

00:47:37.820 --> 00:47:38.720
 my perception of what

00:47:38.720 --> 00:47:39.480
 the soul is.

00:47:40.519 --> 00:47:41.619
 And then if we can

00:47:41.619 --> 00:47:42.780
 anticipate redemption,

00:47:42.980 --> 00:47:44.320
 ultimately, then that

00:47:44.320 --> 00:47:45.420
 would lead to maybe an

00:47:45.420 --> 00:47:47.360
 interventionist type thing

00:47:47.360 --> 00:47:49.079
 now to adjust our bodies

00:47:49.079 --> 00:47:51.519
 to what we perceive our

00:47:51.519 --> 00:47:52.720
 soul gender to be.

00:47:52.719 --> 00:47:54.839
 So that seems to be

00:47:54.839 --> 00:47:55.159
 probably.

00:47:55.699 --> 00:47:55.839
 Yeah.

00:47:56.259 --> 00:47:56.659
 Close enough.

00:47:58.559 --> 00:47:59.659
 Chris getting that from

00:47:59.659 --> 00:48:00.639
 Quinas.

00:48:01.279 --> 00:48:01.519
 Yes.

00:48:02.399 --> 00:48:06.539
 Quinas thinks that the soul

00:48:06.539 --> 00:48:08.299
 is just the spirit of the

00:48:08.299 --> 00:48:08.439
 body.

00:48:08.519 --> 00:48:09.199
 So there's a deeper

00:48:09.199 --> 00:48:10.319
 connection between those

00:48:10.319 --> 00:48:10.519
 things.

00:48:10.599 --> 00:48:11.259
 Those are not going to be

00:48:11.259 --> 00:48:11.699
 differential.

00:48:12.699 --> 00:48:14.919
 But leaving Quinas to the

00:48:14.919 --> 00:48:17.919
 side, it seems like maybe a

00:48:17.919 --> 00:48:18.799
 place to go in Scripture

00:48:18.799 --> 00:48:20.319
 would be 1 Corinthians 15,

00:48:20.320 --> 00:48:22.600
 where it's talking about

00:48:22.600 --> 00:48:24.080
 resurrection and saying

00:48:24.080 --> 00:48:26.960
 that God actually chooses

00:48:26.960 --> 00:48:30.300
 the body that he has,

00:48:30.600 --> 00:48:32.260
 that God actually chooses

00:48:32.260 --> 00:48:33.740
 the body for us.

00:48:34.160 --> 00:48:35.980
 And it talks about the body

00:48:35.980 --> 00:48:38.140
 and on that basis,

00:48:38.800 --> 00:48:40.580
 he is going to work the

00:48:40.580 --> 00:48:41.720
 final redemption in

00:48:41.720 --> 00:48:42.840
 accordance with the body

00:48:42.840 --> 00:48:45.180
 that he has chosen for us.

00:48:45.179 --> 00:48:47.500
 So that does seem like the

00:48:47.500 --> 00:48:50.019
 redemptive trajectory there.

00:48:50.759 --> 00:48:52.339
 Well, first of all, that our

00:48:52.339 --> 00:48:53.919
 deep identity reflected in the

00:48:53.919 --> 00:48:55.659
 body is God's choice.

00:48:56.679 --> 00:48:58.239
 And then, and he is, it's

00:48:58.239 --> 00:48:59.019
 going to be something that

00:48:59.019 --> 00:49:00.279
 even though there might be all

00:49:00.279 --> 00:49:02.759
 kinds of dysphoria in the

00:49:02.759 --> 00:49:05.059
 in-between time, there is a

00:49:05.059 --> 00:49:06.940
 redemptive, there is a

00:49:06.940 --> 00:49:08.379
 redemptive trajectory and that

00:49:08.379 --> 00:49:11.239
 seems to be based on the

00:49:11.239 --> 00:49:13.079
 original choice that he gave us

00:49:13.079 --> 00:49:15.500
 in terms of our, of our body.

00:49:15.639 --> 00:49:17.840
 So that would seem like, um,

00:49:19.139 --> 00:49:20.319
 it, it, it is connected.

00:49:20.440 --> 00:49:21.739
 There, there is a redemptive

00:49:21.739 --> 00:49:23.139
 significance that, that

00:49:23.139 --> 00:49:25.400
 predicts the horizon, give in

00:49:25.400 --> 00:49:26.699
 the body that we have given.

00:49:27.440 --> 00:49:29.360
 At least based on 1 Corinthians 15.

00:49:29.360 --> 00:49:30.639
 I mean, that would be probably

00:49:30.639 --> 00:49:33.360
 the place that I would go to say,

00:49:33.440 --> 00:49:35.099
 uh, it's going to fall in the

00:49:35.099 --> 00:49:35.319
 body.

00:49:35.400 --> 00:49:37.139
 Now, if the body's ambiguous and

00:49:37.139 --> 00:49:39.719
 a couple of rare, who, who knows

00:49:39.719 --> 00:49:40.619
 those situations?

00:49:40.619 --> 00:49:42.440
 I don't know, but that seems

00:49:42.440 --> 00:49:44.440
 to suggest that, that, that the

00:49:44.440 --> 00:49:45.880
 body that we have given, that,

00:49:45.880 --> 00:49:47.279
 that is a choice of God and

00:49:47.279 --> 00:49:49.659
 that's indicative of how he's

00:49:49.659 --> 00:49:51.239
 going to redeem who we are.

00:49:51.480 --> 00:49:51.679
 Yeah.

00:49:52.480 --> 00:49:54.779
 I wonder if Psalm 139 might be

00:49:54.779 --> 00:49:56.659
 relevant about God knitting us

00:49:56.659 --> 00:49:57.960
 together in our mother's womb as

00:49:57.960 --> 00:50:00.799
 well, sort of, you know, yes,

00:50:00.819 --> 00:50:03.359
 we don't experience our bodies in

00:50:03.359 --> 00:50:05.500
 the sort of pure goodness of

00:50:05.500 --> 00:50:06.719
 God's original creation.

00:50:07.039 --> 00:50:08.359
 Yes, they're all sort of affected

00:50:08.359 --> 00:50:09.699
 by the fall, but yet there is

00:50:09.699 --> 00:50:10.919
 still that sense, you know, even

00:50:10.919 --> 00:50:12.719
 David can say, even though David

00:50:12.719 --> 00:50:13.960
 in another Psalm says, behold, I

00:50:13.960 --> 00:50:15.319
 was conceived in sin and iniquity,

00:50:15.759 --> 00:50:17.480
 he still says, you knit me

00:50:17.480 --> 00:50:18.519
 together in my mother's womb.

00:50:18.759 --> 00:50:21.419
 Sort of our, our bodies are, um,

00:50:21.879 --> 00:50:23.739
 our good, good gifts from God and,

00:50:23.739 --> 00:50:25.919
 and meant to guide us sort of in

00:50:25.919 --> 00:50:28.259
 how we, how we honor, how do we

00:50:28.259 --> 00:50:29.939
 offer them to God and honor God

00:50:29.939 --> 00:50:30.299
 with them.

00:50:31.299 --> 00:50:31.939
 All right.

00:50:32.099 --> 00:50:33.779
 Well, uh, I've got to end there,

00:50:33.779 --> 00:50:35.239
 but we will come back next week.

00:50:35.480 --> 00:50:37.779
 Thank you for being here and, uh,

00:50:37.780 --> 00:50:39.340
 we'll look forward to next week.

00:50:39.340 --> 00:50:40.340
 Thank you.

00:50:40.340 --> 00:50:40.860
 Thank you.

00:50:40.860 --> 00:50:40.880
 Thank you.

00:50:40.880 --> 00:50:41.340
 Thank you.